In management

A excessive dose of the psychedelic psilocybin briefly dissolves mind networks, Laura Sanders reported in “Psilocybin erases mind ‘fingerprints’” (SN: 8/10/24, p. 12).

Within the examine, a generic type of the stimulant Ritalin served as a management in opposition to psilocybin. Reader Jason Patrick requested why scientists selected that drug.

It may be exhausting to design research of psychedelics as a result of the medicine’ results are often apparent to each researchers and individuals, Sanders says. Although the management, referred to as methylphenidate, and psilocybin produce very completely different experiences, the medicine have some similarities, Sanders says. Each have an effect on ranges of chemical messengers within the mind and might improve the physique’s arousal, elevating coronary heart charge and blood strain.

A ribbiting story

Some Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs are proof against the lethal chytrid fungus referred to as Bd, hinting at methods to save lots of frog species worldwide, Martin J. Kernan reported in “Bouncing again” (SN: 8/10/24, p. 22).

Enlightened by the story, reader Devin J. Starlanyl mirrored on the frogs in his neighborhood. “I grew to become extra educated concerning the potential risk to frogs in our personal ecosystems, and the way simply they are often threatened,” Starlanyl wrote. “Our evenings in spring are enhanced by the songs of our brook frogs. We now have named the leaders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Our lives could be a lot dimmer with out the songs of Guilde and Rozie the Ribbiter,” he wrote. “I plan to contact our conservation fee about how one can safe the well being of our brook and our frogs.”

Debunked shows

UFOs most likely aren’t aliens, so scientists are looking for the actual origins of what at the moment are referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs, Sid Perkins reported in “UFOs get a rebrand” (SN: 8/10/24, p. 16).

The story reminded reader Don Wolman of alleged UFO sightings in Utah within the Sixties. A 1978 paper in Utilized Optics prompt that the mysterious mild shows had been most likely attributable to swarms of spruce budworm moths, not aliens. Because the bugs “flew by electrified air within the sky, their legs and antennae glowed with St. Elmo’s fireplace,” Wolman wrote. The atmospheric phenomenon produces glowing plasma round objects in an electrically charged discipline.