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10/08/08

Soal Pemeriksaan Catatan Telepon; FBI Minta Maaf pada Wartawan Indonesia

Biro Penyelidik Federal pemerintah Amerika Serikat (AS) alias FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) meminta maaf karena telah memperoleh secara tidak patut catatan telepon wartawan dua media AS, The New York Times dan The Washington Post, yang ada di Indonesia.

Menurut laporan The New York Times, Jum`at (8/8), para wartawan yang catatan teleponnya sempat didapatkan oleh FBI adalah Raymond Bonner dan Jane Perlez dari The New York Times serta Ellen Nakashima dan Natasha Tampubolon dari The Washington Post.

The New York Times melaporkan, Direktur FBI Robert S. Mueller III, Jum`at (8/8) telah mengungkapkan kejadian tersebut kepada editor eksekutif The New York Times Bill Keller dan editor eksekutif The Washington Post Leonard Downie Jr. Kepada editor eksekutif kedua media AS itu, Mueller juga telah meminta maaf.

Mengutip para pejabat FBI, insiden tersebut muncul sebagai bagian dari pemeriksaan yang terus-menerus dilakukan oleh kantor inspektur jenderal pada Departemen Kehakiman AS soal pemeriksaan tidak sepatutnya terhadap permintaan catatan telepon untuk keperluan "darurat".

Pemeriksaan catatan telepon, menurut The New York Times, kemungkinan dilakukan sebagai bagian dari penyelidikan menyangkut kemungkinan terorisme.

Tapi FBI tidak menjelaskan masalah apa yang sedang diselidiki ataupun mengapa catatan-catatan telepon keempat wartawan itu dianggap perlu.

Departemen Kehakiman AS menerapkan aturan yang ketat bagi penyelidikan terhadap catatan telepon para wartawan dalam proses investigasi sehubungan dengan keperluan untuk menjunjung kebebasan pers, seperti yang diamanatkan oleh Amandemen Pertama UUD AS.

Penyelidikan terhadap catatan telepon wartawan, seperti yang diatur hukum di AS, harus melalui persetujuan wakil jaksa agung.

Aturan tersebut ternyata tidak dijalani FBI ketika menyelidiki catatan telepon Raymond Bonner, Jane Perlez, Ellen Nakashima, dan Natasha Tampubolon, demikian kata para pejabat yang dikutip The New York Times. "FBI bertekad melindungi media sesuai dengan Amandemen Pertama dan aturan-aturan yang dikeluarkan Departemen Kehakiman, dan kami sangat menyesalkan hal ini bisa sampai terjadi," kata Valerie Caproni, penasehat FBI dalam surat yang dikirimkan via fax, Jum`at (8/8), kepada Bill Keller.

Seperti dikutip The New York Times, Caproni mengatakan, catatan telepon, yang terdiri dari daftar nomor-nomor yang pernah dihubungi para wartawan tersebut--namun tidak mencakup isi pembicaraan, telah dibersihkan dari data komputer FBI.

Caproni juga mengatakan, catatan telepon keempat wartawan tidak digunakan sebagai bagian dari penyelidikan apapun.

Namun, Downie Jr mengaku melihat tidak ada kejelasan mengapa FBI pada awalnya ingin memperoleh catatan-catatan telepon para wartawan tersebut.
 
[EL, Ant]

Optimalkah Celoteh Batita Anda?

Bagi sebagian besar anak, berubahnya kata-kata menjadi omongan bermakna jelas terjadi pada tahun kedua. Memang ada anak yang sudah pandai bicara beberapa bulan sebelum ulang tahun keduanya.
Penulis buku Childhood Speech, Language and Listening Problems: What Every Parents Should Know, Patricia McAleer Hamaguchi mengatakan, pada masa dua tahun pertama anak merekam semua informasi dari sekelilingnya.
 
Menginjak usia kedua, baru anak-anak bisa mengungkapkan secara aktif. Seiring makin matangnya otak dan otot, mereka mulai bisa mengekspresikan hasrat dan keinginannya dengan bicara.
 
