‘Go ask Alice when she’s 10-feet tall…’ scientists say psychedelic drugs can treat depression

Sometimes I feel like I dropped down the rabbit hole and what was once wrong, is now so right. I’m speaking of psilocybin, magic mushrooms if you will. Back in the day, eating shrooms was a mystical experience you took with friends. When Jimi Hendrix asked, “Are you experienced?” he wanted to know if you ever dropped acid. But the “Man” said it was wrong.

This is the coolest version I’ve seen yet. Disney characters (like Alice) move with the words of the song White Rabbit. Take a look and listen.

Now in the 21st century, those “mind-expanding” drugs we loved so much in the 1960s, are back and researchers are telling us it’s a good idea to take them for depression.

Hmmmmmmm…..blitzed out Baby Boomers eh? I think it’s a conspiracy to keep old hippies from causing any political trouble today! Seriously though, walking around feeling strange doesn’t seem like the best way to cure depression.

What the hell do I know anyway? In the interest of fairness, I‘d like to hear your views about taking really stony drugs to treat depression. Is it just me, or doesn’t Big Pharma already have a lock on that market?   

“The brains of people tripping on magic mushrooms have given the best picture yet of how psychedelic drugs work and British scientists say the findings suggest such drugs could be used to treat depression.

Two separate studies into the effects of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, showed that contrary to scientists' expectations, it does not increase but rather suppresses activity in areas of the brain that are also dampened with other anti-depressant treatments.

"Psychedelics are thought of as 'mind-expanding' drugs so it has commonly been assumed that they work by increasing brain activity," said David Nutt of Imperial College London, who gave a briefing about the studies on Monday. "But, surprisingly, we found that psilocybin actually caused activity to decrease in areas that have the densest connections with other areas."

These so-called "hub" regions of the brain are known to play a role in constraining our experience of the world and keeping it orderly, he said. "We now know that deactivating these regions leads to a state in which the world is experienced as strange." Read more here.

A second study is due to be published in the British Journal of Psychiatry on Thursday.

Company claims it can turn seaweed into viable feedstock for fuel and other chemicals

    Good Day Humboldt County! 

We can now consider a new path for securing future fuel … seaweed. The whole idea seems murky to me, but who am I to question progress?

The following article reflects the energy scramble in this county, as scientists seek alternatives to fossil fuels. I guess there would be no shortage of seaweed, but securing the slimy stuff would involve  underwater farming. How expensive would that be? Is this just another pie-in-the-sky solution that’ll never be viable? I’m not sure, but I invite you to read the following:

“A group of scientists has gone offshore in an effort to bypass the food-versus-fuel debate. Startup Bio Architecture Lab today published a paper in Science it claims will turn seaweed into a viable feedstock for fuel and other chemicals.

Making fuel and chemicals from crops such as corn and sugar cane requires significant quantities of land and fresh water, creating competition for resources with agriculture. Macroalgae such as seaweed, by contrast, grow in salt water and are relatively productive energy sources because they are 60 percent carbohydrates and don't contain lignin, which binds up useful molecules in many earthbound plants.

In their paper, scientists at Bio Architecture Lab say they have isolated an enzyme they could use to rapidly convert seaweed into its constituent sugars. Technically, they inserted genes into E. coli bacteria that can process molecules found in the cell walls of seaweed into sugars--and then ferment those sugars into ethanol or other commodity chemicals.

"About 60 percent of the dry biomass of seaweed are sugars, and more than half of those are locked in a single sugar--alginate," said Bio Architecture Lab CEO Daniel Trunfio in a statement. "Our scientists have developed a pathway to metabolize the alginate, allowing us to unlock all the sugars in seaweed."

Read more here and watch video

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: Sharing the benefits of being an ‘old toot’

 

               By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
 I’m enjoying being an old toot (since this is a family newspaper I won’t say old fart) since I became eligible a few months ago.
In case you wonder about the difference between an old coot and an old toot, the latter has a better sense of humor. I’ve already seen one of the benefits derived from my new status.
I forgot I was wearing blue house slippers the other day when I went to the supermarket, and it didn‘t bother me! There was a time when I would have been so embarrassed I would never have entered that store again for fear someone working there might remember seeing me wear them.
You know what people think when they see an old toot shuffling around in his bedroom slippers; “Who let that old fool out of the house in his slippers?” Or, “Look at that guy. That’s never going to happen to  me!” 

