100 years ago it was fairly common to hear someone say, “Don’t stay out in the sun too long — you’ll get a headache.” But while most of these kinds of old wives tales have been discarded in the modern era, new research suggests that warm weather can indeed give you a headache — or even a debilitating migraine.
Weather Changes Tied to Migraine Headaches
Obama Reverses Bush Administration Stem Cell Policy
All throughout his presidential campaign, President Obama called for federal restrictions on stem cell research to be lifted. The restrictions, which were instigated by the Bush administration back in 2001, were roundly criticized by researchers and health professionals the world over. President Obama announced Monday that he had signed an executive order reversing the Bush administration’s policy.
Is the Internet Changing the Way up Our Brains Work?
There’s absolutely no doubt that the Internet is the single most important innovation of the past century. The Web has changed the way he we live, work, access information, shop, and stay connected with friends and family. But is it possible that the Internet is an evolutionary shift among humans, and is in fact altering the neural pathways in our brains to work in a new, more tech-friendly, manner?
Scientists Discover Healing Chemical in Marijuana
Marijuana users have long claimed that the plant has amazing healing and medicinal properties; new scientific research shows there may be some truth to these claims. Three European universities, including ETH in Zürich Switzerland, have studied the molecular properties of cannabis and determined that a chemical contained in the plant, beta-caryophyllene, is useful in treating pain, inflammation, osteoporosis and other illnesses.
New Research Suggests That Ibuprofen Reduces the Risk of Dementia
In one of the largest research studies to date, Boston University School of Medicine evaluated data from nearly 250,000 US veterans, and determined that those who used the painkiller ibuprofen for more than five years reduced their risk of developing Alzheimer’s by an impressive 40%.
New Brain Scan Technology Decodes Images in the Mind
By using a combination of MRI scans and a massive computer database of visual brain activity images, researchers can now “read” images within the brain. The Washington Post is reporting that Professor Jack Gallant of the University of California, Berkeley has invented a process to effectively categorize and “decode” visual activity in the brain.
Studies Show Cell Phones Unsafe on the Road
We’ve all seen careless drivers, chatting away on a cell phone in traffic, and sometimes even dialing numbers or checking text messages while negotiating tricky intersections. It’s easy to see how using a cell phone in traffic can be distracting, and potentially lead to increased accidents on the road. But several new studies are showing a different kind of threat from using a cell phone in your car.
Are Some of Us Hard-Wired for Stress?
We’ve all known people who seemed unflappable; no matter what happens, they never seem to lose their composure or fly off the handle. But on the other hand, most of us also know people who seem overly excitable, or have a low threshold to stress. For many years the differences in how people handle stress were mostly attributed to their upbringing and personal attitude. But now there is new evidence that stress is actually linked to specific neural pathways in the brain that transmit chemicals used when we communicate. Could this mean that some of us are simply hard-wired for stress?
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