You can play Six Degrees of Separation with film actors. Rudolph Valentino could be linked with Traci Lords in a few easy steps (haven't tried it ( Read more... )

It's awesome to see how scientific research slowly but surely contributes to knowledge. In 1964, the structure of the major psychoactive Cannabis constituent THC was discovered by Gaoni and Mechoulam in Israel. In 1990, the structure of the first cannabinoid receptor, CB1, was determined and the localisation of this receptor in the brain was ( Read more... )

Last night I just had to retest whether chillies really are hot. I ordered szechuan chicken with dried chillies. I put a chilli to my mouth and licked it. I could feel the oil diffusing into my lips, laced with sesame as well as heat. I bit the end off the chilli and swallowed it. My throat spasmed it as it went down. A few minutes later my lips ( Read more... )

This is an edited excerpt from the abstract of a paper surveying trends in cannabis and alcohol consumption in French school students ( Read more... )

An interesting editorial in the British Medical Journal ( Read more... )

New word learned: palpebral, to do with the eyelids.

Must bring medical dictionary in from home.

I've always been irritated by people who show cynical antipathy towards scientific advance, like the people who suggest that drug companies released the HIV virus for profiteering purposes. However an article in Nature Neuroscience online about the advancing plethora of mind-enhancing drugs, designed to improve memory and cognition from the ( Read more... )