About a third of patients who suffer from epileptic seizures have a form of the disease that is resistant to medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These people, roughly a million, still experience seizures while taking pharma medicine.
Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist from New York University Langone Medical conducted one of the largest studies on a cannabis-based drug for treatment-resistant epilepsy and the findings were as significant as they were promising.
The researchers treated 213 patients with cannabis’ non-psychoactive chemical, cannabidiol or CBD and monitored them for 12 weeks. The group of patients included children and adults who suffered from 12 different types of extreme epilepsy.
As a part of an open door policy, the patients also knew exactly what they were being treated with and were allowed to consume the cannabis along with their current medications.
The findings were very telling of the capabilities of cannabis: the addition of CBD to epileptic treatments reduced motor seizures with about two percent of the patients became entirely seizure free. Researchers noted that the CBD was able to reduce seizures by the same amount that existing pharma medications can.
Twenty-three of the patients had Dravet syndrome, a form of epilepsy that begins in infancy, and noted that their seizures fell by an average of 54 percent. Eleven patients had Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a type of epilepsy where seizures vary from tonic (stiffening) and atonic (dropping). Researchers noted that the LGS patients saw a drop in seizures by an average of 55 percent.
Around 79 percent of the participants noted adverse effects, but they were not serious enough to make them drop out of the study.
A survey conducted on men from eight different countries, including the US, concluded that one out of every four of them think that it’s okay for an employer to expect sex from an employee.
According to Fortune, this survey was conducted by CARE, a non-profit humanitarian agency who decided to publish some of these shocking facts and statistics during International Women’s Day. The survey was conducted on over 9,408 adults from countries such as the US, Australia, Ecuador, India, Egypt, South Africa, and Vietnam. Researchers claim that they chose these countries because they cut across geographical and developmental levels.
Other surprising statistics from CARE include a poll conducted on Ecuador where they asked men if they thought it was appropriate to kiss a colleague without permission during an office party; 21 percent of them said yes. Another statistic from the UK claims that 35 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 34 consider it appropriate to pinch a woman’s butt as a playful gesture.
These polls are disheartening considering the prominence of movements such as Times Up and Me Too, which can make us feel like the world has already changed for the better.
The truth is that the battle for gender equality is still ongoing, and having these results and knowledge can only arm us and make us more prepared for the future. These polls leave it clear that movements centered on women’s issues need to keep evolving, now more than ever.
It pays to be nice, no question about it. But it also means more sex. If you’ve ever needed reason to be kind, this is it.
Psychologists at the University of Guelph and Nipissing University have discovered that there’s a correlation between altruistic people and sexual frequency. Their study, which involved two experiments, revealed strong links been altruism and mating success.
InStudy1, participantswhoscoredhigheronaself-reportaltruismmeasurereportedtheywere moredesirabletotheoppositesex,aswellasreportedhavingmoresexpartners,more casualsexpartners,andhavingsexmoreoftenwithinrelationships.Sexmoderatedsome of these relationships suchthataltruismmatteredmoreformen’snumberoflifetimeand casualsexpartners.
“They tend to focus on personality instead. This means they have a wider pool of partners to choose to date and sleep with. They’ll have more sex quickly as they see it as a way to bond.,” dating coach James Preece told The Independent.
According to researchers, the results of the two studies suggest that altruists have higher mating success than non-altruists and “support the hypothesis that altruism is a sexually selected costly signal of difficult-to-observe qualities.”
In other words, says Preece, “People like people who like them, so if someone shows they care deeply about them they are more likely to be attracted.”
“Everyone wants to be liked,” he says, “and altruistic people are often more charming than their competition. That’s because they come across as more humble and less self-absorbed.”
While the definition of dumpster fire can vary, on a deep level, we all know what it is. It’s pretty self-explanatory in it’s words. But if you don’t know, a dumpster fire is an awful and disastrous situation, like when you, well, set a dumpster on fire (but don’t really).
The very hip Merriam-Webster decided to add this phrase along with 850 other words into their dictionary, solidifying their long-term value. NPR reports that Merriam-Webster isn’t trying to emulate Urban Dictionary, which is, for many, a respectable and ample source of information.
