The end of the world isn’t nigh -- or is it? *

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Well, another week draws to a close. As a Friday treat, we thought we’d provide you with items that may have a bearing on whether you’ll be motivated to eat your oatmeal and spinach and go jogging at dawn this weekend or pour yourself more stiff cocktails than is prudent:

According to the Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics, Volume 35, the human species is not about to go extinct. ‘A new report provides comprehensive evidence to confirm that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)’s switch-on this week poses no threat to mankind,’ the Institute of Physics alerts us in a news release. A scientific review of the risks concludes, among other things, that ‘if particle collisions at the LHC had the power to destroy the Earth, we would never have been given the chance to exist.’ OK, then. Try telling that to people who’ve been calling physicists involved in the particle-smashing project with death threats and tearful entreaties to not turn the thing on, according to an article in the Daily Telegraph. (Here’s an L.A. Times article on the LHC by John Johnson from April.)

All right, so maybe the LHC isn’t going to kill us all. But what about an asteroid plunging into Earth from the depths of space? For word on that risk, you will have to wait a few weeks longer. According to another report, this one from the Secure World Foundation, ‘For the past two years the Assn. of Space Explorers (ASE) -- the international organization of astronauts and cosmonauts from 33 countries -- has been developing a program to protect the Earth from asteroid impacts.’ They’ll be unveiling the fruits of their efforts Sept. 25 at the Offices of the Google Foundation (yes, that’s what it’s called) in San Francisco.

We don’t mean to alarm you. We are also not in the pay of gum manufacturers, but if the thought of atom-smashers and careening asteroids has you bent out of shape, consider the following: A study by Australian researchers (funded by Wrigley’s and Cadbury’s, we should disclose) found that chewing gum ‘was associated with higher alertness, reduced anxiety and stress, and improvement in overall performance on multi-tasking activities.’ Stress level was determined by assessing people with a tool called the DISS, or Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation. ‘Gum chewers showed a reduction in anxiety as compared to non-gum chewers by nearly 17% during mild stress and nearly 10% in moderate stress,’ the researchers reported. The study, reported at the 10th International Congress of Behavioural Medicine, assessed the effects of gum on 40 young adults.

So chew gum. Don’t worry about the LHC. Keep your hopes high on the asteroid issue -- indeed, positive thinking is one of the tips that we offer up in a set of articles this week on the science of how to be more happy. (That’s right -- after decades of researching depression, neurosis, psychosis and sundry other miseries, psychologists have of late been turning their attention to the ‘H’ word.) Check it out by clicking on the giant ‘Health’ word at the top of this blog.

And have a good weekend!

-- Rosie Mestel

* Oops. I made a mistake in the above. According to a PR rep from Wrigley’s, the Australian gum-chewing study was funded with money not from Wrigley’s and Cadbury’s but solely from the Wrigley Science Institute, which was set up to ‘advance and share scientific research that explores the benefits of chewing gum.’

I’ll admit the existence of such an institute got me pretty excited -- invoked visions of a gorgeous building fronted with a gracious arch shaped like a giant piece of stick gum, maybe bent into a ‘W’ -- a place that I could visit and see a hive of gum research activity: gum tension measured by gum-stretching machines, scientists with clipboards measuring saliva output and charting flavor decay curves, chicken-flavored gum and sardine-flavored gum tested by panels of trained testers ... endless possibilities. But the rep further clarified that members of the research institute are scattered across the globe and tend to work in their own labs.

-- Rosie Mestel

Photo Credit: Magnet core of the world’s largest superconducting solenoid magnet at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator. AP Photo / Keystone, Martial Trezzini, file