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Addicts’ Brains May Be Wired At Birth For Less Self-Control

Many addicts inherit a brain that has trouble just saying no to drugs. A study in Science finds that cocaine addicts have abnormalities in areas of the brain involved in self-control. And these abnormalities appear to predate any drug abuse. The study, done by a team at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., looked [...]

Is Today’s Beef Better For The Environment?

The American beef industry has taken a bit of a beating in recent years. Beef has been linked to heart disease and cancer and hamburgers have been recalled. We’re also often told that cattle require a lot of precious food and water to make tender steaks. But a study wants to rectify beef’s image as [...]

Whose Fingers Are On The Victoria’s Secret Model’s Shoulder?

It’s not like it hasn’t been done before; it has. The problem is, it is so easy now, anyone can do it, and we’d never know because the tools are so subtle. I’m talking about doctored pictures — manipulating images, or what simpler folks call “lying.” There used to be a saying on the Web: [...]

‘I Wanted To Live:’ New Depression Drugs Offer Hope For Toughest Cases

A club drug called “Special K” is generating a lot of buzz among researchers who study depression. That’s because “Special K,” which is actually an FDA-approved anesthetic named ketamine, can relieve even suicidal depression in a matter of hours. And it works on many patients who haven’t responded to current antidepressants like Prozac. Those traditional [...]

Pacific Mackerel Stocks That Feed Farmed Salmon In Decline

Farmed salmon, that ubiquitous pink fish decorated with ribbons of fat, can thank the forage fish of the southern Pacific ocean – like anchovy and jack mackerel – for their calorie-rich diet. Indeed, more than 5 pounds of jack mackerel typically can go towards raising one pound of farmed salmon. But that food supply – [...]

Could A Club Drug Offer ‘Almost Immediate’ Relief From Depression?

There’s no quick fix for severe depression. Although antidepressants like Prozac have been around since the 1970s, they usually take weeks to make a difference. And for up to 40 percent of patients, they simply don’t work. As a result, there are limited options when patients show up in an emergency room with suicidal depression. [...]

Exploring The Real ‘Conflict’: Science Vs. Naturalism

Whether it’s creationism vs. evolution, miracles vs. magic tricks, or faith vs. fact, religion and science have long been pitted against one another. But in a new book, Where the Conflict Really Lies, philosopher Alvin Plantinga argues that religion and science share more common ground than you might think. He discusses the book with NPR’s [...]

Deception Diet: How Optical Illusions Can Trick Your Appetite

Think you know how to avoid overeating? Think again. Research suggests that choices, like how much to eat during a meal, are often made subconsciously. Trouble is, our brains are hard-wired to mislead us in lots of little ways, which can have a big impact on our diets. Take the Delboeuf effect, an optical illusion [...]

Scratching An Ankle Is Hard To Beat

There are few more sybaritic pleasures than scratching an itch. But according to a study just out in the British Journal of Dermatology, the intensity of the scratching delight varies with the location of the itch. The research team was lead by Gil Yosipovitch, a man described as the “Godfather of itch.” He and his [...]

How To Find A New Nuclear Waste Site? Woo A Town

A panel of experts today set forth a plan for getting rid of thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste. Most of it is spent fuel from nuclear power reactors. It was supposed to go to a repository in Nevada called Yucca Mountain, but the government has abandoned that plan. Yucca Mountain was largely [...]