Fun Fact Friday #1

The inaugural Fun Fact Friday post! If you're curious what this series is all about, read the FFF introduction here!

How you will react by the end of this post! (Maybe. Hopefully?) | Source

Health

Colorado's Effort Against Teen Pregnancies Is A Startling Success by Sabrina Tavernise via the New York Times || dated 5 July 2015
Through a private grant, Colorado has been implementing a program that offers long-term birth control options such as the intrauterine device (IUD) and implants to all women - especially poorer women - at no cost to them. The researchers conducting this six year experiment wanted to see whether women would opt to use these devices in these circumstances, and how that would affect the overall birth rate.

Results from the study show that women did indeed elect to use these long-term birth control options when given the opportunity, leading to a 40% decrease in teenage pregnancies between 2009 and 2013. The rate of abortions also fell by 42% in this time period. Allowing women to better control when they want to have children is "one of the simplest, fastest, and cheapest things we can do" to reduce poverty. Colorado's state health department has estimated that for every dollar spent on long-term birth control programs, that leads to a $5.85 saved for the state's Medicaid program, which covers pregnant women, children, and their mothers who are unable to otherwise afford healthcare.

Science

The Brain of the Buddhist by Kathy Gilsinan via The Atlantic || dated 4 July 2015

“He said: ‘You’ve been using the tools of modern neuroscience to study depression, and anxiety, and fear. Why can’t you use those same tools to study kindness and compassion?’ … I did not have a very good answer. I said it was hard.”

That was a question the Dalai Lama asked neuroscientist Richard Davidson when Davidson met the Dalai Lama back in 1992. Since then, Davidson has been conducting studies to see the brain activity of Buddhist monks who meditate many hours a day. While meditating, these monks are 'generating “a state in which love and compassion permeate the whole mind, with no other consideration, reasoning, or discursive thoughts.”' MRIs show that these monks had higher gamma oscillation activities, which indicates that the brain is more plastic/capable of change. This may offer insights as to why those who meditate/express compassion, which is considered "a state that involves the body in a major way" are more resilient to certain negative events.

Social/Cultural

Learning the Hard Way Why You Just Shouldn't GetTooClose by Deepak Singh via NPR || dated 27 June 2015
The United States is a wonderful place for cultures and worlds to collide. Some say it's a melting pot, but I think it's more of a salad: many cultures come together, but it's hard to integrate. Singh talks about learning about this unwritten American cultural notion "personal space", something that Americans seem to take very seriously and personally. However, personal space is a luxury in some countries, such as India, where Singh is from.

I think this article is just a nice reminder that when you meet/experience someone committing a cultural faux pas, instead of being irritated with him/her, realize that s/he honestly may not understand what gaffe s/he is making. Instead of derision, try to be kind, and help them.

Personal

This isn't a recent find, per se, but I have been unable to stop thinking of this quote since I discovered it, and wanted to share.

Compassion hurts. When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destinies of others. You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it. You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors. -- Andrew Boyd

Why did you think of the articles mentioned? How about that quote?

Thanks for reading, have a wonderful weekend! :)