Chemical enlightenment: line up for the scientific, psychedelic mystical tour Bruce Bower The comfortably furnished room in a corner of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore seems an unlikely setting for spiritual transcendence. Yet one after another, volunteers last year entered the living room-like space, reclined on the couch, swallowed a pill, […]
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Proper form – Letter to the Editor
Proper form – Letter to the Editor Charles Weissmann I found the piece “Drugs counter mad cow agent in cells” (SN: 8/18/01, p. 100) quite accurate and balanced. However, I must take issue with the legend to the figure. What the figure shows is the three-dimensional structure of the normal prion protein and not the […]
Mutated genes disrupt nerve cell proteins – Autism Advance – autism research J. Travis A French research team has identified two mutated genes that appear to cause the neurological disorder known as autism. The little-studied genes both normally yield proteins that nerve cells use to form communication channels. “These are the first genes convincingly linked […]
Glutamate paths surface in schizophrenia – problems with neurotransmitter may cause schizophrenia – Brief Article B. Bower Much evidence implicates the chemical messenger known as glutamate in brain development. Now, a trio of new studies adds to growing suspicions that disturbed dispersal of this neurotransmitter in two closely related brain areas underlies schizophrenia, a severe […]
Genesis of the Pharaohs: Dramatic New Discoveries Rewrite the Origins of Ancient Egypt – Book Review TOBY WILKINSON For decades, Egyptologists have puzzled over the origins of the ancient people who populated the Nile Valley nearly 4,500 years ago. Because the archaeological record shows so many changes happening so quickly in these peoples’ lives, some […]
Testosterone shows hurtful, helpful sides – Brief Article B. Bower A pair of new studies offers a glimpse of the contrasting faces of the male sex hormone testosterone, at least from a psychiatric perspective. Testosterone has developed a negative image from reports of bodybuilders and athletes who become agitated and violent after injecting themselves with […]
Predicting Parkinson’s: researchers search for early warnings in the brain Carolyn Gramling In the painting “Nude with Parkinson’s,” a woman kneels forward onto her elbows, bent under the weight of swirls of red, orange, and black. “[It] shows my struggle to maintain balance while being pummeled by the demands of everyday life,” says artist and […]
How the Earth Works: 60 Fun Activities for Exploring Volcanoes, Fossils, Earthquakes, and More. – book review MICHELLE O’BRIEN-PALMER Through activities in this book, such as growing sugar crystals, creating a model of Earth’s crust with Jell-o and pie crust, and observing how the layers of a Snickers bar resemble the layers in a piece […]
Nettlesome weed causes asthma for some Nettlesome weed causes asthma for some A woman sought help from allergist Herbert S. Kaufman of San Francisco, complaining of asthma that flared when she walked into her backyard. Conventional allergy skin testing failed to identify the cause of her symptoms. Kaufman was stumped until the woman handed him […]
Brewing a quantum computer in a coffee cup – quantum computers would use all potential states of atoms to simultaneously conduct multiple data manipulations – Brief Article Dan Vergano In Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a hungover physicist creates the “infinite improbability drive,” which uses unlikely events to propel starships across the […]