But now I don’t care what people think. So what if I’m wearing slippers in public? It’s better than forgetting to wear my pants in public. Even old toots can’t get away with that.
Unless they live in  San Francisco, where it’s legal to walk around without pants or anything else on in public. Just the idea of a bunch of old coots/toots walking around in their birthday suits makes me shudder. It must be hell on tourism where they hang out.
Old toots do have limits. At least some of us do. I count on my wife to notice if I’m missing a piece of clothing or something drastic like that when going out of the house.
Little things do get past her occasionally, like slippers, or shirts on backward, but she’s normally a reliable backup. She is much younger than I and assures me that she will never join the old toot’s club.

 She doesn’t know what she’s missing. If she joins the club she won’t have to worry if her hair changes color and is streaked with sneaky silver strands. There’s no need to impress anyone when you‘re an old toot.
My days of  trying to look good for every female on the planet are gone, and with them the many vanities that younger people have about their appearance. In other words I’m a slob. Not really, my wife wouldn’t allow that, but I have that certain disheveled look old toots get.
  I have my lap dog, a precious pug named Millie, further securing my old toot credentials. I mumble to myself (you couldn’t call it talking) when writing. I resist new technological innovations just because. I don’t slide down the stair railing anymore.
If you asked me about any of the current musicians I would say something like, “They don’t make music like the Led Zeppelin anymore,” or “You call that music?” Old toots and coots simply don’t listen to music newer than the 70s era.

It’s taken me years of study to become an old toot and now I’m reaping the benefits. I can communicate with other old toots I don’t even know who remember the Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra,  Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop.
I don’t like being called a Baby Boomer. I’m more comfortable with old toot. There are no expectations for old toots. Baby boomers had a lot of high hopes. Many  wonder if they sold out to “the man,” and why they failed to change the world into one big utopia.
I don’t suffer any past remorse’s crammed with social expectations at this point in my life. As Popeye once said, “I yam who I yam.” And that’s an old toot happy to be grazing on books that can be held by hand, or newspapers that leave ink on my fingers.
  I don’t mind being around other old toots for a little while. But too many in one room becomes a challenge for my one operating ear (with the help of a hearing aide). By the way, old toots (like coots) tend to be hard of hearing. My wife’s hearing is so acute I almost believe her when she says she’s is not going to be an old toot, or coot.
 I realize not everyone wants to be an old toot. Some people would rather be known as active seniors, or elder statesmen. Something that rings with more dignity. Something that indicates they’re still vital and not nearing an ungraceful senility.
  In the end, it’s all about individual style as we hit a certain age. On the boardwalk of life, I’m proudly stumbling along on bad knees, confident that I’m an old toot who’ll always have plenty of like-minded company.
  As It Stands, if you find yourself belching and passing gas at the same time when walking you could well be on the way to becoming an old toot yourself!

Time to re-write the history books: Pyramid discovered in Bosnia-Herzegovina is older and bigger than Egypt’s Great Pyramid

I think this is pretty exciting stuff. I’m very interested in ancient aliens mingling with our earliest civilizations.

It’s a fascinating subject and if you’d like to read more about it check out:

“Chariot of the Gods” by author Erich von Däniken or go here for History Channel episodes.

“A pyramid has been discovered in Bosnia-Herzegovina that is larger, older and more perfectly oriented than Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza. Located near the city of Visoko, not only is it the first pyramid to be discovered in Europe, but it is also the largest valley of pyramids in the world.

Its discoverer, Dr. Semir Osmanagich, has also identified pyramids in Asia, Africa, North America and even islands such as Mauritius and Tahiti. He believes these man-made structures are so similar that they prove there was communication during ancient times over vast distances. “Our history books must be re-written,” he said.

The pyramid in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been dated at over 12,000 years old, and it also features the largest complex of underground tunnels ever discovered.

Dr. “Sam” Osmanagich has been admitted as a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences in Moscow. He established the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Archaeological Park, a non-profit organization to excavate and study the pyramid site further. He also is the author of Pyramids Around the World, Civilizations Before the Official History and The World of the Maya. Now a resident of Houston, Texas, Dr. Osmanagich is in the process of scheduling lectures in the U.S. for later this year.

Dr. Osmanagich will be one of the featured speakers at the third International Scientific Conference on Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids, being held September 4-14, 2012. Admission to this special program is now available from Body Mind Spirit Journeys.” Bosnian Pyramids Conference and Tour

Good News for Coffee Addicts: a Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

                      Good Day Humboldt County!