The American Academy of Pediatrics membuat sebuah batasan mengenai tahapan bicara anak di lima tahun pertamanya. Di akhir tahun kedua, anak batita (bawah tiga tahun) harus bisa mengucapkan kalimat yang terdiri dari dua atau tiga kata. Dia juga bisa mengikuti instruksi sederhana dan mengulang kata-kata yang didengarnya saat orangtuanya berbicara.
 
Di akhir tahun ketiga, anak sudah harus bisa mengikuti instruksi dengan dua atau tiga langkah. Dia bisa mengenali dan engidentifikasi benda-benda umum atau gambar sederhana serta mengerti apa yang dikatakan orang kepadanya.
 
Selain itu, dia juga sudah bisa berbicara dengan baik dan jelas dengan orang yang berada di luar keluarganya.  Di akhir tahun keempat, anak sudah harus melemparkan pertanyaan abstrak seperti mengapa. Si kecil sudah mengerti konsep sama dengan berbeda. Serta bisa menyusun kalimat dengan tata bahasa yang benar.
 
Kadang meski di usia 4 tahun anak sudah bicara jelas, namun tak jarang mereka salah mengucapkan sebuah kata.
 
Di akhir tahun kelima, anak sudah harus bisa menceritakan kembali sebuah cerita dengan kalimatnya sendiri. Mereka pun harus pandai merangkai kalimat yang terdiri dari lima kata.
 
Penulis buku The Late Talker : What to Do If Your Child Isn't Talking Yet, Marilyn Agin MD menjelaskan, secara tipikal seorang anak yang terlambat bicara akan dapat menyusul kemampuan anak seusianya.
 
Namun, studi yang dilakukan baru-baru ini mengungkap, sekitar 7% dari anak berusia lima tahun tidak dapat melakukan hal tersebut.
 
"Gangguan yang terlambat terdeteksi seringkali dihubungkan dengan rendahnya kemampuan membaca dan akademik serta masalah emosional. Saya melihat anak-anak berusia tiga tahun yang mempunyai masalah berbicara sangat pemalu, yang dapat  mengakibatkan rendahnya percaya diri," jelas Marilyn.
 
Marilyn mencatat, keterlambatan berbicara bisa terjadi karena beberapa hal. Infeksi telinga merupakan salah satu penyebab keterlambatan bicara. Infeksi yang mempengaruhi telinga pada akhirnya punya kontribusi pada keterlambatan bicara. Hal itu dapat terjadi karena anak bergaul dengan sebayanya di taman bermain, di rumah atau di tempat penitipan anak.
 
Kemudian, penyebab lainnya ialah perkembangan otot mulut yang tak sempurna juga mempengaruhi kemampuan bicara. Anak-anak yang masih memakan makanan semi padat, kerap memuntahkan makanan saat makan, sering "ngeces", atau sering bernafas lewat mulut, biasanya juga mengalami keterlambatan bicara.
 
Anak-anak yang sulit memahami permintaan kompleks atau sama sekali tak peduli dengan kebisingan di sekitarnya, mungkin bakal mengalami keterlambatan bicara. Tanpa bantuan, anak-anak yang mengalami keterlambatan bicara akan mengalami frustasi.
 
Namun, dia menegaskan orangtua ialah pengambil keputusan yang terbaik dari anaknya. Jika jawaban dari dokter tidak memuaskan, orangtua dapat berkonsultasi dengan ahli terapi bicara.
 
"Jika keterlambatan bicara pada anak anda hanya merupakan bagian dari perkembangannya maka ia akan segera mengejar ketinggalannya. Orangtua jangan terlalu khawatir. Disisi lain, jika benar anak Anda memiliki masalah, maka terapi yang dilakukan secepatnya akan lebih menguntungkan," tegas Marilyn.
 
(child.com/rin)
Foto: corbis.com
 

Tampil Menarik dengan Warna Kuku Cantik

Kuku yang bersih sehat dengan warna menarik tentu sangat sedap di pandang. Tren saat ini didominasi dengan warna biru langit, kuning kenari dan hijau zamrud.
 
Meskipun tren warna-warni yang belum umum tersebut dapat menjadi selingan yang menarik, warna klasik tetap dapat Anda gunakan. Seperti merah muda yang netral, jingga salem yang lembut dan kuning gading.
 
