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"It is true, and thus the question of whether it is sad or happy has no meaning whatever."
Bernhard Schlink



Science is best when discussed: leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments!!



Thursday, October 06, 2005

Searching Far and Wide 

Sometimes, the source of a treatment or cure can come from what seems to be a strange source. That is, to me, one of the really fun bits of science - that you never know where you'll find what - as demonstrated by three very different bits of new research:

In a demonstration of how critical it is to have scientists working in different subject areas working in the same building, an interdisciplinary group of Vanderbilt researchers have found that a number of frog peptides are powerful weapons against HIV. Many of the frogs in question are highly endangered; imagine if clear-cutting or other environmental destruction had destroyed the cure to AIDS!

Chromium picolinate seems to help reduce carb cravings in depressed patients. I'd like to see the actual data before I go buying vats of chromium, but this is potentially an extremely interesting finding not only for depression, but for diabetes and nutrition in general.

Another study claims that beta-glucan from oats, used as a moisturizer, reduces the depth and roughness of facial wrinkles. I tend not to trust any cosmotological research at all, ever, but this is intriguing. I'd love to see the data.


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