Humans on the March

The news today is mixed and disturbing.

Monkeys have been shown to combine sounds to communicate. Combining sounds is a human trait and thought to arise in humans when the number of sounds used to indicate surrounding circumstances exceeded the capacity of a human to make those sounds. However, these Nigerian monkeys do not have a large vocabulary. Chimps and Gorillas have been shown to combine symbols when signing but not sounds.

Pollution has been shown to affect brain processing. Scientists have known when nanoparticles were inhaled they did reach the brain. Brain activity had not been shown to be affected. This experiment put groups in two rooms, one that mimicked the exhaust by the side of the road and one not. The group that were exposed to the exhaust room showed stress response for up to an hour after exposure. Makes you wonder about what's going to happen at the Chinese Olympics later this year.


Staying with nanoparticles for the moment, as in viruses, an HIV study reported today that just because the level of virus is extremely low in HIV patients responding to treatment doesn't mean these patients are cured. HIV is even more adept at hiding within the body than scientists had thought. Even small amounts of the virus only bespeak how well the virus is hiding, not how well it is under control. Therefore, patients under treatment should be considered infectious even if they test negative for HIV.

Continuing with disease for the moment. Remember Gulf War Syndrome? Remember how it wasn't really a disease according to the government? Vindication may come late but it does often come, as reported today from the BBC. Turns out it exists after all and is apparently linked to an anti-nerve gas agent given to the troops. At least it's not due to the depleted Uranium. ... Or is it?

Finally, from the People-can-be-cruel-beyond-imagination department comes this tidbit. I'm not even going to try to paraphrase it. Here's the abstract:

"In this article we have described 25 year-old female student of the University of Gdańsk, treated for eight years because of depression and for four years because of anorexia nervosa, who to commit suicide had taken 50 tablets of carbamazepine (Tegretol CR á 200 mg), 30 tablets of clonazepam (Clonazepamum á 0.5 mg) and 50 tablets of flupentixol (Fluanxol á 3.0 mg). In 1999 the patient got an internet (IRC) contact with a person introducing herself as a 26 year-old lonely student. After getting acquainted with the life history of the patient she had systematically encouraged the patient to commit suicide. Almost everyday she used to send the patient instructions regarding the best way to kill herself. On parent's request, after the patient regained consciousness in the Clinic, the case was sent to public prosecutor's office. It was found, that the person who urged the girl to commit suicide was a 33 year-old married woman, fascinated by psychology and parapsychology."