{"id":148089,"date":"2024-10-05T11:55:15","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T11:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/05\/readers-discuss-the-psychedelic-psilocybin-frogs-and-ufos\/"},"modified":"2024-10-05T11:55:15","modified_gmt":"2024-10-05T11:55:15","slug":"readers-discuss-the-psychedelic-psilocybin-frogs-and-ufos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/05\/readers-discuss-the-psychedelic-psilocybin-frogs-and-ufos\/","title":{"rendered":"Readers discuss the psychedelic psilocybin, frogs and UFOs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/081024_cover_1000.jpg?resize=296%2C383&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Readers discuss the psychedelic psilocybin, frogs and UFOs\" title=\"Readers discuss the psychedelic psilocybin, frogs and UFOs\" \/><\/div> \r\n<br><div data-component=\"video-embed\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image  has-alignleft\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-medium is-resized\" data-component=\"lightbox\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/sn-magazine\/august-10-2024\"><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In control<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A high dose of the psychedelic psilocybin temporarily dissolves brain networks, <strong>Laura Sanders<\/strong> reported in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/psilocybin-brain-networks\">Psilocybin erases brain \u2018fingerprints<\/a>\u2019\u201d (<\/em>SN: 8\/10\/24, p. 12<em>).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the study, a generic form of the stimulant Ritalin served as a control against psilocybin. Reader <strong>Jason Patrick <\/strong>asked why scientists chose that drug. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can be hard to design studies of psychedelics because the drugs\u2019 effects are usually obvious to both researchers and participants, <strong>Sanders<\/strong> says. Though the control, called methylphenidate, and psilocybin produce very different experiences, the drugs have some similarities, <strong>Sanders<\/strong> says. Both affect levels of chemical messengers in the brain and can increase the body\u2019s arousal, elevating heart rate and blood pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text rich-text--with-sidebar\">\n<style><![CDATA[<![CDATA[\n.email-conversion {\n  border: 1px solid #ffcccb;\n  color: white;\n  margin-top: 50px;\n  background-image: url(\"\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@2x.jpg\");\n  padding: 20px;\n  clear: both;\n}\n\n]]]]><![CDATA[>]]><\/style>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rich-text embedded-conversion-content is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<style><![CDATA[<![CDATA[\n#dynamic-wrapper {\n  border: 1px solid #ffcccb;\n  background-image: url(\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/032624_sb_space-sugar_feat.jpg?w&#61;800&amp;ssl&#61;1\");\n  background-size: cover;\n  background-position: center center;\n  padding: 20px;\n  clear: both;\n}\n\n#dynamic-conversion {\n  padding: 20px;\n  background:rgba(0,0,0, 0.5);\n  color: white;\n}\n\n#dynamic-conversion h2 {\n  color: white;\n}\n\np.has-text-align-center a {\n  color: white !important;\n  text-decoration: none;\n  font-weight: bold;\n}\n\n]]]]><![CDATA[>]]><\/style>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"dynamic-wrapper\" class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div id=\"dynamic-conversion\" class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>Tell us about your Science News experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Help us improve by taking our 15-question reader survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/aside>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A ribbiting story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Some Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs are immune to the deadly chytrid fungus called Bd, hinting at ways to save frog species worldwide, <strong>Martin J. Kernan<\/strong> reported in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/frog-survive-fungal-pandemic-bd-fungus\">Bouncing back<\/a>\u201d<\/em> <em>(<\/em>SN: 8\/10\/24, p. 22<em>).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enlightened by the story, reader <strong>Devin J. Starlanyl<\/strong> reflected on the frogs in his community. \u201cI became more educated about the potential threat to frogs in our own ecosystems, and how easily they can be threatened,\u201d <strong>Starlanyl<\/strong> wrote. \u201cOur evenings in spring are enhanced by the songs of our brook frogs. We have named the leaders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Our lives would be much dimmer without the songs of Guilde and Rozie the Ribbiter,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI plan to contact our conservation commission about how to secure the health of our brook and our frogs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Debunked displays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>UFOs probably aren\u2019t aliens, so scientists are searching for the real origins of what are now called unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs, <strong>Sid Perkins<\/strong> reported in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/scientists-serious-ufo-uap-security\">\u201cUFOs get a rebrand\u201d<\/a> (<\/em>SN: 8\/10\/24, p. 16<em>).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The story reminded reader <strong>Don Wolman<\/strong> of alleged UFO sightings in Utah in the 1960s. A 1978 paper in <em>Applied Optics <\/em>suggested that the mysterious light displays were probably caused by swarms of spruce budworm moths, not aliens. As the insects \u201cflew through electrified air in the sky, their legs and antennae glowed with St. Elmo\u2019s fire,\u201d <strong>Wolman<\/strong> wrote. The atmospheric phenomenon produces glowing plasma around objects in an electrically charged field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n<br>\r\n<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/readers-discuss-psilocybin-frogs-ufos\">Source link <\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In control A high dose of the psychedelic psilocybin temporarily dissolves brain networks, Laura Sanders reported in \u201cPsilocybin erases brain \u2018fingerprints\u2019\u201d (SN: 8\/10\/24, p. 12). In the study, a generic form of the stimulant Ritalin served as a control against psilocybin. Reader Jason Patrick asked why scientists chose that drug. It can be hard to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/081024_cover_1000.jpg?resize=296%2C383&ssl=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[4287,5662,81805,117418,4885,90552],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148089"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148091,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148089\/revisions\/148091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}