the placebo effect

interesting little video from a person using the handle the professor funk. it's about 3 minutes long, and deals with the idea of placebos vs placebos.



this is very interesting to me, especially the idea of placebo and sport. perhaps i'll have to do some reading on the topic.

french redo milgram's experiment

i was super excited to see this story today.



i know, i know, who gets excited about seeing a study about people shocking each other? i do. i do because i love milgram's study about compliance to authority and i'm interested to see how frequently it can be duplicated. not that i doubt it, but because every time that it's duplicated i can point out that duplication to those who doubt that they would do such a thing. really, i have students that will argue with me that they wouldn't shock someone just because they were told to do so. yes, they would.

dude put down that joint

more science about how the doobies are bad for you. not the brothers, but the marijuana cigarettes.

here's some data skimmed:
research found 20 times as much ammonia, a chemical linked to cancer
five times as much hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides, which are linked to heart and lung damage respectively
in the case of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the toxin linked to infertility, the researchers found concentrations were actually higher in cigarette smoke (this one's about second hand smoke).

yowza. the article did point out that tobacco smokers tended to smoke more, which could equalize the effects.

oh you tokers

you know, i am positive that i have heard several potheads explain to me how weed was less dangerous than tobacco. it seems that common sense is losing out to science, once again. lung problems and schizophrenia, you guys get it all!

maybe if you're lucky, you can take part in some american version of this study. lord knows we need people to sacrifice for science.