MW explains that their goal isn’t to focus on changes in informal language that take place on a day to day basis. The words that they record are the ones that will still have posterity and important value in the future.
According to them:
We are really interested in the terms that are here to stay, that we are very unlikely to ever take away from the dictionary.
The fact that “dumpster fire” is a word that’s considered important for our future is kind of a dumpster-fire in itself, but whatever.
Other words that were added to the dictionary include: mansplain, hate-watch, embiggen, welp, and self-care. Merriam-Webster’s official definition of dumpster fire (noun, US informal) is when “an utterly calamitous or mismanaged situation or occurrence: disaster.” Thank you, dictionary, that’s a very fancy way of putting it.
Netflix recently announced it would renew every technophobe’s favorite show, Black Mirror, for a fifth season. The dystopian sci-fi show typically investigates how technology has creeped into our modern society and the effects it has. With Black Mirror showrunner Charlie Brooker about to hit the drawing board for new storylines, we’d like to offer five potential technologies the show could tackle next season.
Self-Driving Cars
You either have experienced or personally know someone who has experienced a rideshare horror story, whether it be unwanted sexual approaches, bad services or the litany of drunk passengers who type in “home” and incur a thousand-dollar Uber ride. When you consider the formula of rideshare technology—unregulated, freelancing stranger picks you up and drives you somewhere—it isn’t surprising that the end result sometimes ends poorly.
If tech billionaires running these rideshare companies have any say, soon that formula will change. Strangers will be replaced by machines and self-driving cars will become the standard. Autonomous transportation will become a thing of the past and the road will fill with empty vehicles. Here’s how Black Mirror might envision our not-so-distant future.
Drones
A radical fact about living in a hyper-accelerated media and technology culture is how quickly new ideas and gadgets become accepted into existence; like, we’re all just cool with drones now. While there isn’t anything immediately distressing about drones, South Australian researchers did just develop “drone technology which can measure a person’s breathing and heart rate from 60 metres in the air.”
That’s kind of weird, right? I guess I’m just worried all drones will become sentient Terminator-style and attack us like the crows got those schoolchildren in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Can you make my mental image become reality, Charlie Brooker?
Facial-recognition Machine Learning
Motherboard broke the single most disturbing tech story of 2018. It’s called deepfakes, which is essentially AI-generated pornography that face-swaps celebrity faces onto adult actresses. Weird programmers are using machine learning to produce Daisy Ridley and Jessica Alba pornos. Some were using the tech to create pornography with the faces of their classmates while others were taking requests for personalized deepfakes videos. It’s nonconsensual and wrong, straight up.
Equally troubling is a story from Buzzfeed’s Charlie Warzel, which detailed an impending Infopocalypse. His piece details how those same technologies could be used to fabricate speeches from politicians and world leaders. Just watch people recreate Barack Obama’s dialogue from scratch.
Now, Black Mirror already parodied a cartoon character literally winning public office by being an asshole—sound familiar?—but this technology is vastly more nefarious.
3D-Printing Suicide Machines
Think of Dr. Philip Nitschke as the Australian Jack Kevorkian. Both are huge euthanasia advocates and have overseen assisted patient suicides. Nitscke made headlines recently for producing a blueprint for a personal suicide machine that could be reproduced via 3D printing. For Futurama fans, this technology might sound eerily familiar.
3D Printing in general deserves a Black Mirror treatment, but this seems ripe for Brooker to tackle dramatically.
Sex Dolls
Yeah, this is one technology rampantly out of control and not going away anytime soon. We got this weird Japanese sex doll that dispenses cocktails and the UK just opened the first sex doll brothel. When an AI sex doll was put on display at last year’s Arts Electronica Festival in Austria, some nerds couldn’t resist the silicone charm and left her “heavily soiled.”
You know what? Maybe we don’t need a Black Mirror episode on this one.
Sorry, Prince William. When Kate births her next kid, Her Majesty must be the first to know (well, besides Kate) before it can be announced publicly.
