Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe BED SHARING BY PARENTS, INFANTS RISING Bed sharing -- the practice of letting babies sleep in an adult bed with a parent or care-giver -- is increasing in the United States, according two studies published in the January Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Advertisement The studies find nearly 13 percent of infants shared an adult bed and 50 percent of infants spent at least some time in the previous two weeks sleeping on an adult bed at night. Proponents argue that bed sharing contributes to longer periods of breastfeeding, might protect infants from succumbing to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome by increasing infant awakenings and increases the mother's awareness of the infant. Opponents cite potential hazards, including: suffocation in soft bedding or pillows; entrapment between the bed and wall or bed frame, headboard, or footboard; and bed sharers rolling over onto the infants. HOUSEHOLD ECOLOGICAL IMPACT Getting a divorce or moving away from Mom and Dad has a bigger impact than just on those involved, according to Jianguo Liu of Michigan State University. Human population growth is threatening animals and plants, but so too is the rising number of households, even in areas where the population is steady or shrinking, Liu says. Advertisement "This may be a wake-up call that everything we do, including personal freedom and personal choice, may have an impact on the environment," says Liu, an ecologist who studies the effects of economics on ecosystems. The abundance of dwellings with one, two or three occupants can cause a sharp rise in the use of energy, land, construction materials and water. SEPT. 11 HERO FROM BANGLADESH Sheik Saleh considers himself a true-blue, everyday American -- but in Bangladesh, he's a national hero, The New York Post reports. The 33-year-old daytime bar manager at T.G.I. Friday's in Lower Manhattan, along with three others, led 50 people fleeing the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001 to the restaurant. His bravery in leading people to safety and turning the restaurant into a first-aid center has earned him a nomination for his native country's top honor, The Post says. "Other business owners were locking their doors. That struck me. Why lock the doors?" Saleh says. "People were suffering outside." PANDAS' DEATH EXAMINED The National Zoo in Washington is assembling a panel of experts "to take a hard look" at the deaths over the weekend of two red pandas, The Washington Post reports. Advertisement The pandas died after rat poison pellets that emit toxic fumes were buried in their yard. The adult male pandas, members of an endangered species, were found dead in their yard Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after pellets of aluminum phosphide were buried there to control a burgeoning rat problem. Three zoo employees who went inside the animals' yard experienced headaches, nausea and diarrhea and were treated at a hospital and released. Red pandas are unrelated to the larger, more familiar giant panda.
