Participants took 25mg of psilocybin, reporting deeper psychological insight and better wellbeing a month later

A single dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, can induce anatomical changes in the brain, according to research among people who took the psychedelic compound for the first time.

Scientists spotted apparent changes in the brain’s structure which were still apparent a month after healthy volunteers took the drug. If confirmed, they may help explain the therapeutic effects that psychedelics can have on anxiety, depression and addiction, researchers said.

Finalisation of pact governing global response to disease outbreaks delayed as talks on how to share benefits stall

A key deadline to finalise a global pandemic treaty has been missed by negotiators, prompting warnings that the world remains unprepared for the next major disease outbreak.

Countries have been trying to agree how they should share information on pathogens, such as bacteria or viruses, that could cause pandemics – and what access to any resulting vaccines, tests and treatments they should be guaranteed in return.

Alzheimer’s Research UK says patients at risk of being left behind as lack of formal or accurate diagnoses closes door to trials

People with Alzheimer’s disease are missing out on experimental treatments because they are not diagnosed early or accurately enough to be enrolled in clinical trials, a UK charity has said.

Trials of Alzheimer’s drugs reached a record high this year, according to data published on Tuesday , but Alzheimer’s Research UK said too few UK patients were taking part because their diagnoses were delayed or were not specific enough.

Decades of advice on what to eat and what not to might have been missing one key ingredient, according to new research

Reduce your calories. Eat more vegetables. Limit soft drinks and junk foods. For years, even decades, this has been the advice for those wanting a healthy body weight, lower blood pressure and better markers of metabolic health. Most weight-loss advice has focused on either what to eat (and what to avoid), or how much to eat. Think of dietary pyramids produced by government agencies, calories on food packaging and meals, and typical nutritional advice.

It’s all true, to a certain extent: it’s obviously better to eat a healthier, nutritionally balanced diet, and yes, lower body weight is broadly linked to reducing calories. But this type of approach can be hard to sustain. Even as a personal trainer who knows what I “should” be eating according to government dietary advice and has heard too much about calorie deficits, I take a slightly different approach to food. I think we need to bring nuance and a balanced approach to food and what we eat.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, and the author of How Not to Die (Too Soon)

The transition towards renewable energy received a boost last week when representatives from 57 countries met in Santa Marta, Colombia, for a world-first climate meeting aimed at bringing the fossil fuels era to an end. Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s global environment editor, Jon Watts, about how the landmark conference came about, who was missing, and whether the optimism can translate into real world action

Could Santa Marta climate talks mark ground zero in push to ditch fossil fuels?

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

The Last Week Tonight host dug into the unregulated ‘wild west’ of kratom, boner pills and ‘gas station heroin’

On the latest Last Week Tonight, John Oliver focused on the rise of gas station drugs, the brightly colored bottles and pills that are sold at the registers of US convenience stores. Promising increased energy, pain relief or improved sexual performance, these unregulated products often contain tianeptine, a drug known as “gas station heroin”.

“While you might assume they’re just snake oil, that’s not necessarily true,” said Oliver. “Some of these drugs can be actively dangerous, presenting risks of addiction just like controlled substances.”

Exclusive: Sperm re-transplant offers hope that boys left infertile by chemotherapy could have biological children one day

In a groundbreaking fertility trial, a man whose testicular tissue was frozen before he underwent chemotherapy as a child to be re-transplanted 16 years later has been able to produce sperm.

It is the first time a transplant of cryopreserved prepubertal testicular tissue has been demonstrated to restore sperm production in an adult patient. The 27-year-old man had the sample frozen when he was 10, before undergoing potent chemotherapy as part of treatment for sickle cell disease.

The Trump administration has brought US onshore wind development to a halt citing national security concerns, representing a major escalation in the president’s crusade against renewable energy.

Approvals for about 165 onshore wind projects on private lands are being stalled by the Department of Defense, including wind farms which were awaiting final sign-off, others in the middle of negotiations and some that typically would not require oversight by the department, according to the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and people close to the matter.

Wind farms require routine approval from the defence department to ensure they do not interfere with radar systems. This typically involves the level of risk being assessed and the developer paying an agreed sum for the army to update its radar filter system so it can locate the windmill. Some projects can be deemed not to pose a risk due to their distance from army facilities and flight paths. Normally these assessments can take as little as a few days to complete.

Read full article

Comments

Violin makers, aka luthiers, traditionally learn from hands-on experience how to craft parts and select materials to shape an instrument's final sound. MIT engineers hope to streamline that painstaking process with their new virtual violin. It's a computer simulation tool that can capture the precise physics of the instrument and even reproduce a realistic sound of a plucked string, according to a paper published in the journal npj Acoustics.

Unlike the more common software programs and plugins that simulate violin sounds via sampling, averaging the final sound based on thousands of notes, the MIT model is based on the fundamental physics of the instrument. “We’re not saying that we can reproduce the artisan’s magic,” said co-author Nicholas Makris . “We’re just trying to understand the physics of violin sound, and perhaps help luthiers in the design process.”

Violin acoustics has long been a hot topic of research among acousticians, particularly when it comes to unlocking the secret to the superior sounds of violins crafted during the so-called "Golden Age"—notably the instruments of famed Cremona luthier Antonio Stradivari , as well as those of the Amati family and Giuseppe Guarneri . There are plenty of variables to consider, given a violin's acoustic complexity.

Read full article

Comments