Jun 20, 2019 | Referee, Science & Technology
By Kate MacKrill Kate Mackrill explores what is known as the nocebo effect and whether the media can, in fact, influence the side effects of medication. You are probably aware of the placebo effect – a therapeutic benefit from a sugar pill or even real medication...
Sep 11, 2018 | Science & Technology
By C. Michael White The Green, a gathering place in New Haven, Connecticut, near Yale University looked like a mass casualty zone, with 70 serious drug overdoses over a period spanning Aug. 15-16, 2018. The cause: synthetic cannabinoids, also known as K2, Spice, or...
Jul 26, 2018 | Science & Technology
By Benjamin Bell What is a hallucinogen? Benjamin Bell explores what these mind-altering drugs do in our brains. The term “drug” applies to all substances that can induce any biological changes in any of our bodies’ functions. But that label doesn’t differentiate at...
Oct 19, 2017 | Science & Technology
Sanitation and antibiotics have saved the lives of many, but are they also the culprits behind some modern diseases? Martin Blaser argues that we might have gone overboard in killing our microbes, and that may be causing some of today’s epidemics. Blaser discusses the...