Sementara itu, warna merah tua yang gelap dan burgundi membutuhkan perawatan ekstra dan lebih cocok digunakan pada kuku yang agak pendek.
 
Anda juga boleh melupakan aturan untuk mencocokkan warna dari kuku tangan dan kuku kaki. Lebih menyenangkan jika Anda tdak menyamakannya.
 
Ada beberapa tips dari ahli yang dapat Anda ikuti agar penampilan kuku sehat sekaligus berwarna cantik, yaitu:
1. Bersihkan kuku dari sisa-sisa pewarna dengan pembersih khusus.
2. Letakkan kuku Anda pada kertas atau kain alas. Oles pewarna kuku dengan satu arah. Jika kuku tipis atau mudah patah, mulai dari sudut hingga dapat terlapis warna dengan sempurna.
3. Rendam kuku dalam air hangat dan sabun cair, kemudian tambahkan minyak massage ke dalam kutikula yaitu lapisan tipis menyerupai kulit yang berada tepat di bawah kuku. Diamkan beberapa menit agar menyerap.
4. Gunakan alat khusus untuk menyingkirkan kulit dalam yang berlebihan dari kuku. Lalu gunting kuku yang tumbuh dengan pemotong kuku. Jangan sampai kulit kutikula ikut terpotong. Ahli manikur Sally Hansen, Dana Caruso mengatakan, memelihara kutikula pada jari sangat penting sehingga mengesankan dirawat oleh profesional.
5. Lap kembali permukaan kuku dengan pembersih khususu kuku untuk membersihkan minyak yang mungkin tersisa. Kemudian pulas dengan pewarna dasar (clear base coat) yang berwarna transparan. Jangan gunakan terlalu berlebihan karena dapat membuat kuku kering. Hal itu dapat mencegah kuku patah.
6. Oleskan pewarna kuku dua lapis yang tipis. Jika terlalu tebal, maka akan mudah sumbing.
7. Jika Anda tanpa sengaja mencoreng pewarna, cepat teteskan pembersih kuku diatasnya dengan menggunakan ujung jari dari tangan yang lain. Pembersih tersebut akan mengangkat pewarna yang tidak sengaja Anda oleskan. Tunggu selama satu menit, lalu oleskan kembali pewarna atau lapisan atas (top coat) yang terahir.
8. Selesaikan dengan pelapis atas pewarna kuku yang cepat kering. Oleskan kembali setiap hari untuk mempertahankan pewarna dan efek manikur.
9. Jika kuku Anda yang biasanya terlihat putih berubah warna menjadi kuning akibat pewarna, maka gosokkan dengan irisan lemon. Hal tersebut diungkapkan Pendiri Essie Cosmetics, Essie Weingarten.
 
(lifestyle.msn.com/rin)
Foto: corbis.com
 
http://republika.co.id/launcher/view/mid/19/news_id/2997

DPR Balas Awasi KPK, Akan Bentuk Komisi Khusus Antikorupsi

JAKARTA - Hubungan Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR) dengan Komisi Pemberantsan Korupsi (KPK) seperti perang dingin. Kedua institusi negara itu kini saling mempersiapkan instrumen untuk mengawasi satu sama lain.
 
Setelah KPK mendapat pintu untuk mengawasi pembahasan RAPBN di parlemen, kalangan DPR juga mempersiapkan mekanisme untuk mengawasi kinerja lembaga antikorupsi itu. Sejumlah anggota DPR menegaskan akan lebih ketat mengontrol serta mengawasi kerja KPK.
 
''Perlu saya tegaskan, DPR tidak begitu saja mengizinkan KPK masuk dalam rapat-rapat di DPR. Kalau KPK mau ikut sidang, harus seizin DPR,'' tegas Wakil Ketua Badan Kehormatan (BK) DPR Gayus Lumbuun kepada Jawa Pos kemarin (9/8).
 
Menurut dia, DPR akan meningkatkan pengawasan terhadap KPK lewat komisi III yang membidangi hukum, perundang-undangan, HAM, dan keamanan. Misalnya, komisi III kini menggodok tata cara atau mekanisme penyadapan yang dilakukan KPK.
 
