Throttling of websites and […]
Every week almost one-quarter of Americans use this drug.
Acetaminophen — commonly known as Tylenol in the US and paracetamol elsewhere — reduces people’s empathy for the pain of others, new research finds.
Acetaminophen is an ingredient in over 600 different medications, including being the main constituent of Tylenol.
The ubiquitous painkiller does not just kill pain, it also kills our fellow-feeling.
Dr Dominik Mischkowski, the study’s first author, said:
“These findings suggest other people’s pain doesn’t seem as big of a deal to you when you’ve taken acetaminophen.
Acetaminophen can reduce empathy as well as serve as a painkiller.”
Previous research has also found that the drug can reduce the positive emotions of those taking it.
Dr Baldwin Way, a study co-author, said:
“We don’t know why acetaminophen is having these effects, but it is concerning.
Empathy is important.
If you are having an argument with your spouse and you just took acetaminophen, this research suggests you might be less understanding of what you did to hurt your spouse’s feelings.”
The research was carried out on 80 college students.
Half were given a dose of 1,000mg of acetaminophen and the other half a placebo.
They then read a series of stories about people who had been hurt and were asked to […]
The Alaskan tundra is warming so quickly it has become a net emitter of carbon dioxide ahead of schedule, a new study finds. (emphasis added)
Since CO2 is the primary heat-trapping greenhouse gas — and since the permafrost contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere does today — this means a vicious cycle has begun that will speed up global warming.
“Because it’s getting warmer, there’s more CO2 coming out which means it’s going to get warmer which means there’s more CO2 coming out,” explained Harvard researcher and lead author Roisin Commane. “And it will just run away with itself.”
The study is the first to report that a major portion of the Arctic is a net source of heat-trapping emissions. As a result, Commane warns that our current climate models need to be updated: […]
The abortion drug Mifepristone, also known as RU486.
Credit: Phil Walter
As abortion laws in the U.S. have become more restrictive, some women have turned to dangerous methods of terminating their pregnancies at home. But there are safe ways for women to obtain abortions outside of formal health care settings, and a new study underscores the effectiveness of one of these methods: telemedicine.
In the new report, which was published Tuesday in The BMJ, researchers examined self-reported outcomes from 1,000 women in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland who used telemedicine to obtain abortion pills—mifepristone and misoprostol—between 2010 and 2012. After receiving the pills in the mail, women were guided through the abortion process with real-time instructions and support from an online help desk overseen by doctors. The researchers […]
While low gas prices have created a challenging environment for electric vehicles, year-over-year increases across nearly two dozen different EV models in all major metropolitan areas of the U.S. illustrate an obvious growth in electric consumption.
But it raises a pressing question for utilities and cities that want to stay ahead of the growth curve: Is our infrastructure ready to accommodate citizens’ growing interest in EV transportation?
Cart or horse?
The first challenge focuses on improving stability: How do we accelerate the EV demand curve? Certainly improvements in battery technology are critical to grow sales. While we’re breaking past the 200-mile battery barrier, range isn’t the only psychological issue impairing consumption. Availability of EV infrastructure may be a more critical concern.
Fast-charging plug standards have not been fully resolved in the light-duty sector, and key grid standards are still being debated — underscoring the notion that EV growth is in many ways tied to who controls and monetizes the value of infrastructure rather than technology.
As EVs attain more mindshare, more customer questions follow: Where can I charge my car, and will I have […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
