An Ear for Fear by Scott Lafee on Creators.com

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An Ear for Fear

Wimps are more likely to perceive an approaching sound as closer than it actually is, according to an evolutionary psychologist, who says the connection between a body's physical fitness and the brain's auditory system may have evolved to help the weak and scrawny get out of the way of looming danger.

John Neuhoff and colleagues at The College of Wooster in Ohio tested participants by asking them to listen to a tone moving toward them and press a button when they thought it had arrived directly in front of them. Almost everyone pushed the button too early, which Neuhoff interprets as an adaptation that helps humans anticipate and avoid threats.

The key difference, however, was that test participants in better physical shape allowed the sound to get closer than those who were not. The research expands upon earlier studies that found women respond to looming sounds sooner than males, though both genders perceive receding sounds equally.

GET ME THAT. STAT!

A Swedish study says a man's PSA number (Prostate Specific Antigen test) at age 60 reliably predicts the risk of fatal prostate cancer over the next 25 years. Men who have PSA values below the median of 1ng/mL have less than a 1 percent risk of dying of prostate cancer by age 85.

NUMBER CRUNCHER

A single serving of corn on the cob with butter (one ear — 146 grams) contains 155 calories, 31 from fat.

It has 3.4 grams of total fat, or 5 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

It also contains 6 milligrams of cholesterol (2 percent); 29 mg of sodium (1 percent); 31.9 grams of total carbohydrates (11 percent) and 4.5 g of protein.

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

In a lifetime, the average American will consume 60,000 pounds of food, or the weight of six elephants.

OBSERVATION

The things we went through to get here. I was able to create a new life.

— Chris Biblis of North Carolina, on the recent birth of his daughter, Stella, from sperm frozen 22 years earlier before he underwent chemotherapy for leukemia

PHOBIA OF THE WEEK

Didaskaleinophobia — fear of going to school (and maybe being asked to spell didaskaleinophobia).

MEDTRONICA

Ulrich Schrader's website

info.ulrich-schrader.de/node/645

Schrader is a professor of health sciences in Frankfurt, Germany. This site, though spare, links to a variety of international disease surveillance programs. It is a good place to check out how various agencies and monitor health crises.

EPITAPHS

In a Ruidoso, N.M., cemetery:

Here lies

Johnny Yeast

Pardon me

For not rising.

To find out more about Scott Lafee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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An Ear for Fear