Do ‘behavioral psychedelics’ help patients make lasting, positive change?
Despite their reputation as illicit drugs, psychedelics may find new, legitimate roles in treatment for anxiety, depression, stress disorders, addiction, and other mental and behavioral health problems. But ensuring they do requires developing rigorous, standardized methods to study and apply the results, according to a new report. In a perspective published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, […]
Possible common thread between many neurodegenerative diseases: Discovery reveals that a protein normally involved in clearing cells of molecular debris can clump into fibrils, potentially hobbling cells
Take a cell-deep tour of a brain afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, and you will find minuscule clumps of protein that seem suspicious. Ever since the 1980s, when neuroscientists began identifying these protein tangles, researchers have discovered that other brain diseases have their own tangled-protein signatures. “Each of these diseases has a unique protein tangle, or […]
Opinion | Permission to Burn the Manual
I started planning my escape in late 2020. I would find a way to quit healthcare, to cease being a practicing physician altogether. Living the life of a doctor-mom, I felt consumed with daily obligations and duties. Guilt plagued me for feeling burdened by this life, for feeling it was a monotonous prison. The guilt […]
New invention keeps qubits of light stable at room temperature
As almost all our private information is digitalized, it is increasingly important that we find ways to protect our data and ourselves from being hacked. Quantum Cryptography is the researchers’ answer to this problem, and more specifically a certain kind of qubit — consisting of single photons: particles of light. Single photons or qubits of […]
I Can’t Self-Care My Way Into Feeling Better Anymore
As we barrel toward the two-year anniversary of COVID, I find myself feeling more and more lost. Each day I cycle through rage and apathy. More bad news about variants. More bad news about breakthrough cases. More bad news about long COVID. More bad news about hope for returning to “normal.” Then I go to […]
10 Ways Therapists Prevent Themselves From Catastrophizing
Do you always find yourself thinking and stressing about the worst possible outcome in any situation? Or do your friends sometimes tell you that you’re being dramatic or unrealistic when you express your fears about what could happen? If you answered “yes,” you might be catastrophizing. “Catastrophizing is that not-so-fun trick your brain tries to […]
Microbes can provide sustainable hydrocarbons for the petrochemical industry: Engineered bacteria produce medium-chain olefins that could replace oil and gas in syntheses
If the petrochemical industry is ever to wean itself off oil and gas, it has to find sustainably-sourced chemicals that slip effortlessly into existing processes for making products such as fuels, lubricants and plastics. Making those chemicals biologically is the obvious option, but microbial products are different from fossil fuel hydrocarbons in two key ways: […]
Your sense of smell may be the key to a balanced diet: We are less likely to perceive smells of food that relate to a recent meal, helping us make choices about what to eat next
Walking past a corner bakery, you may find yourself drawn in by the fresh smell of sweets wafting from the front door. You’re not alone: The knowledge that humans make decisions based on their nose has led major brands like Cinnabon and Panera Bread to pump the scents of baked goods into their restaurants, leading […]
Powering navigational buoys with help of ocean waves
To find a power source for buoys, look no further than the ocean itself. During the AIP Publishing Horizons — Energy Storage and Conversion virtual conference, which will be held Aug. 4-6, Cátia Rodrigues, from the University of Porto, will discuss the prospects of using power generators in the ocean to address the energy concerns […]