 While slurping my morning cup of Joe I ran across the following article about coffee drinkers having a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. It’s news to me,  but apparently old hat to some in medical circles. Now scientists say they know why that is.

 What I do know about coffee is that I have to have it in the morning or I’m a zombie for the rest of the day. Coffee drinkers are very dedicated folks and we’ll drink coffee anywhere in any position (see photo left).

I’m just glad they didn’t find out coffee drinkers get some horrible disease after drinking it for enough years. Drink up caffeine lovers, it’s okay!

                                     Coffee helps prevent diabetes, now scientists learn why

“Scientists have long known that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but researchers out of China may have figured out why.

Researchers Ling Zheng, of Wuhan University, and Kun Huang, of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, have found that compounds in coffee inhibit hIAPP (human islet amyloid polypeptide), a substance linked to diabetes. Their study appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Prior global epidemiological studies have shown that those who drink four or more cups of coffee a day have a 50 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most prevalent type of diabetes accounting for 95 percent of all cases. Every additional cup reduces the risk by an additional 7 percent.

Scientists looking for ways to prevent diabetes have been investigating ways to block hIAPP, which is present in high levels in the pancreases of those with the disease. Zheng and Huang decided to study whether coffee was doing that.

They analyzed the effects of the major active compounds in coffee, including caffeic acid and caffeine, on hIAPP, and found it inhibited hIAPP significantly. "These findings suggest that the beneficial effects of coffee consumption on type 2 diabetes may be partly due to the ability of major coffee components to inhibit the toxic aggression of hIAPP," the authors concluded.

"A beneficial effect may thus be expected in regular coffee drinkers," they said.”

By Marni Jameson, Orlando Sentinel

There’s some things I’ll never understand…for example…

If I shot a nail into my head I think I would feel it. Hell no! I know I would feel it!

What is it with these people who shoot and stick themselves in the skull with sharp things and don’t know how they did it?

I see stories like this all the time. Usually accompanied with a nice X-ray like this one.

There are some among us who are different…aliens perhaps…that feel no normal pain. Here’s one guy’s story:

“Gail Glaenzer still can't believe that her fiance unknowingly shot a nail into his skull, let alone that he posted a picture of the X-ray on Facebook during his ambulance ride between hospitals for surgery. Autullo was in his workshop using the nail gun. Tuesday when it recoiled near his head, Glaenzer said.

He felt what he thought was the point of the gun hit his head. But what really happened was that when the gun came in contact with his head, the sensor recognized a flat surface and fired, she said. "I looked at it when he got home, and it just looked like (his head) was cut open," she said.

With nothing to indicate that a nail had not simply "whizzed by his ear," as Autullo explained to her, she cleaned it with peroxide. Neither thought much about it, and Autullo went on with his day, even plowing a bit of snow. But the next day when he awoke from a nap, feeling nauseated, Glaenzer sensed something was wrong and suggested they go to the hospital.

At first Autullo refused, but he relented after the two picked up their son at school Wednesday evening.A couple hours later an X-ray was taken, and there in the middle of his brain was a nail. Doctors told Autullo and Glaenzer that the nail came within millimeters of the part of the brain that controls motor function.

Hospital spokesman Mike Maggio said the surgery took two hours, and the part of the skull that was removed for surgery was replaced with a titanium mesh. The surgeon didn't want to put that part of the skull back in place, fearing it might have been contaminated by the nail, he said.

"He was joking with me, (after surgery), 'We need to get the Discovery Channel up here to tape this,'" she recalled him saying. "'I'm one of those medical miracles.'"  (article source)

Okay…when was the last time you tried something new?

          Good Day Humboldt County!

  Have you got a Bucket List? Remember that great comedy with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman who were supposed to be two terminally ill cancer patients who decide to break out of the hospital and live their last days to the fullest?

  My wife has been checking off her bucket list items at a pretty good clip lately. I, on the other hand, don’t have a bucket list. I’ve lived such a full life that there’s nothing I haven’t done…that I wanted too that is.

Have you got a bucket list? Here’s a couple of wild ideas for your own list:

    Ithaa Undersea restaurant, Maldives

       ( Conrad Maldives Rangali Island )

Ithaa Undersea restaurant sits 16 feet below sea level at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, a hotel resort in Hilton's luxury brand that occupies two islands.

Maldives is a country of almost 1,200 islands about 300 miles from the southernmost points of India and Sri Lanka.

                     Angola Prison Rodeo, La.