It’s not easy being a member of the Royal Family. There are all sorts of protocols that must be followed, many dating back centuries. It may seem old-fashioned to fall in line with some of these rigid rules today, especially the ones that happen during the birth of a royal child.
Here’s what Kate Middleton has to look forward to when she gives birth to her third kid any day now, according to The Daily Star. Take note, Meghan Markle.
The Queen Has To Be The First To Know
Sorry, Prince William. When Kate births her next kid, Her Majesty must be the first to know (well, besides Kate) before it can be announced publicly.
According to The Daily Star, this protocol was broken recently when Kate and Will announced the birth of Prince George on Twitter, versus the more traditional vehicle of an easel outside Buckingham Palace.
Yep. Town criers are still employed. It’s a custom that stretches back to medieval times when people couldn’t read or write. We’ve evolved since then, yes?
https://giphy.com/gifs/e2g1SVtT3ChfW
Home Births Are Preferred
It’s preferred that royals give birth at home, which Queen Elizabeth did for all of her children. According to The Daily Star, Princess Diana broke this rule when she gave birth to both William and Harry at London’s St Mary’s Hospital.
Kate also had George and Charlotte there, but it’s expected she’ll have her third baby delivered in Kensington Palace. It should also be noted (and expected) that midwives are sworn to secrecy.
Does consuming marijuana actually make you stupid? That’s the Reefer Madness argument made by a doctor in an attempt to prevent Oklahomans from voting to legalize cannabis.
Dr. Harold Urschel, chief medical strategist for EnterHealth, a Dallas-based addiction treatment program, said this on KOCO News 5:
The better high you get, the more addicting it is, but also the more you get into your brain, the more destructive it is. It changes how your mood states, messes with your sleep. For teenagers, it decreases your IQ by eight points, which is a significant drop. It causes significant risk of heart attacks, lung cancer. Doubles your risk of stroke.
We see a lot of the devastation caused by marijuana and other drugs as well. Probably 20 percent of our patients are addicted to marijuana. For the couple of hours you’re feeling the high, you do feel better. But then it wears off, and the injury it does to your brain makes the symptoms two or three times worse the more you need marijuana again.
That’s what’s called a “hot take,” in the world of “shout TV.” But the doctor’s statements, especially when it comes to IQ, are simply not rooted in available science.
Here are just a few studies that dispel Urschel’s warning:
In a study out of the United Kingdom, researchers concluded, “The notion that cannabis use itself is causally related to lower IQ and poorer educational performance was not supported in this large teenage sample.”
Data published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences led researchers to conclude: “In the largest longitudinal examination of marijuana use and IQ change, … we find little evidence to suggest that adolescent marijuana use has a direct effect on intellectual decline. … [T]he lack of a dose-response relationship, and an absence of meaningful differences between discordant siblings lead us to conclude that the deficits observed in marijuana users are attributable to confounding factors that influence both substance initiation and IQ rather than a neurotoxic effect of marijuana.”
Researchers published in the journal Addictionwrote: “[W]e found that youth who used cannabis … had lower IQ at age 18, but there was little evidence that cannabis use was associated with IQ decline from age 12 to 18. Moreover, although cannabis use was associated with lower IQ and poorer executive functions at age 18, these associations were generally not apparent within pairs of twins from the same family, suggesting that family background factors explain why adolescents who use cannabis perform worse on IQ and executive function tests.” Investigators concluded, “Short-term cannabis use in adolescence does not appear to cause IQ decline or impair executive functions, even when cannabis use reaches the level of dependence.”
These findings are consistent with those of several other studies – including those here, here, and here – finding that cannabis use alone during adolescence does not appear to have a significant, direct adverse effect on intelligence quotient.
Nichelle Medina, co-host of the morning news of San Diego Zoo Station KFMB, was interrupted mid-news when a bird decided it was the appropriate time to barge in and sit on her head.
The bird in question, a 10-year-old pink ibis called Sophie, flew in the minute the anchors started to tease the upcoming segment discussing the San Diego Zoo. The other host of the show commented on the bird’s impeccable timing, and proceeded to freak out as the bird looked around the set, flapped his feathers and tried to peck him.
