What Else Is Changing In The 21st Century?

Police talk changed to code in the 1920's because of the scarcity of radio channels. Police had to get on and off the air quickly. It was also thought codes would provide privacy. Not anymore. In fact, the differences in local codes cause confusion. For example, an Independence, Missouri police dispatcher used plain English - instead of 10/33 - when radioing the Highway Patrol that one of their officers was down. To the highway Patrol 10/33 meant traffic backup. In 2006 the Department of Homeland Security asked law enforcement agencies to voluntarily talk in plain English, but some still use "double talk".

In plain English, a study done by 2 researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that women have become less happy than men. In spite of the progress brought by the feminist movement 35 years ago, women's happiness has been declining over the past 3 decades, while men's happiness has remained stable or slightly increased. The study took into consideration women's age, marital status, labor force participation and whether they had children. Although the study found that the unhappiness gap covered all demographics, further research is necessary to find out why. And why aren't men less happy? Perhaps because of women.

There are more than 100 million men and women using electric bicycles in China - about 4 times the number using private cars. Although E-bikes are also popular in Europe, they're just catching on in the U.S. About 200,000 sold in 2008. E-bikes have a small motor and a throttle. By law they can't have more than 1 horsepower or go faster than 20 mph on motor power. E-bikes range in price from a few hundred to more than $13,000. They're supposedly for customers wanting comfortable, green transportation - but in a down economy E-bikes make going up hill easier.

Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams beer, teamed with Weihenstephan, the renowned German brewery, to make a new beer. The 2-year project resulted in a yet unnamed beer that will be 10% alcohol instead of the usual 4%-7% and be bottled with a cork instead of a metal cap. It will also be brewed following Germany's purity law, allowing only 4 ingredients - water, malt, hops and yeast. When it's released in 2010, the 2 brewers hope their premium, craft beer will win over more wine and spirits drinkers. That may depend on what's brewing economically.