novapsyche: a woman of stature circa 1900s peering out of a ring (womanring)
Neurotransmitter Linked to Post-Traumatic Stress -- norepinephrine activity within the locus coeruleus, a small region in the pons

Why we can "hear" our inner voice

ICU Delirium Affects Brain After Discharge -- "One year after discharge, 34% of patients had cognitive scores similar to those with moderate traumatic brain injury and 24% had the equivalent of mild Alzheimer's disease. [...] The deficits were seen across ages and were strongly linked to duration of delirium in the ICU. [...] Monitoring during the hospital stay indicated delirium in 74% of all patients, with a median duration of 4 days."

Brain activity discovered beyond flat line

Legalized pot would mean more addiction -- There are a lot of things wrong with this article, but the main one that sticks out to me is the underlying, erroneous assumption that all addictive substances have the potential to addict at the same rate. This is my deduction after reading the author's repeated, irrelevant statistics about cocaine, heroin, alcohol & tobacco addiction. Every one of those addict at much higher rates than cannabis does. IIRC, alcoholism affects up to 30% of the total population of drinkers; also, around 70% of tobacco smokers experience difficulties stopping smoking when they attempt to do so, which is one of the main hallmarks of addiction (tobacco, indeed, is one of the most addictive substances known to man). Even caffeine causes withdrawal symptoms 50% of the time when daily users halt intake. Cannabis, on the other hand, at least according to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is addictive to 5-10% of the population of such smokers.

Cocaine Use May Boost HIV Susceptibility -- "They found that a 3-day exposure to cocaine enhanced the permissiveness of the T cells to HIV infection."
novapsyche: a woman of stature circa 1900s peering out of a ring (womanring)
Riley Cooper May Have Bigger Problems Ahead -- Philadelphia Eagles' player who said some of the most racially offensive stuff I've heard in at least the last three weeks

Blacks, Hispanics More Optimistic than Whites -- Economically speaking. Of course, minorities have less to lose & more to potentially gain than their Caucasian counterparts.

Illinois governor signs law allowing medical marijuana -- Still, don't speed in the state of Illinois. Rabid cops there.

For males, monogamy can have evolutionary benefits -- less infanticide

'There Is No Pressure for a Girl to Be a Girl': My quest to understand why some of my female friends are drawn to the frattiest social club on campus

Babies given away live on air in Pakistani talk show -- How does anything on reality television top this?

Inca Child Sacrifice Victims Were Drugged: Mummy hair reveals that young victims were heavy users of coca and alcohol
novapsyche: a woman of stature circa 1900s peering out of a ring (womanring)
Men who lack taste genes more prone to infertility

New fingerprint technology that means evidence can no longer be wiped away

Nano-Scale Tweezers Enable Precision Control of Enzymes -- Amazing.

Herbal stimulant khat to be banned in UK | more -- This is very surprising to me, as khat (or qat) is a traditional stimulant among certain ethnic groups. It would be like outlawing tea for the British. (Of course, the ethnic groups in question are minority groups in the UK.)

James Buchanan: Worst US president? -- Funnily enough, this topic came up this weekend. I listed Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Harding, Nixon & Bush II as the worst. How I missed Hoover, I don't know. (Also, I guess I don't know enough about Zachary Taylor to know why he is consistently on historians' lists.)
novapsyche: a person removing a shirt, revealing a system of organs & skeleton underneath (bodyundershirt)
Wal-Mart employee fired for medical pot loses case -- I disagree with the logic of the decision. Honestly, it does not follow from the facts known about how marijuana metabolizes in the body.

Seriously. Do employers fire those hurt on the job who may, for example, take Vicodin for chronic pain? The metabolite stays in one's system for around three days. That does not mean that the person who was injured took the medication (or opium, its precursor) immediately prior to sustaining said injury.

Also, the law in question, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, states:

Sec. 4. (a) A qualifying patient who has been issued and possesses a registry identification card shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, including but not limited to civil penalty or disciplinary action by a business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, for the medical use of marihuana in accordance with this act[.]

I am not a lawyer, but forgive me for thinking, totally commonsensically, that dismissing an employee counts as "disciplinary action".

At least the plaintiff will appeal.
novapsyche: a woman of stature circa 1900s peering out of a ring (womanring)
The Unbearable Whiteness of Pro-Lifers and Pundits -- the problem with the idea that fetuses should be equated with Dred Scott (thanks, [personal profile] supergee)

Color-Coded Threat Levels Being Chucked -- They've served their political purpose.

Taco Bell defends its mixture of seasoned meat -- "According to [Taco Bell's] Web site, ingredients used to season the Taco Bell meat include salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, oats, soy lectithin, sugar, soybean oil, garlic powder, yeast extract, citric acid and cocoa powder." (thanks for the heads-up, [profile] fizzyland)

Historian Allegedly Tampered With Lincoln Documents -- Unbelievable.

Latest Drug Craze Is Bath Salts?! -- Ummm . . . .
novapsyche: a woman of stature circa 1900s peering out of a ring (womanring)
Taiwan turns military brothel into museum | Taiwanese island brothel to be museum of Military Paradises

Drunken squirrel warns Russians about effects of alcohol -- "In Russian slang, delirium tremens, the moment of inebriation when people start to get the shakes and to hallucinate, is known as 'belochka' or 'a little squirrel.'"
novapsyche: a woman of stature circa 1900s peering out of a ring (womanring)
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) generates a 'mini-Big Bang'

Anger over rape case jailing of Powys woman -- "The woman, from Powys [in Wales], was given an eight-month sentence after changing her mind about pursuing prosecution."

Dutch sniff cards to help find cannabis plantations -- Now that's original.
novapsyche: Sailor Moon rising into bright beams (Default)
FDA looks to curb abuse of cough medicine -- "On Sept. 14, the FDA will ask a panel of outside experts whether dextromethorphan should be available only as a prescription."

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