Anggota DPR dari FPDIP itu menyebutkan bahwa KPK harus menjelaskan kepada para wakil rakyat tentang mekanisme penyadapan. ''KPK tidak boleh lagi sembarangan menyadap anggota DPR. Kontrol kepada KPK dalam rangka menjalankan fungsi pengawasan yang dimiliki DPR,'' jelasnya.
 
Sebagaimana diketahui, investigasi korupsi yang dilakukan KPK lewat penyadapan telepon dan SMS telah menangkap sejumlah anggota DPR. Termasuk, Al Amin Nasution, anggota FPPP yang tertangkap basah menerima suap dari Pemkab Bintan. Saat ini, beberapa anggota DPR meringkuk di tahanan KPK dengan berbagai kasus korupsi.
 
Gayus mengungkapkan, memang ada yang mengusulkan agar DPR pasca-Pemilu 2009 membentuk komisi baru yang khusus membidangi korupsi. Semacam komisi antikorupsi. Sebab, selama ini, cakupan pembahasan korupsi di Komisi III DPR kurang luas karena berbenturan dengan tugas pengawasan di bidang perundangan, HAM, serta keamanan.
 
''Mungkin bisa saja dibentuk komisi khusus antikorupsi di DPR agar peran DPR ikut memberantas korupsi juga terlihat. Tapi, tidak untuk saat ini. Sekarang cukup komisi III itu,'' paparnya.
 
Mitra kerja komisi antikorupsi itu nanti adalah KPK serta Pusat Pelaporan dan Analisis Transaksi Keuangan (PPATK). Sementara itu, mitra kerja komisi hukum (saat ini komisi III) adalah Departemen Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia, Kejaksaan Agung, Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia, Komisi Ombudsman Nasional, Komisi Hukum Nasional, Komisi Nasional HAM, Setjen Mahkamah Agung, Setjen Mahkamah Konstitusi, Setjen MPR, Setjen DPD, Badan Pembinaan Hukum Nasional, serta Komisi Yudisial.
 
''Namun, untuk saat ini, konsentrasi pengawasan kepada KPK hanya ada di Komisi III DPR. Komisi antikorupsi bisa saja dibahas oleh anggota baru DPR pasca-Pemilu 2009,'' ujarnya.
 
Yang jelas, kata dia, KPK tetap akan diawasi oleh DPR. Misalnya, terkait dengan bujet dan anggaran.
 
Politikus PBB Hamdan Zoelva menambahkan, kiprah KPK memang harus dikontrol agar tidak melenceng dari semangat awal saat dibentuk. Dalam penanganan korupsi, kata dia, KPK harus menjalankan fungsi koordinasi, supervisi (penyidikan), solusi (pencegahan), dan monitoring. ''Peran utama KPK adalah memberi pendidikan dan melakukan pencegahan. Tidak langsung menjadi eksekutor,'' tegas Hamdan di Jakarta kemarin.
 
Dia menilai, kengototan KPK mengikuti langsung rapat di DPR merupakan tindakan yang kurang tepat. ''KPK tidak harus face to face terlibat langsung. Seharusnya KPK cukup memeriksa hasil pembahasan dan memberi rekomendasi jika dinilai ada yang menjurus pada penyelewengan anggaran,'' ujarnya.
 
Mantan anggota DPR dari PBB tersebut menyatakan, secara historis, DPR selalu meng-up date pembentukan komisi sesuai kepentingan dan beban kerja DPR. Misalnya, pada Pemilu 1999 menghasilkan sembilan (IX) komisi. Namun, pada Pemilu 2004, DPR memekarkan komisi menjadi sebelas (XI) komisi. Ada komisi yang dipecah cakupannya dengan membuat komisi baru.
 
Merujuk kondisi saat ini, kata dia, bisa saja dibentuk komisi baru yang khusus menangani korupsi. Komisi antikorupsi tersebut akan menjadi mitra KPK. ''Kalau sudah seperti itu, KPK tidak perlu repot-repot minta ikut sidang DPR. Tinggal jalan saja dengan komisi antikorupsi yang dibentuk itu,'' jelasnya.

