We Have Lost the War on Drugs

June 23, 2011
The war on the drugs is failing miserably: Narcotics use rose by 35% worldwide from 1998-2008, in spite of anti-drug efforts. A new Global Commission on Drug Policy report says that that anti-drug policies have failed by encouraging organized crime,... continued

Why Our Brains are Smaller Now

June 23, 2011
Archeologists have found evidence from 20,000 to 30,000-year-old human skulls that both human height and brain size are shrinking. The cause of this? Farming. This shrinkage started about 10,000 years ago, when humans moved from the hunter-gatherer life to agriculture.... continued

Most Overdoses are Caused by Common Drugstore Painkiller

June 22, 2011
Overdoses of the common household drug acetaminophen (the main ingredient in Tylenol) leads to more than 78,000 emergency department visits a year. Consumers take Tylenol to reduce pain or fever, but few of them realize that when misused, acetaminophen can... continued

Ghost Towns Springing Up Across US

June 22, 2011
Not the kinds with real ghosts in them (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show) but places that used to be bustling communities that are now almost empty. In an increasing number of American communities, more residents are dying... continued

Christmas is Not the Giving Season

June 22, 2011
It's spring! Many people are relieved that this spring, which brought terrible weather to many places, has past, and that summer is here. Does spring weather really change our behavior? Recent studies show that temperature influences us at an unconscious... continued

We’ve Discovered a New Kind of Shooting Star

June 21, 2011
One that is shooting water! A geyser of water is spurting up from the poles of a star that is 750 light-years from the earth at a rate of 124,000 mpg, creating "water bullets" that it shoots deep into space.... continued

Are Criminals Born or Made?

June 21, 2011
Forensic scientists are discovering that DNA and "genetic markers" can predict who will--or will--turn to a life of crime. If this is true, it portends a frightening future where we give infants DNA swabs, then decide whether to watch them... continued

The Happiest Places Produce the Most Suicides

June 21, 2011
The happiest countries and happiest US states tend to have the most depression and the highest suicide rates. Why would this be? Recent research has confirmed a little known and seemingly puzzling fact: many happy countries have unusually high rates... continued

Are We Alone in the Universe?

June 20, 2011
Are we isolated in our lonely little corner of the Milky Way? Quasars are highly luminous objects that emit light over a wide range of wavelengths, revealing elements such as hydrogen, nitrogen, silicon, carbon and iron in the gas around... continued

Digital Clocks are Racing Ahead

June 20, 2011
Mysterious electrical fires and magnetic effects caused so much concern in Sicily in 2004 that the Italian government initiated an investigation which concluded in 2007 that an unknown magnetic effect had caused them. Now, strangeness has returned to Sicily, but... continued