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Where the world's livestock lives

THE world's average stock of chickens is almost 19 billion, or three per person, according to statistics from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation. Cattle are the next most populous breed of farm animal at 1.4 billion, with sheep and pigs not far behind at around 1 billion. China's vast appetite helps make it the world leader in the number of chickens, pigs and sheep, whereas beef-loving Brazil and cow-revering India have the greatest number of cattle. Expressed as livestock per person, New Zealand lives up to its reputation as the world's most productive shepherd, with 7.5 sheep for each New Zealander. It is also the second biggest cattle herdsman, with the equivalent of 2.3 cows per person, second only to Uruguay's 3.7. For chickens, Brunei rules the roost, counting 40 birds for every person.

Why can most people remember a color, but only a few can remember pitch? —David Hardie, Perth, Australia

Robert O. Duncan, a behavioral scientist at York College, the City University of New York, responds:

ALTHOUGH MOST of us believe we are better at identifying colors than sounds, our ability to identify the exact frequency of light associated with a color is actually no better than our ability to name a pitch.

Our perception of visible light depends on context. You might go shop-ping for house paints, for example, and be shocked to find that the particular shade of white you selected in the store makes your kitchen look pink! You may have chosen the wrong shade of white because the ambient light in the store differs from that of your home. If we could accurately identify colors, we would never make such mistakes. People may think they are more adept at identifying colors, however, because they tend to associate hues with specific objects, which do not change. For instance, we will generally perceive an apple to be red because the light reflecting off its surface remains fairly constant from moment to moment.

In contrast, in hearing we identify objects, people and speech by the changes in frequency. For example, we can understand a sentence whether it is spoken by a girl with a high voice or a man with a low voice because the relative changes in frequency that occur as the girl and man recite the same words are about the same. In fact, speech and other sounds in
the environment are always changing, which is likely why we have evolved to recognize changes in frequencies rather than any single pitch.

Although few people develop perfect pitch—the ability to precisely name the frequency of a sound—we have a remarkable ability to discriminate among different sounds. We can distinguish house cats from tigers, bicycles from motorcycles, and basketballs from Ping-Pong balls. We use the melodic properties of speech to discriminate a person’s gender, identity and mood. We have an expansive musical memory that enables us to recall tens of thousands of melodies with ease. And with a modest degree of training, most musicians can develop relative pitch, the ability to identify an unknown tone in relation to a known tone.
Why do memories of vivid dreams disappear soon after waking up?
—Gil Greengross, via e-mail

Ernest Hartmann, professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, explains:

In his New Year address to the nation, President Muhammadu Buhari dismissed calls for a holistic new look at Nigeria’s political structure, saying he does not see it as a priority.

“When all the aggregates of nationwide opinions are considered, my firm view is that our problems are more to do with process than structure,” the president said.

“No human law or edifice is perfect,” Mr. Buhari insisted in the State House announcement which lasted for nearly 20 minutes.

The president said Nigeria should continue to operate its current presidential system, but welcomed ideas on how to make it less permeable to extravagance, waste and corruption largely.

“There is a strong case for a closer look at the cost of government and for the public services long used to extravagance, waste and corruption to change for the better.

“I assure you that government is ever receptive to ideas which will improve governance and contribute to the country’s peace and stability,” he said in the address, which is his first to the nation since August 21, 2017.

The president urged Nigerians to be patient with the current presidential system and allow it to evolve until it becomes suitable enough to accommodate the country’s peculiarities.

The comments appeared targeted at shutting down back-end insinuations that the president may eventually yield to growing agitations for fundamental changes in Nigeria’s political structure.

Critics argue that Nigeria’s current federal system has become too centralised and its expenses have become bloated overtime.

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