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Krystal, a professor at Yale University, is talking about the time he gave seven severely depressed patients ketamine, a mind-blowing drug developed as an anaesthetic but better known as a club drug. It was a long shot, but the results were astonishing. Though most of the patients found the ketamine experience itself unpleasant, once it wore off they had a far better feeling: the disabling and suicidal depression they had lived with for years had vanished. Best known as a club drug, ketamine seems somehow able to jolt people out of severe depression. "For many, it was a huge, obvious effect," says psychiatrist John Krystal. "One of the patients said, 'Don't give me those old medications, I want this again'."

@ NewScientist.com

Born under a bad sign? AHahH!

The star you were born under influences the person you become. Not something you expect to hear from scientists but, incredibly, it seems to be true. There is firm evidence that the time of year you are born affects not just your personality, but also your health, specifically your chances of developing serious mental illness. But don't expect to find clues in your horoscopes. The star in question is the star we were all born under - the sun. Your date of birth has a bigger influence on your life than you might realise...

@NewScientist.com

“I don’t know what she sees in him”

It is a classic image: a group of young women sighing over the latest heartthrob. But do they all really share identical taste for, say, Brad Pitt, or that cute guy in physics class? A new study suggests that, in fact, women will look more favourably on the men that other women find attractive. Women found the men who were being smiled at suddenly more attractive, while men who apparently elicited no such smiling approval were pronounced less attractive. Men, meanwhile, behaved in a strikingly different manner. They rated men who had been smiled at as less attractive. ”Within-sex competition promotes negative attitudes towards men who are the target of positive social interest from women,” the researchers conclude.

@ NewScientist.com

techno-addictions

New technologies have revealed a whole raft of hitherto unsuspected personality problems: think crackberry, powerpointlessness or cheesepodding. Most of us are familiar with sending an email to a colleague sitting a couple of feet away instead of talking to them. Some go onto the web to snoop on old friends, colleagues or even first dates. More of us than ever reveal highly personal information on blogs or MySpace entries. A few will even use internet anonymity to fool others into believing they are someone else altogether. So are these web syndromes and technological tics new versions of old afflictions, or are we developing fresh mind bugs?

@ newscientisttech.com

a linguagem do não ruído

Proponho-me desenhar o mundo e traço a imagem do meu próprio rosto, a consciência rasgada pelo desbravar dos sentimentos. Não vislumbrei o cair de ti, na cegueira do teu ser, dominado pelo que não é dos outros, apenas nosso. As palavras são gritos acorrentados ao som do silêncio que existe entre cada batida de um coração. Procuro desdobrar o que me invade e arrumar em pequenos cubículos de modo a ser possível entender, mas silenciar as partes faz morrer um todo. Ouvi cada ruído de forma distinta, apesar de não lhes dar atenção, e assim que o silêncio começa a tocar-te, o que resta em mim é o virar da página. Diz o ditado que "um recipiente cheio não consegue receber mais", há, portanto, que saber esvaziá-lo se lá queremos internar algo. A mentira começa na primeira palavra, entre uma e outra, o saltitar do que faz sentido. Transito num espaço onde o caminho que parte de nós é o único que podemos, com prazer, seguir. Quando o adorar está no admirar do silêncio, tropeço na ternura da tua voz..