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Three hundred years ago, three African-born slaves from the Caribbean suffered a sad fate. No one knew who they are, no one knew what they went through, and until recently, no one knew where they came from. Now, researchers extracted and sequenced tiny bits of DNA to figure out where in Africa these people came from when they were captured and enslaved.
Two new studies, independently published in the same journal, found that consciousness expanding substances like LSD or psilocybin (the psychoactive substance found in 'magic mushrooms') couldn't be linked with mental health problems in the general population. Moreover, according to data fed from a nationwide survey, psychedelics make people less prone to suicide and suicidal thinking than the general population. Previously, studies showed that psychedelics have significant results in treating addiction and post traumatic stress, under guidance and supervision. The researchers stress, however, that some individuals may experience adverse psychological effects.
A study conducted on a small number of men concluded that the "love hormone" oxytocin may reduce appetite, helping men lose weight.
In 2002, Jason Padgett was brutally attacked outside a karaoke bar, getting a brain concussion and a severe case of PTSD. But this may have actually been the best thing that happened to him - the brain injury turned him into a mathematical genius, and made him see the world differently, through a geometrical lens.
Most recently, Bill Nye is famous for his viral debate against against Ken Han on creationism. The debate inspired him to write a best selling book tackling the subject called “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation”. In one of his chapters, Nye argues against genetically modified organisms since their long lasting effects on the ecosystem can’t be […]
We live in a society which puts a lot of pressure on looks. Women especially, are always looking for new ways to make themselves look more attractive either by dyeing their hair, wearing make-up or, in some particular extreme cases, plastic surgery. Now there’s another type of aesthetic procedure – a novel laser treatment which can […]
Dental health is still a generally neglected issue throughout the world - most people just delay their dental problem or simply ignore them until they become unbearable. Although it's pretty simple to have a correct dental hygiene, most people simply don't care enough about this, and as a result, almost 2 and a half billion people suffer from untreated tooth decay.
Parasitic hookworms infect half a billion people worldwide, causing severe health problems like gastrointestinal issues, cognitive impairment and stunted growth in children. As if the challenges weren't big enough, the parasites are growing resistant to current drugs. Scientists are trying to tackle this by developing new treatments and vaccines based on the worm's genome. A team of Caltech sequenced the genome of a hookworm species known as Ancylostoma ceylanicum and found the genes that code key proteins involved in infecting hosts. They hope blocking these proteins from being made might save millions from great sorrow and suffering.
Since 2000, the number of deaths from heroin overdose have quadrupled. At the same time, the profile of the average overdosed fatality has shifted from older back men to younger white males, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It's increasingly hard to eat less sugar, as market shelves are filled with sugary products. In the past ten years alone, global sugar intake has risen by ten percent. In what's not the first and surely not the last appeal of the sort, the Wold Health Organization reports adults and children from the Americas to Western Europe and the Middle East must halve their daily sugar intake to reach acceptable levels. Otherwise the risk of obesity and tooth decay, to name a few, will skyrocket. In terms of daily energy intake, the new guidelines means that people should keep sugar at a maximum of 10% of equivalent energy.
Sick, got the flu? Well, maybe what you think is the flu really isn't the flu... a new study has found that while children catch a flu once every two years on average, the rate goes down significantly in adults - the average adult only gets it once every 5 years.
A new study suggests that two very common emulsifiers - chemicals that stabilize foods and stop products like mayo from separating - could increase the risk of obesity and irritable bowel syndrome.
If you'd happen to see these two British twins, you'd likely believe they're good friends - or cousins at most. But Lucy and Maria are actually twins - despite the obvious differences.
Many people today are consuming more salt than they actually need - while this may make foods more tasty, it also increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. But a new study found that dietary salt could actually have a dietary advantage, defending the body against invading microbes.
In the developed world, obesity is one of the biggest health concerns, so weight loss is one of the hottest topics today. But while dietary supplements and gastric by-pass surgeries are becoming more and more popular, we are also starting to discover issues associated with these procedures. Recently, a study published in Cell showed that the new generation of weight loss drugs may actually favor cancer development.
You may look more like your mom or more like your dad, but technically, you inherit equal amounts of genetic information from both; however, a new study has shown that you (and all mammals for that matter) are genetically more like their dads. If that sounds a bit confusing... well, it is. Specifically, although we inherit equal amounts of genetic mutations from both our parents, the mutations that make us who we are and not some other person actually 'use' more of the DNA that we inherit from our dads.
It's not just women who are concerned with their bodies and eating disorders, it's men too. This might seem obvious, but a study found that despite eating disorders are very common among men, these receive little attention or are treated less seriously than women.
In any given month, the vast majority of physicians treating children in the US (93%) receive at least one request to delay child vaccination; many of them (37%) often or always honor the request, despite putting the kids at a needless risk for disease and favoring potential outbreaks of diseases such as measles.
