Data, not anecdotes

Psychedelic mushrooms lead many people to have positive spiritual experiences whose benefits last at least a year.

Marijuana may be effective for neuropathic pain

From ScienceDaily comes this article.

I’m not sure which is more awesome–the fact that weed may really work as a painkiller, or that there is a real journal called The Journal of Pain.

Coupled Flows: Poverty and Crime in America’s Cities [The Atlantic Monthly]

This article offers a fascinating view into well-meaning, but perhaps ultimately flawed, attempts to improve the status of the poor in our cities.

It’s so good that it has me thinking, I would pay for articles like this. Maybe the online news cycle could work in a similar manner to the AP, with many similar organizations…

Poll: How Smart are Americans? [Newsweek]

Not the world’s most scientific poll, but interesting nonetheless.

McCain’s shift on immigration [St. Petersburg Times]

This article details how McCain’s stance on immigration policy has backflipped along with his presidential hopes.

Senator McCain, will you please give us a ride on the Straight Talk Express and explain your change in opinion on the matter of immigration?

Jeffrey D. Sachs on controlling malaria in Africa [Scientific American]

I find myself impressed by almost everything Sachs does. This article is no exception.

Sexual predators in the Bush administration? [Project Syndicate]

This article by Naomi Wolf offers an interesting and provocative perspective on the enhanced interrogation methods employed by our government.

Changing the conversation [Sciencewomen]

How can we improve the image of engineering?

Feeling powerless leads to expensive purchases [ScienceDaily]

Research at Northwestern, summarized here. From the research article:

Spending beyond one’s means in obtaining status-related items is a costly coping strategy for dealing with psychological threats such as feeling powerless.

Science philanthropy

The press about Bill Gates’s retirement and second career as philanthropist has me wondering whether the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation might be interested in supporting basic science.