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POPSSchizophrenia: The Curse That's Almost a Blessing
A recent study may have found what kind of process goes awry in schizophrenic brains. Researchers found that DISC1 regulates the migration of new neurons in the adult brain. When the levels of DISC1 were reduced in mice during adult neurogenesis, the newborn neurons sped up and overshot their intended targets within the hippocampus, When the neurons finally reached their destinations, they forged an unusual number of connections with neighboring cells, a series of events that might give rise to the abnormal—and quite crippling—brain functions associated with schizophrenia, according to Hongjun Song, a Johns Hopkins neurologist who also worked on the study. It is possible, Song says, that further research will lead to a drug that treats schizophrenia by restoring normal neurogenesis. So what evolutionary advantage could schizophrenia-related genes bring to people who have some of the genes but not the disease? For now, this remains one of the many open questions.
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POPS Astronomers Announce:: 55 Cancri Has Five Planets Astronomers announced today that the star 55 Cancri — known to have had a system of planets for some time — is now known to have at least five planets orbiting it. The existence of a fifth planet was just confirmed. Still, this is extremely cool. No other star is known to have this many planets. Most planets that have been discovered, in fact, have giant Jupiter-like (or bigger) planets orbiting close in to the star, and models of how they form indicate it’s unlikely those systems would have lots of other planets; the big planet would have tossed them out of the system. So seeing a system with five planets (and they all have roughly circular orbits, too, indicating a lot of stability in the system) indicates that our own solar system is not unique. There is at least one more out there… and all the indicators point toward there being more systems like this out there. A lot more.
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POPSThe Church of the Non-Believers worth read all the article interviewing: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett. they cross all the way from ancient beliefs thru today`s demand of `getting out of the closet` 4 the new intellectual atheist and till speculating questions like: "Would intelligent robots be religious?" .... ??
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POPSPrivate internet access-How to Bypass firewall restrictions Employer and school networks, often have restrictions, and firewalls, which prevent access to certain sites, or protocols, simply because they're popular.eg(Myspace). Most traffic is monitored, and while the application is subject to particular situations, the tips can provide a means of private unmonitored access, with a few qualifications, like keylogging programs, after all the work has been done. The page continues with the links to further steps, and can also provide a greater understanding of firewalls, and their weak spots.
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