Extract of Chinese herb kudzu reduces alcohol consumption

May 182012
 

(McLean Hospital) An extract of the Chinese herb kudzu dramatically reduces drinking and may be useful in the treatment of alcoholism and curbing binge drinking, according to a new study by McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School researchers.

“Our study is further evidence that components found in kudzu root can reduce alcohol consumption and do so without adverse side effects,” said David Penetar, PhD, of the Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory at McLean Hospital, and the lead author of the study. “Further research is needed, but this botanical medication may lead to additional methods to treat alcohol abuse and dependence.”

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 May 18, 2012  Posted by at 7:21 am No Responses »

California school food standards change teens eating habits for the better

May 102012
 

By Sarah Kliff  (Washington Post) California’s strict school nutrition standards — soda bans, low calorie foods in cafeterias and limits on fat content — appear to have had a significant impact on what teens there eat. A study of about 700 teenagers, published this week in the Archives of Pediatric Medicine, found California teens to [...]

 May 10, 2012  Posted by at 6:50 am No Responses »

New male birth control procedure said to be 100% effective, completely reversible

May 092012
 

By Dave Smith (International Business Times) A promising new birth control treatment — for men, not women — looks to be the future of contraception. It’s safe, relatively uninvasive, 100 percent effective, and completely reversible. Developed by Prof. Sujoy K. Guha of the Indian Institute of Technology, the procedure called “Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under [...]

 May 9, 2012  Posted by at 12:12 pm No Responses »

Video of police fatally beating homeless man causes spectators to leave courtroom

May 082012
 

By Richard Winton (Los Angeles Times) On the ground and screaming that he was “sorry,” a shirtless Kelly Thomas is shown being hit again and again with fists, a baton and finally the butt of a stun gun by Fullerton police officers in a dramatic video that was shown for the first time Monday in [...]

 May 8, 2012  Posted by at 8:04 am No Responses »

Gene Weingarten is alarmed at how cheap he’d sell his moral integrity

May 022012
 

By Gene Weingarten (Washington Post) It is said that everyone has a price, a sum of money large enough to corrupt his moral integrity. I always suspected that I might have a price, too, but was a little alarmed recently to discover it is $125. That was the price of the speed-camera ticket that arrived [...]

 May 2, 2012  Posted by at 7:18 am No Responses »

Plants use perfume to attract beneficial bacteria to their roots

Apr 302012
 

(Sheffield University) Scientists have discovered maize crops emit chemical signals to attract growth promoting microbes to their roots, which boosts performance and could combat world food shortages. The groundbreaking research – the first chemical signal that has been shown to attract the beneficial bacteria – could reduce agricultural reliance on fertilisers and pesticides across the [...]

 April 30, 2012  Posted by at 1:35 pm No Responses »

Privatized prison labor competes with regular business at 93 cents a day

Apr 202012
 

By Steve Fraser and Joshua B. Freeman (AlterNet) Prisoners, whose ranks increasingly consist of those for whom the legitimate economy has found no use, now make up a virtual brigade within the reserve army of the unemployed whose ranks have ballooned along with the U.S. incarceration rate.  The Corrections Corporation of America and G4S formerly Wackenhut, two prison privatizers, sell inmate labor at [...]

 April 20, 2012  Posted by at 1:13 pm No Responses »

There is no invisible hand

Apr 152012
 

By Jonathan Schlefer (Harvard Review) Adam Smith suggested the invisible hand in an otherwise obscure passage in his Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776. He mentioned it only once in the book, while he repeatedly noted situations where “natural liberty” does not work. Let banks charge much more [...]

 April 15, 2012  Posted by at 8:54 am No Responses »

Does Mitt Romney support paid sick days for working mothers?

Apr 142012
 

By  Melissa Boteach (ThinkProgress) Ann Romney has tweeted, “All moms are entitled to choose their path.” But unfortunately for low-wage working moms and nearly half of private sector workers, the” choice” is either “go to work and send my sick kid to school” or “stay at home with my sick child and risk losing my [...]

 April 14, 2012  Posted by at 6:26 pm No Responses »

No such thing as ‘women and children first’ without threats of physical force

Apr 142012
 

(The Local) Scientists at Uppsala University have found that the widespread belief that women and children are saved first in maritime disasters is a myth, unless the men are threatened with physical violence like on the Titanic. “It is expected that the crew should rescue passengers, but our results show that captains and crew are [...]

 April 14, 2012  Posted by at 6:54 am No Responses »
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