Learning

Researchers used computer simulations to screen millions of molecules for opioid-like pain-relieving properties. The analyses allowed scientists to create a molecule that effectively alleviates pain in mice, but with fewer side effects than the opioid morphine. more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: Today's kids don't have to struggle with typewriter ribbons, correction tape, Wite-Out, carbon paper, mimeograph stencils, Ditto machines, and a myriad other medieval instruments of torture that plagued secretaries of old. What's a secretary? It was a woman (never a man) who munched a brown-bag sandwich at her desk as she typed, while her boss, who made more than ten times her salary, was out enjoying expense-paid 'business' lunches and martinis with other bosses. If I sound bitter, it's because I am. I was born way too soon I envy all who weren't. more »

We were told that 500 Cleveland police and 2,800 police from elsewhere were keeping the protests peaceful. They slept in the dorms of the local colleges and were moved around in local school buses. These were the friendliest police I have ever seen at a protest. They spoke with the various march leaders as though they were working for the tourist bureau. Only the members of the Pennsylvania State Police were added to the Philadelphia police. While their numbers waxed and waned, police presence in the street was no greater than in a normal protest. more »

Emery Brown's research provides insight into why the doses required to achieve an anesthetic state differ among age groups. In one study, the anesthetic-induced brain waves of older adults were two to three times smaller than those of younger ones. As we age, Brown explains, brain cells function at a lower level, so weaker brain waves can disrupt their activity and cause unconsciousness. more »