Who doesn't love dinosaurs? Well sure, there's these guys, but rational people love dinosaurs, right? Well, Nathan Myhrvold, an inventor and Microsoft's former CEO sure does, and he believes that dinosaurs might actually help us fight malnutrition. Here's how:
Memories aren't infallible - even for those with photographic memory - so, more often than not, they'll seem fuzzy. And the older these get, the fuzzier they're recalled. Mixing names, faces and events in your head can sometimes be embarrassing, but at least we're not alone. Seems like bees have false memories too, according to a study made by British researchers at Queen Mary University of London. Previously, false memories had been induced in other animals, like mice, but this is the first time natural false memories have been shown to happen. Research like this might help us, in time, understand how false memories are formed and, in a more general sense, how we recall events.
Like most things in our modern day life style, we tend to take vaccines for granted. Some, in ever growing numbers, are on the contrary pushing and inciting against vaccination for all the wrong reasons. It’s easy to forget, however, that since their introduction hundreds of millions of lives have been spared. Vaccines given to […]
In America and other developed countries, the leading causes of death are heart disease and cancer. Elsewhere, the picture can be a bit more complicated. A report called the Global Burden of Disease study plotted a map where it outlined the leading causes of lost years of life by country. “Cause of lost years of life” and “cause […]
A while ago I wrote that the applications for graphene are endless, and it seems like scientists just want to make prove me right - University of Manchester scientists have used graphene to target and neutralise cancer stem cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.
Rats remember acts of kindness done by other rats, and are more helpful to individuals who previously helped them. It's not clear if they do this because they are grateful or if they are trying to make sure that they will get helped in the future as well, but their behavior gives scientists a new understanding of animal social behavior.
It's pretty scary what modern medicine can do these days. Sergio Canavero of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group in Italy announced his intention to perform a full head transplant by 2015. He will put forth a proposal at a conference in the US so interested parties can get onboard and make suggestions for the procedure.
A typical school cafeteria serving contains fried food stuff like nuggets, mashed potatoes or peas. Kids' nutritional uptake and diet could be a lot better, as proven elsewhere by schools all around the world. Sweetgreen, a restaurant the values local and organic produce, recently published on its Tumblr an amazing photo journal detailing what a typical cafeteria serving looks like in countries like South Korea, Brazil or Italy.
Two new studies - both covering gay men, one in Britain and the other in France - were recently shared with the public boasting terrific results. In the trials, gay men were asked to take a drug called Truvada either daily or right before and after having sex. In an unlikely event of chance, both studies found a 86 percent reduction in new HIV infections among volunteers using Truvada. This suggests that the orally administered drug might be a lifeline in many HIV-ridden communities, considering 90% of all HIV cases could be prevented if those infected seek treatment.
The highlight of the award winning film, "The Imitation Game", is when Alan Turing and colleagues devise an ingenious statistical method that eventually helped decipher the Nazis' Enigma code. This breakthrough allowed Allied intelligence to read previously unavailable German military positions and actions, vastly shortening World War II. Interestingly, a team of neuroscientists at Columbia University found that more or less the same statistical method applied by Turing and co. is used by the brain to make any kind of decision, be it going left instead of right in an intersection or placing a higher bet during a high raise power game instead of folding.
Bionic hands - artificial limbs controlled through thought power - they're as awesome as they sound, and they're now a reality. Three Austrian men have become real-life cyborgs after having losing their hands to injury and then undergoing innovative surgery.
The love hormone, oxytocin, was found to neutralize the motor deficiency effects of alcohol in rats, sobering them up. The researchers involved believe that given enough oxytocin, similar sobering effects might be seen in humans as well.
Contrary to popular belief, much of the damage inflicted to the skin by harmful ultraviolet (UV) light occurs hours after exposure to the sun, even when you're sitting comfortably asleep in your dark bedroom. The Yale University research also made a startling find: melanin - the pigment that gives human skin and hair its colour - has both carcinogenic and protective effects. This double standard should be taken into consideration from now on when discussing UV exposure, but also when looking for new treatments to skin cancers like melanoma.
It's always the cute ones - a team of Norwegian researchers found that the Black Plague, which arrived in Europe in the 14th century and wiped out up to 200 million people was brought by gerbils, not by rats.
The carnivorous bladderwort (Utricularia gibba) a carnivorous plant which occurs fresh water and wet soil. Recently, they took biologists by surprise by having a huge number of genes, despite a fairly small genome. The plant is six times smaller than the grape for example, but has 28,500 genes, compared to the 26,300 of the grape.
A new study has concluded that marijuana is much safer than alcohol and tobacco combined. Alcohol is actually the most dangerous substance out of the ones studies - more dangerous than heroin, cocaine, ecstasy or meth.
In 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised parents to keep children as far away from peanuts as possible, in order to avoid potential allergies - it seemed like a good idea at the time. But now, a new study has found that in the long run, that actually did more harm than good, and if we want to fight allergies, we should be feeding our children peanuts.
