Science

In one of the more geologically diverse and interesting parts of rural Australia is a small town that's responsible for more than it's fair share of history.

Stanthorpe and it's surrounding district known as the "Granite Belt", of not much more than ten thousand people, is responsible for famous singers and film directors, politicians, sporting hero's and even a current Archbishop.

Now, a suitably timeless honor has been bestowed on this beautiful and surprisingly productive part of the world - a celestial body has been named after it.

Stanthorpe resident Eiji Kato was given the opportunity to name Asteroid 10078 after working with renowned Japanese astronomer Tsutomu Seki.

The official citation issued by the Minor Planet Centre at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in the US reads not only that the Asteroid Stanthorpe was discovered by Mr Seki in 1981, but that;

"Stanthorpe, known as Queensland's wine capital, is a town nestled in national parks on the highlands in the southeastern part of the Australian state. It is also known for fruit production and beautiful night skies."

A recent report on a study by a Southampton University team has appeared in the journal Public Health. It finds that dementia rates have trebled in men and increased by 90 per cent among women.

The study examined rates of the diseases in much of the Western world from 1979 to 1997. "This has really scared me," Professor Colin Pritchard, who led the study. "These are nasty diseases: people are getting more of them and they are starting earlier. We have to look at the environment and ask ourselves what we are doing."

"There's no single cause ... and most of the time we have no studies on all the multiple interactions of the combinations on the environment."

Results from a recent study seems to show that being fluent in two languages may protect against mental decline in old age.

This latest study appears to back up the theory that language skills also have a protective effect.

"The bilinguals were more efficient at all ages tested and showed a slower rate of decline for some processes with aging," said Dr Ellen Bialystok of York University.

"It appears...that bilingualism helps to offset age-related losses."

So learn another language, use it, and keep your brain functional longer. It's also interesting to note that in the process you'll probably become wiser too.