For her part, Medina kept it cool and was very relaxed. She didn’t seem to mind the bird, claiming that it gave her a much needed head massage. According to The Huffington Post, the video has gone viral.
We here at The Fresh Toast are big fans of BBC’s Planet Earth series. We love watching bears boogie in the jungle and giraffes stomping lions. These moments remind us that nature is so often more entertaining than anything else you’d see on TV.
We also love Planet Earth because its style is so distinct and captivating that it makes for such ripe parodies. Our favorite is probably the time Marshawn Lynch narrated the epic iguana run from Planet Earth II. But this new clip from Nicholas King is a close second.
This parody shows what Earth would look like if overrun by Boston Dynamics’ goofy-looking dog robots. You might remember these robots from a recent viral video of them opening doors. It’s massively creepy!
So this funny video re-imagines them running wild across brazen wastelands, possibly after the apocalypse or the Great Robot Uprising. Don’t believe me? The Planet Earth-like narrator all but flat-out says the robots are the cause of such desolation. As far as we’re considered, watching them get blown away by Mother Nature is exactly the justice they deserve.
President Donald Trump officially went off the rails over the weekend, praising nations that impose the death penalty for drug dealers. Saturday’s unscripted rant may be a warning sign for all those seeking sane and effective drug laws.
The speech, originally scheduled to be a campaign endorsement for Pennsylvania congressional candidate Rick Saccone, turned weird quickly as Trump railed against “sleepy-eyed” NBC host Chuck Todd and “very low IQ” Rep. Maxine Waters. But his comments about drugs were over the top.
Trump reminded the sign-waving crowd that convicted murderers can face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. But when it comes to drugs, a person can “kill 5,000 people with drugs because you’re smuggling them in and you’re making a lot of money and people are dying,” and not face severe punishment. “That’s why we have a problem, folks. I don’t think we should play games. Now, I never did polling on that — I don’t know if that’s popular, I don’t know if that’s unpopular. … But these people are killing our kids and they’re killing our families, and we have to do something. We can’t just keep setting up blue-ribbon committees with your wife and your wife and your husband, and they meet and they have a meal and they talk, talk talk talk, two hours later, then they write a report.
“I think it’s a discussion we have to start thinking about. I don’t know if we’re ready — I don’t know if this country’s ready for it,” Trump said.
He also praised nations such as the Philippines, China and Singapore that have capital punishment laws to combat drug traffickers.
This is not the first time that Trump has expressed his dangerous views on drug policy. According to a report by Axios last month:
According to five sources who’ve spoken with Trump about the subject, he often leaps into a passionate speech about how drug dealers are as bad as serial killers and should all get the death penalty.
Trump tells confidants a softer approach to drug reform — the kind where you show sympathy to the offenders and give them more lenient sentences — will never work.
He tells friends and associates the government has got to teach children that they’ll die if they take drugs and they’ve got to make drug dealers fear for their lives.
Trump has said he would love to have a law to execute all drug dealers here in America, though he’s privately admitted it would probably be impossible to get a law this harsh passed under the American system.
Kellyanne Conway, who leads the White House’s anti-drug efforts, argues Trump’s position is more nuanced, saying the president is talking about high-volume dealers who are killing thousands of people. The point he’s making, she says, is that some states execute criminals for killing one person but a dealer who brings a tiny quantity of fentanyl into a community can cause mass death in just one weekend, often with impunity.
Trump has repeatedly praised Philippines’ president Rodrigo Duterte, saying he has done an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.” The International Criminal Court has begun an investigation into Duterte’s drug policy. His “war on drugs” has led to nearly 8,000 deaths in his nation.
In 2016, more than 1.5 million Americans were arrested on drug-related charges, 84 percent of which were for possession only. Of the more than 650,000 people arrested for marijuana, 89 percent were charged with possession only.
Trump’s glorification of “tough on crime” approached to the problem has been tried by previous administrations going back to Richard Nixon. It simply does not work. The tough-guy rhetoric clearly serves as red meat for his followers.