Sutan Bhatoegana, sekretaris Fraksi Partai Demokrat DPR, menuturkan, dirinya juga khawatir tidak ada yang mengontrol KPK. Sebab, kata dia, sampai saat ini, Komisi III DPR terkesan tidak fokus membahas agenda korupsi pada sidang-sidangnya. ''Mungkin saja perlu dibentuk komisi antikorupsi agar fungsi pengawasan DPR bisa lebih maksimal,'' tegasnya.
 
Secara teknis, komisi antikorupsi DPR berjalan bersama KPK. Bahkan, bisa juga komisi antikorupsi DPR mendapat kewenangan aktivitas kerja seperti yang dimiliki KPK.
 
Anggota Komisi VI DPR Zulkifli Hasan menambahkan, meski telah diizinkan bisa mengikuti rapat pembahasan anggaran di DPR, KPK harus bekerja sesuai tugasnya. KPK mengawasi penyusunan anggaran, DPR bertugas di fungsi pengawasan, budgeting, dan membuat UU.
 
''Semestinya, memang bukan siapa harus mengawasi siapa, tapi semua harus tetap bekerja sesuai tugas dan fungsi masing-masing,'' ujarnya kemarin.
 
(yun)

Is detox safe?

Alternate-day fasting is the latest diet craze. But is it good for your waistline or your health? Our expert investigates
 
Peta Bee
News that detoxing is potentially dangerous will have caused ripples of panic among those who rely on it for inner cleansing and occasional inch loss. Dawn Page, a 52-year-old mother of two from Oxfordshire, made headlines when she received more than £800,000 after suffering permanent brain damage while on a detox diet that instructed her to reduce her salt intake and consume large amounts of water.
 
Long before this case, reputable dieticians were questioning the effectiveness and safety of detoxing. A detox diet can last anything from 48 hours to 21 days, and most involve drinking two litres or more of water a day, along with dandelion coffee and herb teas that are thought to help expel environmental nasties. Most also recommend additional fluids - carrot and apple juice are favourites because of their "digestion boosting" properties - and some allow unlimited consumption of raw fruit and vegetables, but little else. Catherine Collins, chief dietician at St George's Hospital in London, says she has seen dozens of people with debilitating detox side effects, usually as a result of consuming more water and less salty food, often in conjunction with increased activity.
 
One was a 23-year-old patient who had slipped into a four-day coma as a result of hyponatraemia (water intoxication, which causes blood sodium levels to plummet and the brain to swell) induced by a three-week detox diet. Too much fluid and too little dietary sodium mean body salts, or electrolytes, in the blood become dangerously diluted. "Sticking to a detox regimen for a day or two won't be harmful for most people - neither will it have any effect on their long-term health - as there is no scientific basis for it," Collins says. "But when detox plans promote longer periods of severe dietary restriction, which many do, they can cause problems."
 
So, with detox phobia rife, is there a more moderate and less risky alternative? Some scientists think so and are advocating an approach called alternate-day fasting (ADF), which should appeal to those who have trouble sticking to a harsh dietary regimen in the first place. For most of us, diets are a calorie seesaw: you cut down your intake with grim determination one day, only to be ravenously hungry the next. And, according to the scientists who have studied ADF, this may be no bad thing. Their admittedly controversial research has shown that restricting calories for 24 hours and reintroducing them the following day will not only help you to shift pounds and fat cells, but also to live longer.
 
A quick internet search reveals there are hundreds of visitors to ADF and "intermittent-fasting" chat rooms, along with thousands of sites detailing the purported benefits of this bizarre trend for self-imposed semi-starvation. In America, a raft of books on the subject, such as The Alternate-Day Diet and The QOD Diet: Eating Well Every Other Day, have further raised its profile and appeal. "Alternate-day fasting lets you focus your hunger in manageable periods," says Brian Delaney, author of The Longevity Diet. "You are not a little hungry all the time, like you are on a normal diet, but you are very hungry for a little time." And with a growing body of scientific backing for its health benefits, AFD is, potentially, more than just another diet fad.
 
Recently, nutritionists at the University of California found that eating half as much as usual every other day could shrink fat cells and boost some of the mechanisms that break down fat. Krista Varady and her team put some mice on a full alternate-day fast, while others were allowed to eat half as much as usual on their fasting days. The results showed that, while the first group lost more weight, the fat cells of all the dieting mice shrank by at least 35%. Another study, published three years ago in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that people who followed the ADF diet for just three weeks lost an average 2.5% of their body weight and 4% of their body fat.
 
