Today’s New York Times Science Tuesday section had so many very important tips that I’m sending them to my children, to help keep their families safe. If you didn’t get to read it:

Kids swallowing batteries: Check your remotes and anything else with a disk battery to be sure young fingers can’t get into them. Swallowing lithium cell batteries is way more dangerous than ingesting other kinds of batteries, and more kids are doing it. The lithium batteries destroy the esophagus. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/for-very-young-peril-lurks-in-lithium-cell-batteries/?ref=science

Grilling toxins: Marinating meat in rosemary reduces the toxins produced by high-heat grilling. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/health/01real.html?src=me&ref;=health

Hospital infections: You can get a dangerous infection in the hospital by not washing your hands with soap and water before you eat. Alchohol-based cleaners don’t destroy Clostridium difficile (C. diff) which can live for weeks on hard surfaces like bed rails, tables, and faucets. Be sure it is not on your hands when you handle food. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/science/01lett-CURBINGHOSPI_LETTERS.html?ref=science

And on the more positive side:

Music helps memory: Studying a dancing cockatoo proved that parrots, like people, are vocal learners. This explains why stroke victims learn better when singing and Alzheimer’s patients remember better that way as well. The implication for teaching your kids? Use music for memory work. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/science/01conv.html?ref=science

Get happy, get older. You can expect to be happier at 80 than you were in your 20s, because happiness increases with age. Good news for me as I turn 70.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/health/research/01happy.html?src=me&ref;=general