SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

This section's Estimated Time of Procrastination is: 7'

Image via Wired.

To investigate the aspects of conciousness that can arise from neurological meta-networks (how cells and regions interact, with consciousness shaped not by any given set of brain regions, but by their interplay), researchers analyzed fMRI scans of 15 people after being injected with psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, a sure-fire way of altering consciousness, and compared them to scans of their brain activity after receiving a placebo.

A representation of that is seen in the image above, and as the title of this Wired article clearly indicate: this is how magic mushrooms rearrange your brain. Read full article in Wired. E.T.P. 3'

Illustration: Ellen Porteus via The New York Times.

I don't know exactly where to fit this article in the Procrastinator structure. We should have a Social Anthropology section for sure (someone interested in that?), but as we don't, I'll just share it here because, technology.

"Americans say they are deeply concerned about privacy on the web and their cellphones. They say they do not trust Internet companies or the government to protect it. Yet they keep using the services and handing over their personal information. That paradox is captured in a new survey by Pew Research Center . . . Distrust of digital communication has only increased, Pew found, with the young expressing the most concern by some measures, in the wake of the revelations by Edward Snowden about online surveillance by the government. Yet Americans for now seem to grudgingly accept that these are the trade-offs of living in the digital age — or else they fear that it is too late to do anything about it." Read full article in The New York Times. E.T.P. 4'

SCIENCE

Photo via NPR: A volunteer participates in LSD research in Viejas, Calif., in 1966.

The sixties are gone, but psychedelic research treatment continue. "In 1966, psychedelic drug advocate and former Harvard professor Timothy Leary appeared on the Merv Griffin Show. "I'm in the unfortunate situation of being about 20 years ahead of my time," Leary said. When asked how many times he'd taken LSD, he answered 311. The audience gasped.
Leary was fired for experimenting with psychedelics on undergraduates, and before long, LSD was classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning it had "no known medical use." Research on the medical uses of LSD and other psychedelics came to a halt. Today, psychedelic drug research is coming back, and scientists are picking up where Leary and other researchers left off, conducting experiments on therapeutic uses of these drugs. But the research still faces stigma, and funding is hard to get." Listen to this interesting program in NPR Website. E.T.P. 12'

 

Image via FastCoExist.

Your fat is why you're not as bright as you could be. Obesity doesn't make you less intelligent, but it might cloud your cognitive abilities. In a recent study, conducted by researchers at Georgia Regents University, the blood of obese mice had especially high levels of a chemical called interleukin 1, a substance born from fat cells that can cause inflammation. When the researchers later examined the obese mice brains, they found that interleukin 1 had passed the blood-brain barrier--something that normally should not be possible. The substance had seeped into the hippocampus, an area responsible for memory and learning. Read full article in Fast Company. E.T.P. 3'

Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 8th of September Edition

EDITORIAL

This week in the world was a very tense one, that's why, aside from Teju Cole's interview on The Washington Post we decided to keep the highlighted news somewhat lighter. We don't discourage you to read heavy, tense, polemic, very real news, on the contrary, please keep yourselves informed. But this is just not the place for that.

So, in the news section, we are featuring an interesting article about LSD and a Hayao Miyasaki profile. On our Design, Business and Innovation section you can read about 3D Printing, art and a tweeting piano. In our Culture and Entertainment section you'll have a little bit of fashion and a bit of Russia, with love. And in our weekly procrastination, among other things, we follow our own advice and visited the Mass Observation exhibition in the Photographer's gallery and loved it, you can read a bit about it.

Finally, (I almost forgot!) we are starting a BRAND NEW SECTION! I am screaming, yes. We have now a Science section that will cover the very popular subjects of space, medicine, neuroscience, and in this particular edition: beer.

Hope you enjoy this week's edition, and don't forget to check the amazing In Dog We Trust and Sunday Sometimes sections. Dogs and cartoons, who doesn't love them?


NEWS

Image: Teju Cole's Twitter account Screenshot.

Max Fischer of The Washington Post, interviews The New Yorker's writer Teju Cole, about his Twitter manifesto/parody/action (?) 9 Questions about Britain that you were too embarrassed to ask. Have a look at all the tweets and the interview here.

Photo: The Beatles, of course, via The Independent.

Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour as a team of Norwegian scientists has concluded that LSD may actually be good for you after conducting an exhaustive study on tens of thousands of Americans. Dr Timothy Leary, who was branded the “most dangerous man in America” by President Nixon, was right after all. Read full article in The Independent.

Image: My neighbor Totoro movie frame via BookImageCollective Blog.

"I know I've said I would retire many times in the past. Many of you must think, 'Once again.' But this time I am quite serious," said the Japanese master of whimsical animation, Hayao Miyazaki, who has retired before... but this time, sadly, he says he means it. He will definitely be missed. Read full story in Associated Press.