Even if you fast one day, then are so chew-off-your-arm hungry the next that you gorge on highly calorific goodies, there seem to be health benefits. In a study carried out at the National Institute on Ageing, American scientists allowed mice to eat nothing one day and trained them to tuck into as much food as they wanted during the next 24 hours. Although they were too greedy on their eating days to shed weight, they still had improved insulin sensitivity - meaning they cleared sugar from the bloodstream more efficiently, a vital factor in preventing diabetes - and a longer life span than the mice who ate regular meals every day.
 
So, how does ADF work? Like our hunter-gatherer ancestors, who spent days searching for food and ate only intermittently, we are genetically programmed to adapt to cycles of fasting and feasting. Scientists say the temporary withdrawal of food for short periods appears to stress the body in a positive way, so that a gene called Sirt1 is switched on. This gene is also activated by resveratrol, the antioxidant present in red grapes and wine that is known to ward off heart disease and help the body to use fats in the bloodstream for energy.
 
Not all nutritionists think ADF is the way to go, however. Some argue that it is impossible to stick to long term. In the few human studies carried out on ADF, subjects have often reported feeling tired, tetchy and hungry on the days they were required to fast. Critics suggest that those looking to lose weight do not need to subject themselves to such a harsh regimen. They point to a study by researchers at Cornell University that showed that simply restricting calories for one meal a day could help to shift pounds. When a group of people were asked to cut their usual lunch to 200 calories, they didn't compensate by eating more during the rest of the day.
 
Those who try ADF should bear in mind that food must be ultra-healthy, as "with no calories to spare, every bite you take needs to be packed with nutrition", says Susan Bowerman, assistant director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of California, who has reviewed the trend. "There is a lot of research to be done before the animal studies that have proven it to be healthy are replicated in humans," says Lisa Miles, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation. "If you have overeaten one day, then it will help to balance out your calorie intake by eating less the next, but it is not something that we would recommend on a long-term basis."
 
Detox fads: the big three
Master Cleanse: Also known as the Maple Syrup Diet or the Lemon Detox, it involves drinking glasses of Madal Bal natural tree syrup mixed with lemon juice and cayenne pepper — see The Complete Master Cleanse by Tom Woloshyn (Ulysses £6.99). During the recommended 10-day fast, it is suggested that no food is consumed. Beyoncé reportedly lost 22lb on this.
Verdict: Contains too few nutrients and might be dangerous.
 
21-day detox: Oprah Winfrey tried it recently. Devised by Kathy Feston — it featured in her American bestseller Quantum Wellness (Weinstein £12.70) — it advocates adopting a vegan diet of whole grains, beans and legumes, and steamed or sautéed vegetables for three weeks.
Verdict: Cutting out whole food groups, such as meat, can leave you prone to serious nutritional deficiencies.
 
The Longevity Diet (Four Walls Eight Windows £6.99): the author, Brian Delaney, is president of the Calorie Restriction Society, a group that practises what they preach. This regimen has been shown to increase life expectancy in animals.
Verdict: Too strict — followers are allowed to consume only 1,200 calories a day.
 
My week of hunger
There comes a time every summer when you wish you had started on that bikini diet a little earlier. Two weeks ago, that time struck me. So, in a blind panic at the thought of baring my unprepared body by the pool, I embarked on a detox. The General Motors Diet — so called because it was invented for the overweight employees of the American car manufacturer — promises to help you shed 10lb-17lb in a week. Perfect, I thought.
 
It is marginally easier to follow than some other detoxes, in that each day is different. So, it's fruit only on day one (but you can eat as much as you like), veg on day two, fruit and veg on day three, bananas and milk on day four (odd, yes), beef and tomatoes on day five (even odder), leading you to the end of the week, when you start to eat things that actually resemble meals. And there's no sugar or alcohol.
 
The rules are simple, but sticking to them? Harder. I started off the week with gusto, keenly munching on copious amounts of melon, and cancelling all plans in favour of a camomile tea in front of the telly. But by day three, I caved in — felled by a vodka and tonic — and it was all downhill from there. I discovered that, if you have a normal job and social life, you can forget about doing them and a detox at the same time. Not only do you feel faint, hungry and listless — you also feel stifled, bored and boring. Much like the diet itself. So it's sarongs and kaftans again for me this year.
 
