Harper's Weekly Email

I haven't been reading the Harper's Weekly email newsletter lately. Just haven't had the time. But I found myself with a few minutes this afternoon and decided to read through the news tidbits that one of the editors from Harper's magazine pull together. It's usually a mix of politics, world news, and unusual stories.

The nicely balance items like, "The Bush Administration issued a new rule that will permit the EPA to approve pesticides without finding out from wildlife agencies whether the chemicals will harm plants and animals protected by the Endangered Species Act." with items like, "Italy was upset about a poster campaign in the London subway urging people not to eat smelly food; the posters show an overweight man sitting on a train surrounded by parma hams and salamis and strings of garlic."

However, my favorite snippet came right at the end:

"Scientists discovered that fatigue is all in the mind."

I found the article the reports the claim, too.

It's all about a "signaling" molecule called interleukin-6 (IL-6) that tells the body that it is tired - when actually the muscles are still good to go. Fascinating. There are some interesting dirty science possibilities here. The right mix of steroids and IL-6 inhibitors could make a super-athlete.

Personally, I think my body purges itself of IL-6 naturally around 10pm at night. I can be felling tired up to that point, but as soon at the clock bongs ten, I ready to go again.