At 09:58 PM 10/19/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello,
>
>    I have just heard a radio interview with some guy who has discovered a
>new product that he claims is made from wasp saliva in Japan.  Apparently
>an athlete at the recent Sydney Olympics won her race after drinking this
>stuff. Can anyone tell me more about this? Regards, Ted


Ted,

Sorry it took so long to dig up the article, but the gist of it reads:

Marathoner Naoko Takahashi, the first Japanese woman to win an
Olympic gold medal drinks a liquid made from a secretion of the larvae
of 1-1/2 inch long yellow hornets called "suzumebachi" or "sparrow bees".

Takashi Abe, a researcher at the Institute of Physical and Chemical
Research near Tokyo, found 5 years ago that mice fed the extract
were able to swim continuously for 150 minutes compared to 100 minutes
for the control group (those mice without the drink).

In Japan, the drink is called Vaam, one of many sold in Japan which claim
to restore energy after a hard day of work, or a hard night of drinking.

Ms. Takahashi passed her drug tests in Sydney after the marathon, so the
gold medal was awarded to her.

I'm not sure I'm that desperate for an energy drink that I'd resort to
"sparrow bee larvae".  I'll stick to coffee!

Joe

Joseph A. Clark