Gemma Soames
 
Have your say
what on earth is wrong just having a normal balanced diet?? gosh, no wonder we're a nation of either bulimics, overweighters or anorexics. Just a normal sensible balanced diet everyday, which includes fruit and veg everyday - this is all that is needed.
 
Samantha, Cadiz,

The world's deepest swimming pool

Take the plunge in Brussels, where £4m has been splashed out on a pool with a depth of 33 metres
 
Richard Fleury
World-class scuba diving has not, historically, been among Belgium's claim to fame. Chocolates, the Smurfs, the European Parliament and statues of micturating minors, yes. Clear blue water and coral reefs, no.
So 11 years ago, a civil engineer with a passion for the underwater world decided that it was time this situation was redressed. John Beernaerts's dream of creating the world's first indoor diving complex began as a simple doodle, sketched on a napkin in a Brussels bar.
 
Today John and I are sitting at another bar as waiters carry drinks and Thai food to tables. Facing us is a row of large, square windows. Every few seconds a diver drifts past, blowing bubbles in the blue space behind the glass. It's a human aquarium.
 
"It was huge work to transform this little design into reality," Beernaerts, 47, says. "It was an obsession. I was at the A and I had to make it to Z."
 
Seven years, £4 million and four girlfriends later, he opened Nemo33 on the outskirts of Brussels. It was an immediate success.
 
At 33m (105ft) deep, Nemo33 is the world's deepest swimming pool. And its 2.5 million litres of spring water are kept at a constant, you've guessed ... 33C (91F). "The idea was to make tropical water," Beernaerts says. "To bring the Bahamas into Brussels."
 
But it's much more than a posh swimming pool. Nemo33 is purpose-built for scuba diving, with every design feature informed by Beernaerts' 32 years as a diver and 20 as an instructor.
 
After kitting up by the poolside - all equipment is provided - he takes me on an underwater tour. Dropping down to 10m, I pause at the observation windows to wave to my wife and son in the restaurant, and then we make our way to the 33m pit.
 
We're greeted by a wall of bubbles rising from the divers below. Descending through the jumble of fins, arms and legs - the pit can get crowded at weekends - we find ourselves alone at the bottom. I can feel the pressure of the water bearing down.
 
After a few minutes spent staring up at the distant disc of light visible high above, it's time to ascend. Beernaerts shows me the underwater tunnels and chambers, filled with breathable air to allow instructors to talk to students without surfacing.
 
More than 100,000 divers, from all over Europe, have visited Nemo since it opened in 2004. "There are people who have been coming once a week from the beginning." he says. "It is like a sauna or yoga. All the stress of work is gone in one hour."
 
As a scuba training and practice facility, Nemo33 is in a class of its own. Every city should have one. It's safe, comfortable and convenient if you happen to live in Brussels.
 
But is it worth the journey from the UK? Nemo33, a ten-minute taxi drive from Brussels' Gare du Midi Eurostar terminal, is possible as a day trip, but it makes more sense as part of a family weekend break. Just turn up with your scuba certification and swimming gear and enjoy a relaxing 45 minutes underwater.
 
Afterwards there is plenty of time to venture outdoors and immerse yourself in Brussels; its cafés and restaurants, the recently renovated Atomium, the Museum of Natural Science's dinosaur gallery and the city's famous chocolatiers. After all, you can't buy chocolate Smurfs in the Bahamas.
 
NEED TO KNOW
- Nemo33 (0032 2 332 3334, www.nemo33.com) charges Euros 22 per dive. Eurostar (0870 5186186, www.eurostar.com) has return fares to Brussels from £59.
- Hotel Amigo (0800 988 4040, www.roccoforte collection.com) has rooms from £158.
- Further information: Belgian Tourist Office (020-7531 0390, www.belgiumtheplaceto.be)
 

Snake is small change to the record books

By David McFadden
 
The leptotyphlops carlae. Photo / AP
 
An American scientist says he has discovered the world's tiniest species of snake in the easternmost Caribbean island of Barbados, with full-grown adults typically less than 10 centimetres long.
 
