It isn’t even on land.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a massive buildup of trash that’s floating in the Pacific Ocean. How massive? It has currently grown to be the size of Texas. The “island,” also dubbed “chemical soup,” has been one of the worst environmental disasters created by mankind for years–and it’s also been one of its best-kept secrets.

Many people don’t hear about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, simply because it hasn’t been covered by most news outlets. The Patch’s formation is due to A. human waste and B. the North Pacific Gyre. The North Pacific Gyre is a series of revolving currents located north of the Hawaiian Islands. Combined with weaker area currents, they serve to keep the ocean surface steady and calm–as well as to suck in oceanic debris with their high-pressure waves.

The problem, however, isn’t the waves: the problem is polymers–or, more specifically, plastic. Until its invention, the ocean was able to handle the buildup very well, simply using the materials that collected as nutrients for the creatures living in the icy blue depths. But plastic doesn’t dissolve, get absorbed, or get eaten; it just collects and floats–forming the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Researchers claim that up to 80% of the refuse originates from land, not ships or the ocean itself.

Last week, one of these tribes, the Bo tribe became extinct with the death of its last member, Boa Sr, age 85. She was the last living speaker of the tribe’s language, also called Bo, as well. The language was considered one of India’s most endangered languages.

As the last speaker, Boa Sr had lived out her last days without anyone to speak it with; her husband and children had already died years before her death. The woman was also the last tribe member to recall the tribe’s traditional songs, as well as the eldest member of all ten tribes.

Boa Sr, a survivor of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, died at a hospital in the Andaman islands.

According to Survival International, “The Bo are thought to have lived in the Andaman islands for as long as 65,000 years, making them the descendants of one of the oldest human cultures on earth.”

With Boa Sr’s passing, an estimated 52 Great Andamanese people remain living today. In 1858, prior to the British colonization of the islands, 5,000 of the people inhabited the islands. During this time, tribes were held captive in the “Andaman Home,” in which 150 children, none of which survived for more than two years, were born.

Of the tribes who remain, at least five are considered vulnerable to extinction. One group, the Sentinelese, is likely the world’s only surviving Paleolithic tribe. They have no contact with people outside their small island, never leave it, and are considered very hostile toward non-native people.

Some risk factors for these groups include alcohol abuse and dependence on the government for food and shelter.

Wii-lovers have found a new game associated with the program: injury. From doctors to children, many have inflicted injury upon themselves by playing the physical video game.

 Ailments like “Wii Shoulder” and “Wii Knee” have cropped-up, falling under the umbrella of the new nerve – disorder “Nintendinitis.”

 Programs like Wii Fit are great in that they get gamers off their couches and actively involved with the game. The new concept took hold; as The New York Times article “More Wii Warriors Are Playing Hurt” reported Wii sold more than 10 million of the game systems in the United States in 2008, including a record 2.1 million in December. The complementary Wii Fit exercise program has been nearly as popular, with more than 6.5 million sold since its introduction last May.

 Upon interviewing several orthopedists and sports medicine practitioners, the article citied rising numbers of injuries resulting from the game. Symptoms of strains and swelling have been reported from use and overuse of Wii.

Studies show that those living in large cities have a higher high school dropout rate versus those living and attending schools in more suburban and rural areas.

The gap, however, has widened drastically over the last few years between dropout rates in cities and suburbs. According to a study coordinated by America’s Promise Alliance, listing the average high school graduation rate in the nation’s 50 largest cities was 53 percent, compared with 71 percent in the suburbs.

The cause for the high urban dropout rates? Many city schools have a lack of funding and are failing in all respects. In areas, the gap is even more distinguishable. Cleveland, Baltimore, and New York were all cities that have drastically higher rates of graduation in suburbs versus the city.

Regional location plays a role in stress, as factors like disability or diabetes, untreated mental conditions like anxiety or depression, high unemployment rates, risky behaviors including cigarette smoking and alcohol abuse, and/or social circumstances such as lower incomes contribute to stress levels. 

States ranking higher in mental stress percentages were struggling more-so economically than their low-stress neighbors. Health services, medications, and hospital visits are all mighty expensive without health insurance, and those in economically dire situations more often than not do not have the means to afford the insurance.

In April 2009, the Obama Administration announced its plan to lift financial restrictions on stem cell researched. Not all restrictions will be lifted, but they will alleviate some implemented during the Bush era.

The lifted restrictions would allow surplus embryos from fertility clinics to be used for research.

As reported in The New York Times article “Some Restrictions Lifted on Stem Cell Research,” health institutes financed 260 research projects, at a total cost of $88 million, that involved stem cell lines approved by President Bush.

By lifting the restrictions, the number of research projects will be drastically increased, making headway in the cure for various diseases.

“Sometimes [stereotypes] suggest that America has become selfish and crass, or that we don’t care about the world beyond us. And I’m here to tell you that that’s not the country that I know and it’s not the country that I love.”  

Even with the president’s good word, Americans have a lot to do to overcome this overseas stereotype. Travel experts Chris Baker and Beth Whitman give 5 handy tips for traveling abroad in the CNN article: 

• 1) Research the area and its culture before you travel to your destination. Read guidebooks to learn about the region. 
• 2) Learn some basic words in the language of the region you are traveling to. Don’t expect everyone to speak English.
• 3) Travel with a desire to experience the local cuisine. Don’t expect to get a hamburger. 
• 4) Don’t flash around money or expensive items like cell phones and cameras. 
• 5) Try to really experience the culture. You are less likely to offend if you understand.

Reported numbers for orthodontics patients has dropped, but the majority of families consider proper alignment of their children’s teeth a priority, not a luxury. In a society that places an emphasis on personal appearance, having straight teeth is a necessity for better first impressions.

Many orthodontists are now offering payment plans to families, lessening the large up-front costs associated with braces. As well, families with one or both parents laid off, but with children still in the process of corrective dental work, are asking for lower monthly payments. Some have luck, others have to cease dental work on their children.

Excuses aside, organ donation is the box that all should check-off on their license, as its benefits outweigh the perceived negatives. The New York Times Blog  article “The Reluctant Organ Donor” dispels these excuses people use for opting not to donate. 

For instance, the operating doctor on a severely injured organ donor has no affiliation with the organizations that coordinate organ donation. Therefore, the hospital and doctor involved with surgery have no ties to the organ donation process, therefore would have no reason not to try to save lives. 

Stories of Hope, published on the Donate Life America website, offers a series of stories of those who benefited from organ donation.

As reported by The New York Times, “ Showdown at the Coffee Shop,”  rebaudioside A was declared safe to add to food and drinks by the FDA in December of 2008. The product poses a significant advantage over its colorful competitors, as it can be marketed as “natural,” because the extract is plant-derived. 

This poses a significant advantage at a time when organic and whole foods have hit fad-like popularity, as all three other sweeteners are known “fake” sugars formulated from chemicals. Sweet ‘N Low is made from saccharin, Splenda of sucralose, and Equal of aspartame. 

Still, Truvia poses difficulty breaking-in to the market as it is more expensive than the three other artificial sweeteners, and its caloric content is higher.