Planck early results V : The Low Frequency Instrument data processing

Peer reviewe

A century of trends in adult human height

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5-22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3-19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8-144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries

Seeking guidance from the spirits: Neo-shamanic divination rituals in modern Dutch society

Despite the fact that the Netherlands is one of the most secularized countries of Western Europe, different forms of religiosity have emerged, such as charismatic movements and alternative spirituality. Some people are seeking to find security and religious fulfilment in the complicated context of modern Dutch society through unusual, irrational and creative new spiritual practices. Neo-shaman divination rituals offer enchanted repertoires to cope with decision-making and problems of the soul. This paper explores the ways in which especially highly educated women engage in creative trance journeys to meet neo-shamanic guides. The neo-shamanic worldview and symbolic healing practices offer them new religious expressions to get a grip on the existential insecurities of an unsure future. © 2008 Social Compass