                            ( Frank McMains )

The Angola Prison Rodeo is a chance to see serious felons testing their mettle against serious livestock. It's a glimpse into an infamous lockup, bordered on three sides by the Mississippi River, where blues musician Leadbelly once did time. It's an introduction, amid plenty of homegrown food and music, to the peculiarly tangled history of public incarceration and private enterprise in the Tunica Hills of rural Louisiana. The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, once labeled the bloodiest prison in America, holds about 5,200 inmates and sprawls across 18,000 acres in West Feliciana Parish, 137 miles northwest of New Orleans and about 20 miles northwest of St. Francisville, La.

Time to walk on down the road…

My pug, Millie, asked me to share these photos of her pals with you

  

  

Google images

A whole lotta heart: man with two hearts survives double seizures

             Good Day Humboldt County!

  Today’s revelation, at least to me, is that a person can have two hearts. Did you know that?

I’m reminded of Dean R. Koontz’s Frankenstein series where all of his creations have two hearts. It make them stronger in the book, but I doubt it has the same effect on this guy.

Turns out two hearts can be double trouble. I was thinking about some really silly situations like when you fall in love with two hearts it must be a powerful experience, or when someone says, “I don’t have the heart for this,” you could say, “That’s alright. Use the other one!”

I’ve never met someone with two hearts. I’ve met people with no hearts (seemingly) and big hearts. Anyway, I thought you might find this story interesting.  

                                         Man with two hearts survives double-sized attack

“At first there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about the man who, in 2010, reported to a Verona, Italy emergency room. He was short of breath, sweating, and had low blood pressure – cardiovascular trouble, no doubt. E.R. doctors see similar symptoms all the time.

But this man was very different indeed. He had two hearts. “We haven’t ever seen anything similar to this case before,” Dr. Giacomo Mugnai said in an email. It turned out that a few years earlier, the man had undergone a procedure known as a heterotopic heart transplant. Unlike an orthotopic transplant, in which one organ is removed and another put in its place, a heterotopic transplant pairs a new organ with a diseased one.”

Time to walk on down the road…

SOPA Controversy: Columnist has point about people stealing his work

I was reading Bob Sullivan’s article Stop pirating my stories about SOPA, or I'll have to support it today when something struck me:

People pirate my columns all the time! My most recent column

• In a twist of irony Big Pharma helping to get pot legalized

was picked up by 15 web sites the day it came out.

More have been added since, but you get my point. This happens all the time. About four years ago when I first started noticing websites picking up my columns without asking permission, I contacted them and complained.

I was ignored and no one responded. They must have felt it was okay to pirate my stuff. Freedom of the Internet and all. As the years went by, my thinking evolved on the subject, and I came to the conclusion that having my columns picked up by other sources gave me more exposure and opened up new paths to explore.

Granted, I don’t look at each visit to my blog as a revenue source like Bob Sullivan. I blog purely for fun and that’s why you don’t see ads here. It’s how Bob makes his living however, and I understand where he’s coming from. He’s tired of people picking up his stuff without so much as  link to the original and losing money on top of it.

                         Wouldn’t you be?

Related story: Are websites' SOPA blackouts an 'abuse of power'?

I’m opposed to SOPA and will be until my dying breath, but I think more can be done to deal with the offending individuals on the internet. It’s not right to blanket all internet users for the sins of a minority.

As It Stands, there’s no reason to bring a bazooka to a gunfight and take the chance of killing innocent bystanders. 

 

'Blair Witch' star hoping to turn pot-growing story into TV series

Wow! You Grow Girl!

Here’s a new TV series I wouldn’t mind following:

“Heather Donahue, who starred in "The Blair Witch Project," is hoping to turn her medical marijuana business into a quirky new TV drama. The actress quit show business to grow marijuana legally in California, and she has written a book, "Grow Girl," about her experiences as a farmer.

The publicity has sparked fresh interest in Donahue, and she's hoping to return to Hollywood as the writer-producer of a new series. She tells BlogTalkRadio.com, "I would very much like to develop 'Grow Girl' into a television series. ... As a matter of fact, it's something that I am working on right now. I will not be in front of the camera, but I'm creating the series. It's a little bit 'Northern Exposure,' a little bit 'Little House on the Prairie,' but naked with hot tubs! It's sexy, a little bit illicit ... and also wholesome. There is such a wonderful set of characters and so many stories to be told."

Donahue feels the time is right for a good mainstream pot-growing series: "My friend, who is a wonderful writer, actually, sold a pot-lady buddy comedy to Natalie Portman's company called 'Best Buds.'"

(news source)