Word: straightforwardness
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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While Smiley's straightforward style may not be the best method of recounting the almost overwhelming challenges that Lidie faces (both physically and mentally), it keeps the book feeling genuine, and never once lets it digress into a cheap Western adventure-romance dime novel. The author relies a bit too heavily on powers of description, with enormous paragraphs dedicated to describing the finery (or lack thereof) around the heroine. But then again, such descriptions keep the authenticity of the book alive...
...experiment was straightforward: 21 TT therapists stuck their hands, palms up, through a screen. Emily held her own hand over one of theirs--left or right, decided by the flip of a coin--and the practitioners had to say which hand it was. When the results were tallied, they'd done no better than they would have by simply guessing. If there was an energy field, they couldn't feel it. Emily is quick to point out that her test must be replicated before it's considered definitive. But it isn't good news for the TT community...
Viagra's effects on the hydraulics of male sexuality are pretty straightforward. Originally developed as a heart medication, the drug works directly on the blood vessels, blocking an enzyme called phosphodiesterase. This enzyme prevents the release of certain neurotransmitters--most notably one called cyclic GMP--that cause the smooth muscles surrounding arteries to relax, allowing the arteries to expand. When this occurs in penile arteries, it leads to engorgement, which leads to erection...
...sports heritage is genuine. Knight launched the company in 1964 with Bill Bowerman, his former track coach at the University of Oregon. Knight's business plan, hatched as an M.B.A. project at Stanford, was straightforward. He figured that by importing shoes made in Japan, where labor was then cheap, he could undercut the dominant player, Adidas. At first he merely imported Japanese running shoes. Then Bowerman, in the kitchen one morning, had one of those Aha! ideas. He made an outsole by pouring a rubber compound into the waffle iron. The waffle trainer was born--and Nike was ready...
...serious threat? Scientists generally agree on the best strategy for avoiding disaster: launch a rocket to intercept the intruder and, at the very least, change its orbit. If the asteroid is small and detected many years and orbits before its predicted impact, the solution would be straightforward. "You apply some modest impulse to the asteroid at its closest approach to the sun," says Los Alamos' Canavan. "The slight deflection that results will amplify during each orbit, ensuring that the asteroid misses Earth by a wide margin." That little push, he notes, could be provided by conventional high explosives...