Tag Archives: benefits

Treating Depression: An Expert Discusses Risks, Benefits of Ketamine

By Health, , , , , ,

Controversial option seems to work when other methods fail

Up to a third of patients with depression don’t respond to traditional forms of treatment. For those patients, the dark fog that hovers over their lives feels like it will never lift. But a new treatment called ketamine has recently made waves all over the internet. Hailed as a “miracle drug” and the first major antidepressant breakthrough in three decades, ketamine has improved the lives of many patients whose depression had dominated their lives for years. And yet, many of these articles also convey a note of skepticism. That’s because ketamine is also a street drug, a popular hallucinogenic known as “special K.” (more…)

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Benefits of Advanced Wood-Burning Stoves Greater Than Thought

By Environment, Science, , , , , ,

A recent study from North Carolina State University finds that advanced wood-burning stoves designed for use in the developing world can reduce air pollution more than anticipated, because gaseous emissions from traditional wood stoves form more particulate matter in the atmosphere than researchers previously thought. (more…)

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Benefits of testosterone therapy in older men are mixed

By Health, , , , , ,

Older men with low testosterone levels showed improved bone density and strength, as well as reduced anemia, after one year of testosterone therapy, according to a new study conducted at Yale and other sites. The therapy had no impact on cognitive function, however, and may worsen plaque in coronary arteries, said the researchers. (more…)

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Diversity’s benefits

By Economy, Science, ,

Solving difficult problems takes diverse teams, noted author says

“Hire the best people.” We’ve all heard that. 

But often groups of “the best” — those with the highest abilities — don’t do the best job at solving a difficult problem, according to Scott Page, University of Michigan professor and author of The Difference, a classic book on the benefits of diversity. (more…)

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No Ocean-Borne Radiation from Fukushima Detected on West Coast Shoreline, According to Analysis of 1st Samples from ‘Kelp Watch 2014’

By Environment, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

LONG BEACH, Calif.—Scientists working together on Kelp Watch 2014 announced today that the West Coast shoreline shows no signs of ocean-borne radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, following their analysis of the first collection of kelp samples along the western U.S. coastline.

Kelp Watch 2014 is a project that uses coastal kelp beds as detectors of radioactive seawater arriving from Fukushima via the North Pacific Current. It is a collaborative effort led by Steven Manley, marine biology professor at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), and Kai Vetter, head of applied nuclear physics at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and a nuclear engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley. (more…)

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