Stanford scientists proved that it's possible use DNA minirings that code the production of a specific protein that can't be found in healthy cells to diagnose any form of cancer. The mini-rings were injected in the bloodstream of mice and allowed for accurate diagnosis up to two days from the injection. In authors envision using the same solution to diagnose any cancer in humans, while also relaying how large is the extent of the tumour. Moreover, they hope they can achieve this with an orally administered pill, instead of an intravenous injection, thus making it the least invasive form of cancer diagnosis. The only pain you'll experience is when doctors will prick a needle in your finger to get a drop of blood. Take that, biopsy!
Almost 70% of HIV-infected people in the US are either undiagnosed or not receiving care; this population is responsible for 91.5 percent of all infections, according to the CDC.
In the quest to understand what are the crucial differences between human and chimpanzee brains, scientists have isolated a stretch of DNA, once thought to be “junk”, near a gene that regulates brain development in mice. The engineered mouse embryos grew significantly larger brains. Those which received human brain DNA strands had 12% larger brains than those bred with chimp brain DNA. Research like this, though ethically controversial, might help identify which DNA sequences give a brain human characteristics, but also aid in findings treatment or cures for brain diseases like Alzheimer's.
Here’s another reason for children to do their chores: washing dishes by hand boosts children’s immune system. The findings were reported by Swedish doctors who found that in households where dishes are washed by hand children have much fewer allergic incidents than in those where the dishes are washed by a machine. Yet again, the findings […]
US researchers have conducted a national survey and found that the percentage of U.S. teens who get seven or more hours of sleep is steadily decreasing. The number of teens suffering from sleep deprivation has continuously decreased, up to the point where less than half of all teens sleep adequately.
The ability to keep malaria under control is crucial - the disease is highly contagious and the potential health hazards are immense. Efforts have been somewhat successful, with fatalities dropping from over 1 million in 2000 to 584,000 in 2014. But the protozoans that are causing the disease are starting to become immune to the drugs we are using, and that's a huge problem.
An ingredient in extra-virgin olive oil kills a variety of cancer cells in a matter of minutes, without damaging healthy ones. The ingredient is called oleocanthal, and it breaks down a part of the cancerous cell, destroying it.
A new study has found that unlike monotheistic religions, buddhism doesn't promote intolerance - instead, it promotes both selfless behavior and tolerance of people we perceive as unlike ourselves.
Suicide rates have generally remained the same for decades, with slight increases in some areas of the world. Basically, scientists and medics don’t really know how to effectively tackle this issue, so they’re considering more unorthodox approaches. A new study has found that classic psychedelic use may reduce suicidal thinking, ultimately dropping suicide rates. “Despite […]
Alec Falkenham, a 27-year-old PhD student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, has invented a special cream that will wipe out tattoos for good, without the pain and scaring expected today following laser surgery. Time to erase your ex-lover's name off that shoulder... or keep it! Good or bad memories are what make you the person you are today, you shouldn't be ashamed of that. Either way, soon enough you might have the means to make your own choice - one that doesn't involve burning you skin.
British researchers have demonstrated three ways gold nanotubes can be used against cancer: 1) high resolution in-vivo imaging; 2) drug delivery vehicles; 3) agents that destroy cancer itself. Their work shouldn't be viewed as yet "another" hack that seeks to eradicate cancer. We need to be more realistic than this. Instead, the findings have the potential to be a great measure that both diagnoses and treats cancer at the same time, complementing conventional surgery and, hopefully, avoiding the need for chemotherapy.
The US government approved a genetically modified apple that doesn't turn brown when bruised or sliced. While most genetic alterations of plants involve making these more resilient to pests or yield more, the non-browning apples were made out of cosmetic considerations. Of course, the apples will still rot and eventually get brown, but in time and not so easily when stressed (cell rupture). But despite the government approval, voices run rampant against the genetically modified fruit from behalf of anti-GMO groups, as well as rivaling food companies.
We know that things like eye or skin colour are encoded in our DNA and passed down by our parents, but many other traits are significantly influenced by another hereditary mechanism: bacterial offspring. A paper in Nature suggests microbes are passed down from mother mice to pups, passing down traits similarly to how genes influence illness and health.
South Londoners who smoke skunk weed - a much more potent strain of cannabis - were found to be three times more likely to register at hospitals with first-episode psychoses, according to a study made by British researchers. The research has many shortcomings though, as is to be expected from a case-control design where it's always difficult to account for external variables. As the old saying goes, correlation does not equal causation, so take these findings with a grain of salt. The study is valuable however considering it's among the few which actually considered the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis, often ignored by mainstream cannabis research. Cannabis is used by millions of people worldwide, yet its long-term effects are seriously under reported.
A new study has found that as the climate continues to warm, we will be dealing with more infectious and parasitic diseases. Ultimately, we'll have to face epidemics caused by climate change, researchers say.