S. Blair Hedges, an evolutionary biologist at Penn State University whose research teams also have discovered the world's tiniest lizard in the Dominican Republic and the smallest frog in Cuba, said the snake was found slithering beneath a rock near a patch of Barbadian forest.
 
Hedges said the tiny snake, which is so small it can curl up on a United States quarter, is the smallest of the 3100 known snake species.
 
It will be introduced to the scientific world in the journal Zootaxa today.
 
Hedges christened the miniature brown snake "leptotyphlops carlae" after his herpetologist wife, Carla Ann Hass.
 
The Barbadian snake apparently eats termites and insect larvae, but nothing is yet known of its ecology and behaviour. Genetic tests identified the snake as a new species, according to Hedges. It is not venomous.
 
Since Darwin's days, scientists have noticed that islands often are home to both oversized and miniaturised beasts.
 
Hedges said the world's smallest bird species, the bee hummingbird, can be found in Cuba. The second-smallest snake lives in Martinique. At the other end of the scale, one of the largest swallowtail butterflies lives in Jamaica.
 
LEPTOTYPHLOPS CARLAE
* It is a type of thread snake, also called worm snake.
* Full-grown adults are typically less than 10cm long.
* It apparently eats termites and insect larvae.
* It is not venomous.
 

Great white most fearsome creature since dinosaurs: study

5:00AM Tuesday August 05, 2008
By Greg Ansley
 
This is one of those bits of trivia that keep you awake at night. The great white shark is now estimated to have the strongest, meanest, bite of any creature on the planet. Its jaws are so powerful, in fact, that researchers have had to dip into pre-history to find something more awesome.
 
"Pound for pound the great white's bite is not particularly impressive, but the sheer size of the animal means that in absolute terms it tops the scales," University of New South Wales researcher Stephen Wroe wrote in the British Journal of Zoology.
 
"It must also be remembered that its extremely sharp serrated teeth require relatively little force to drive them through thick skin, fat and muscle."
 
The species is protected in New Zealand and Australia. Australian researchers used 3D computer modelling to estimate that a 2.4m great white bites with a force equivalent to 1.8 tonnes.
 
The technique, called finite element analysis and used in the design of motor vehicles and buildings to measure stress and movement, created a digital representation of the shark's head to estimate the power of its jaws.
 
Researchers found little to match it.
 
The great white's bite is about three times more powerful than a lion's 560kg, and leaves the 80kg chomp of a human jaw for dead. Only dinosaurs match up. Tyrannosaurus rex had an estimated biting power of 3.1 tonnes. And the great white's infinitely more fearsome predecessor, the huge carcharodon megalodon, killed its prey with biting power estimated at up to 18.2 tonnes. The extinct monster shark weighed in at 100 tonnes and grew up to 16m long. But the great white remains today's most jawsome carnivore.
 
"Nature has endowed it with more than enough bite force to kill and eat large and potentially dangerous prey," Wroe wrote.
 

Rare 111-year-old reptile to become a father

A RARE 111-year-old New Zealand reptile with links to the age of the dinosaurs is to become a father for the first time in at least 38 years after regaining an interest in sex.
 
Henry the tuatara, a lizard-like creature of prehistoric origin, had grown fat and lazy after arriving at Southland Museum in the remote South Island city of Invercargill in 1970, staff said.
 
But Henry has now mated with Mildred, his 80-year-old companion, and 11 of her eggs are expected to hatch in six months.
 
"He wasn't interested in sex until a cancerous tumour was removed from his bottom," said curator Lindsay Hazley.
 
"He bit the tail off his previous female companion twice. But since the operation his hormones have been raging."
 
Tuatara are found only in New Zealand and are the only existing members of the Order Sphenodontia, which was represented by many species during the age of the dinosaurs some 200 million years ago, according to a government website.
 
All species apart from the tuatara declined and eventually became extinct about 60 million years ago.
 
Henry, a 1.2kg, 600mm long representative of his kind, is now enjoying the company of three females in his enclosure, with the next breeding season due in eight months.
 
"He's definitely up for it, he's become a real Jack the Lad since he lost his virginity," Hazley said.
 
 
 
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