Natural disaster

HANWANG, China - Chinese teenager Yang Liu lay alive but buried under the rubble of her school on Wednesday, knowing that the only way she will survive is if she loses her legs.

Yang has been fed, given water and a white helmet as workers remove ruins brick by brick from around her and a crane pulled away slabs of concrete — the remains of the school that parents said had around 800 students before Monday's quake hit.

Rescuers took a photojournalist to where Yang was trapped, before rushing his photos, along with Yang's mother, to the local hospital, where surgeons studied them in preparation.

She could be saved, but she would lose her legs.

"They are preparing to do surgery now, but the level of difficulty is very high," said one rescue worker.

Girl 'calm and stable'

Rescuers had deemed it too dangerous to move the concrete to free her legs.

"They decided that they can't move any of the rubble from on top of her, because it might bring more down on her," said Wang Jue, a Chinese journalist.

"So to save her life, they'll cut off her legs. She's calm and stable," he said.

Parents crowding outside the gate of the Dongqi Middle School were desperate for news of their own children, hoping they too might still be found alive.

Rumors rippled through the crowd that the voices of as many as four or five could be heard calling out from below the rubble of the four-story school.

But the news was more bad than good, as rescuers pulled out the body of another boy, still gripping a pen.

Video

  Rescue efforts encounter obstacles

May 14: NBC's Adrienne Mong reports survivors continue to be pulled from the rubble, despite obstacles.

MSNBC

Wailing relatives

The neighborhood was nearly deserted, but for a crowd of 100 or more relatives gathered at the school's entrances, many of them crying and wailing, and all of them exhausted.

Across the way, Gao Weihua stood in front of the wreckage of her home, as a team of about 30 rescuers approached on foot, carrying shovels, saws and other tools.

One yelled, "Are there people in these buildings?" and Gao cried out, "Yes, my mother." She could still hear the voice of the 70-year-old woman inside.

Nearby the school, the leader of a rescue crew preparing to dig into yet another ruined building gave his team a pep talk.

"In my whole life, I've never done anything like this, I've never seen anything like this, but we must be soldiers now," said the leader, Yang Xin.

"We must fully do our duties," he said. "You are my flesh and blood, and the people buried in here are our flesh and blood."

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LOSE FAT

Reflecting on what you eat will improve your eating habits. Literally. So next time you're alone with a bagel and a tub of cream cheese, don't trust willpower to keep you from digging in. Instead, take a look at yourself.

People shown a mirror eat less unhealthy food than do those who can't see their reflections, Iowa State University researchers have found. The results are so dramatic that researcher Brad Bushman, Ph.D., has installed one on his own refrigerator door.

Bushman and company asked college students to try full-fat, low-fat and fat-free cream cheeses. Subjects in a room with a mirror noshed less of the full-fat spread than those with no mirror. Then, the team asked grocery shoppers to taste full-fat, reduced-fat and fat-free margarines. Those snacking over a mirrored tabletop ate less of the fatty type.

The looking glass, reports psychology professor Bushman, prompts self-focused attention, so people compare their behavior to their own internal standards. Failing to match standards—say, of being a healthful eater—creates discomfort that forces people to avoid such a discrepancy.

Curiously, while mirror use cut consumption of high-fat foods, it did not effect use of the other products. Still, of the mirror on his refrigerator door, Bushman says: "It really works."

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