By Dave Andrusko

It's near the end of the day, so this will be short and sweet and kind of fun, I hope. Don't rush but if you get a chance, go to www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?_r=1&ref=science. The article is titled "Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain."

It's part of a series the Times is running that examines "how a deluge of data can affect the way people think and behave." I mention it to the readers of National Right to Life News Today and Today's News & Views because based on many hundreds of emails, it's clear to me that many of you are online nearly as much as I am--which is too much, by the way.

Written by Matt Richtel, "Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain" is an entertaining look at an experiment by a collection of intellectually high-octane types who disagree over how much and in what way technology is affecting our brains, aka "how heavy use of digital devices and other technology changes how we think and behave." The experiment is to determine, Richtel writes, "how a retreat into nature might reverse those effects."

Some of what they discover is what most of us would expect. Some is more surprising. The most interesting result is from one of the "skeptics." who found out in this "trip into the heart of silence" things about his wired self he hadn't noticed.

The URL is www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?_r=1&ref=science.

It's a fun read, and offers a few warning signs of the "impact on the brain of heavy technology use."

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