Marijuana appears to improve the memory and learning abilities of old mice. Scientists discovered low doses of its main psychoactive ingredient—cannabinoid THC—can reverse the age-related decline in cognitive abilities, a finding that could lead to scientists figuring out a way of slowing brain aging in humans. Researchers are increasingly examining THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) for its potential medical benefits. In the U.K., Oxford University recently launched a £10 million ($13 million) program to...

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Submitted on May 8th 2017 by wetwilly87 with 2 comments

Faecal transplants could be causing some patients to take on the physical and mental traits of their donors, including body shape and even symptoms of depression, an expert in infectious diseases says.

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Submitted on May 9th 2017 by kxh with 4 comments and with 1 Related Links:

1. VICE on HBO Debrief: Thomas Morton on Fecal Transplants Added by Gozzin on May 9th 2017.

Researchers have finally answered a question that has stumped scientists since the early 1600s: Why are the heads of tadpole-shaped pieces of glass called

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Submitted on May 9th 2017 by baron778 with 1 Related Links:

1. Mystery of Prince Rupert's Drop at 130,000 fps Added by sashinator on May 10th 2017.

In yet another study that has connected conditions in the gut to diseases of the brain, scientists have linked the cause of common blood vessel abnormalities in the brain to bacteria colonies in the stomach.

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Submitted on May 10th 2017 by kxh with 1 comments

Hundreds of workers have been forced to "take cover" after a tunnel in a nuclear finishing plant collapsed in Washington state. Following the incident Tuesday morning, which a spokesperson told the Independent is still being investigated, a manager sent a message to workers telling them to “secure ventilation in your building” and to “refrain from eating or drinking.” The US Department of Energy activated its Emergency Operations Center Tuesday following the collapse.

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Submitted on May 9th 2017 by TheSpirit

Measuring pain in babies is difficult, but scientists have been working on a more precise way of doing things. Using brainwave recordings, they say they've uncovered a signature that appears indicative of infant pain, which can then help gauge infant response to pain relief.

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Submitted on May 5th 2017 by estherschindler with 1 comments

The recent flying car announcements vary in type from single-seat, multi-copter drone-type aircraft, to road-style cars that turn into light aircraft and small flying boats that hover above the water. How safe is this contraption? The Chinese company Ehang is proposing to equip its flying car service in Dubai with a parachute.

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Submitted on May 10th 2017 by tranxene

A massive mining operation threatens the future of mysterious 600-million-year-old fossils.

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Submitted on May 5th 2017 by lostwonder

Police in Vancouver shared an alarming photograph showing what appears to be a pigeon’s egg nest constructed out of hypodermic needles. By Jessa Schroeder.

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Submitted on May 5th 2017 by AdelleChattre

Amanda Feilding used to take lysergic acid diethylamide every day to boost creativity and productivity at work before LSD, known as acid, was made illegal in 1968. During her downtime, Feilding, who now runs the Beckley Foundation for psychedelic research, would get together with her friends to play the ancient Chinese game of Go, and came to notice something curious about her winning streaks.

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Submitted on May 10th 2017 by lexi6 with 1 comments

Almost a year into his new research partnership with Tesla, battery researcher Jeff Dahn has been hitting the talk circuit presenting some of his team’s recent progress. We reported last week on his talk at the International Battery Seminar from March and now we have a talk from him at MIT this week. He went into details about why Tesla decided to work with his team and hire one of his graduate students, but he also announced that they doubled the lifetime of the batteries in Tesla’s products a year into their 5-year contract.

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Submitted on May 9th 2017 by drunkenninja

Scott Pruitt announced the EPA would reverse a proposed ban on this extremely harmful pesticide and allow it to remain on the market. By Nicole Greenfield.

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Submitted on May 10th 2017 by AdelleChattre with 1 comments

Bloggers and ‘influencers’ are celebrating mature consumers

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Submitted on May 7th 2017 by estherschindler

At a garbage dump about 80 miles west of London, Adrian Griffiths is testing an invention he’s confident will save the world’s oceans from choking in plastic waste. And earn him millions. His machine, about the size of a tennis court, churns all sorts of petroleum-based products -- cling wrap, polyester clothing, carpets, electronics -- back into oil. It takes less than a second and the resulting fuel, called Plaxx, can be used to make plastic again or power ship engines.

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Submitted on May 10th 2017 by hxxp

Researchers have come up with an unusual proposal to slow, or even reverse, the cognitive decline that comes with old age: small, daily doses of cannabis extract. The idea emerged from tests on mice which found that regular, low doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis – impaired memory and learning in young animals, but boosted the performance of old ones.

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Submitted on May 8th 2017 by drunkenninja with 2 comments and with 2 Related Links:

1. Could THC help an aging brain? Added by tranxene on May 10th 2017.

2. The Surprising Thing Marijuana and Hot Peppers Have in Common Added by Gozzin on May 8th 2017.

The Vatican is celebrating the big-bang theory. That's not as out of this world as it sounds. The Vatican Observatory has invited some of the world's leading scientists and cosmologists to talk black holes, gravitational waves and space-time singularities as it honours a Jesuit cosmologist considered one of the fathers of the idea that the universe began with a gigantic explosion.

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Submitted on May 10th 2017 by TNY

Some schoolwork is worth more than a good grade.

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Submitted on May 9th 2017 by estherschindler

A new haul of ancient human remains has been described from an important cave site in South Africa. The finds, including a well-preserved skull, bolster the idea that the Homo naledi people deliberately deposited their dead in the cave. Evidence of such complex behaviour is surprising for a human species with a brain that's a third the size of ours.

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Submitted on May 9th 2017 by darvinhg

No prison demographic is growing as fast as the elderly. Of the 6.7 million people under correctional supervision in 2015 (“more than were enslaved in antebellum America and more than resided in the Gulag Archipelago at the height of Stalin’s misrule,” Adam Gopnik recently pointed out in the New Yorker), over 10 percent were geriatric (55 years or older)—a 400 percent demographic increase since 1993, according to a 2013 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Submitted on May 10th 2017 by Chubros

A devoted couple who have been married for a staggering 67 years have had their hospital beds moved side by side so they can spend wife Beatrice's final days together. The great-grandmother, 87, has been battling bone cancer for six years and recently decided to decline any further treatment for the disease. 

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Submitted on May 9th 2017 by tranxene