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Podcast TranscriptThe Naked Scientists: Science Radio & Science Podcasts |
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Ecstasy Worse for Women
How can a drug taken by 500,000 people a week be dangerous ? Quite literally more people have died going fishing than from taking Ecstasy. But scientists are beginning to find that there is a more sinister side to Ecstasy that doesn't become apparent until some years down the line. Ecstasy works by causing nerve cells to produce lots of 2 chemicals that are important for signalling in the brain, serotonin and dopamine. Doctors originally thought that the effects were reversible, but now we are finding that after taking ecstasy, the affected nerve cells may be irreversibly damaged. In fact, they may be damaged more in womens' brains than mens'. The researchers say that this could be because most people take ecstasy tablets containing the same amount of drug, but as women are often smaller than men, they have a smaller body in which to distribute the drug and so it reaches higher levels in the bloodstream. So what are the long term consequences of this kind of brain damage ? - probably depression and mental dulling later in life.
Interview with drugs expert Prof. John Henry about the effects of Ecstasy
2nd Dec 2001
Palmistry Proven After All…?
The art of tell your future from the lines on your palm may not be so ridiculous after all, and it can certainly be used to indicate your past, say researchers this week. They found that children with learning difficulties which were due to problems whilst they were growing inside their mothers, have simpler fingerprint patterns and abnormal creases on their palms.
2nd Dec 2001
Why Airports Are Bad for your Health
A recent study has shown that people who live near airports are more likely to have high blood pressure than those who live further away. What's more, the longer you have been living near to an airport, the higher your blood pressure is likely to be. This is almost certainly due to noise pollution since deaf, or hearing-impaired, people are less vulnerable.
2nd Dec 2001
Contraceptive Skin Patches to Go on Sale
Americans got their first taste of a new kind of contraceptive device this week with the launch of Ortho Evra, the first contracptive skin patch. It works by continuously releasing artificial forms of the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone through the skin and into the bloodstream to prevent pregnancy. You can find out more at www.fda.gov
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS CAN PREVENT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Alzheimers disease, a form of senile dementia, currently affects about 1 person in 5 over the age of 80. However, researchers have recently found that long term use of anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin, and especially ibuprofen, can greatly reduce your chances of developing the disease, and the longer you take it for, the greater the benefit. The researchers followed nearly 7000 Dutch people aged over 55 for 8 years to see how many of them developed Alzheimers disease. They were staggered to find an 80% reduction in the chances of developing dementia amongst those who used anti-inflammatories for more than 2 years.
Article about the anti-Alzheimer's Vaccine
2nd Dec 2001
the Us Government Bottom of the League for Government Internet Security
The US government is laying itself wide open to cyber attacks - that's attacks on its computer system by terrorists or any kind of hacker. This week's New Scientist says the government scored an F grade in a recent security assessment- that's even worse than last year when it scored a D. Apparently users are very slack - they often don't bother to switch from the default password (which is often something really obvious like "password") and often when people leave their accounts are not closed down - so a lot of outsiders could have access to these computer systems.
2nd Dec 2001
It Was World Aids Day Yesterday
I'm sure most people know that yesterday was World Aids Day. Its 20 years since AIDS emerged as a killer disease. Since then over 20 million people world-wide have died from the disease and almost 1 in four of those are children. In some of the worst hit countries like South Africa 1 in 5 adults are HIV positive - there are thousands of so called "AIDS orphans" whose parents have died from the disease, leaving them destitute. World Aids Day aims to raise awareness of the disease - you can find out more about how you can help on www.avert.org
2nd Dec 2001
Can Science Beat Harry Potter's Magic ? Look's Like it !
Everyone is talking about Harry Potter these days. The magical community can certainly do some amazing things - levitate, make themselves invisible, fly broomsticks, travel back in time…But are we Muggles (that's non-magic people) that far behind? According to Focus magazine this week, modern science competes rather well with magic - LEVITATION Take levitation, for example - making things float in mid-air. Harry Potter and his friends were taught the secret of levitation in their first year "charms" class where they had to make a feather float by waving their wands at it. But did you know that Muggles have done this without magic? In 1997 a team of scientists levitated a frog by placing it in a strong magnetic field. And the same thing could be done to any living thing if you had a strong enough magnet - even humans! But I feel quite sorry for the frog!
2nd Dec 2001
China Soon to Put People in Space, Becoming the 3rd Nation to Do So
It looks like China will be the third country to send astronauts into space. According to this week's New Scientist, China could have people in space by 2005. And according to some reports the Chinese are even planning moon missions and space stations. The only other countries to have sent men into space are Russia and the United States.
2nd Dec 2001
Flu Jabs Can Reduce Risk of Alzheimer's Disease
For an unknown reason, having a jab seems to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease amongst the elderly.
Article about the anti-Alzheimer's Vaccine
2nd Dec 2001
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