Best of Science on Reddit Last Week

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Weekly Science Update

News and Research Papers From a Variety of Science Subreddits

Cannabis: it’s a climate gas

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • Using weed recreationally might change the climate inside your head.
  • But cannabis production is generating large amounts of gases that heat up Earth’s physical climate.
  • Indoor cannabis farming is booming in the United States thanks to the legalization of the drug in Colorado and elsewhere.
  • The team found that the energy required to yield one kilogram of dried cannabis flower produces the equivalent of 2–5 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
  • Moving weed production from indoor facilities to greenhouses and the great outdoors would help to shrink the carbon footprint of the nation’s legal cannabis industry, the researchers say.

Children's Hospital Colorado

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • Children's Hospital Colorado | March 12, 2021JAMA Pediatrics highlights research by Children's Hospital Colorado expertsIn a new study, researchers found that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of marijuana, stays in breast milk for up to six weeks.
  • Updated guidance on the importance of avoiding marijuana during pregnancyThis is the first study examining THC in breastmilk and plasma among women who used marijuana during pregnancy since 1982.
  • “With the increasing utilization of marijuana in society as a whole, we are seeing more mothers who use marijuana during pregnancy,” said Children’s Colorado neonatologist Erica Wymore, MD, MPH.
  • With this study, we aimed to better understand this question by determining the amount and duration of THC excretion in breast milk among women with known prenatal marijuana use.”Children’s Colorado researchers studied new mothers who delivered between 2016 and 2019The researchers studied women with prenatal marijuana use who delivered their infants at Children’s Colorado and UCHealth’s University of Colorado Hospital between November 1, 2016, and June 30, 2019.
  • In fact, all of the women still had detectable levels of THC in their breastmilk at the end of the study.

Soothing toddler tantrums with screen time can cause behavioral problems later

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • When young children misbehave, parents often give them phones, tablets or other devices to calm them down.
  • But this overreliance on electronics to help impressionable toddlers regulate their emotions has the potential to cause behavioral problems as they grow, a new study determined.
  • Learning to regulate emotions is an important skill that begins in infancy, and has long-term implications on coping, resilience, substance use and attachment strategies, according to the paper.
  • Or the development of problematic media use with kids?"
  • And parents who reported using more media to regulate their child's difficult emotions also reported more problematic media behaviors in the children.

CBD reduces plaque, improves cognition in model of familial Alzheimer’s

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • A two-week course of high doses of CBD helps restore the function of two proteins key to reducing the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaque, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, and improves cognition in an experimental model of early onset familial Alzheimer’s, investigators report.
  • The DCG and MCG investigators decided to look at CBD’s ability to address some of the key brain systems that go awry in Alzheimer’s.
  • In Alzheimer’s, that includes turning down inflammation and trying to restore balance to the immune system, he says.
  • Low levels of TREM2 and rare variations in TREM2 are associated with Alzheimer’s, and in their mouse model TREM2 and IL-33 were both low.
  • CBD should be at least equally effective in the more common, nonfamilial type Alzheimer’s, which likely have more targets for CBD, Baban notes.

Lifespan now more associated with college degree than race: Princeton economists

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • "Blacks and whites with a four-year degree look a lot more like each other now, whereas back in 1990 that was not the case," said Case.
  • Just 36% of Americans aged 25 or older had a bachelor's degree as of 2019.
  • "For people without a bachelor's degree, for at least the first six months of the pandemic, it was either 'I risk my life' or 'I risk my livelihood,'" said Case.
  • "There's no reason to think that it's going to be anything but very bad news in terms of even lower life expectancy for people without a bachelor's degree."
  • "It became almost immediately apparent that people without a bachelor's degree were at highest risk," she said.

Breakup-induced confusion about one’s self-identity helps explain the desire to get back together with an ex-partner

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • After the dissolution of a relationship, people can feel as if a part of themselves has gone missing.
  • “While most people will experience relationship breakup, little is known about how people overcome these negative feelings.
  • The researchers found that those with higher levels of attachment anxiety tended to express a greater desire to rekindle their previous relationship.
  • The first survey asked participants to recall how much they desired to rekindle their relationship with their ex-partner immediately after they had broken up.
  • “Further, the question remains: if rekindling is not the best way to restore self-concept clarity, what is?” she added.

Belief in white Jesus linked to racism

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • People who think Jesus Christ was white are more likely to endorse anti-Black attitudes, a new study found, suggesting that belief in white deities works to uphold white supremacy.
  • The students, over 70% of whom were white, were asked whether, based on their personal understanding of Jesus, they thought of him as white, Black, something else or unknown.
  • He said that some white people may cling to an image of white Jesus because a God who is not white undermines racist ideologies, and thus, "It threatens white supremacy."
  • Howard's study was just the first step toward better understanding how racism, white supremacy and a white perception of Jesus interact.
  • The study, "'Jesus was a White man too!

Head Injury 25 Years Later – Penn Study Finds Increased Risk of Dementia

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • Our findings show that the number of head injuries matter – more head injuries are associated with greater risk for dementia,” said lead investigator, Andrea L.C.
  • “The dose-dependence of this association suggests that prevention of head injury could mitigate some risk of dementia later in life.
  • However, few prior studies have evaluated for possible differences in associations of head injury with dementia risk by sex and race.
  • Further, the study showed that although there is increased dementia risk associated with head injury among both White and Black participants, White participants were at higher risk for dementia after head injury compared to Black participants.
  • “Given the strong association of head injury with dementia, there is an important need for future research focused on prevention and intervention strategies aimed at reducing dementia after head injury,” Schneider said.

A self-sustainable wearable multi-modular E-textile bioenergy microgrid system

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • l The long-term electrical signal from the TEG module under continuous sliding motions with the frequency of 1.5 Hz.
  • The wearable BFC modules were also screen-printed using various ink composites onto textile substrates.
  • In contrast, the BFC module continued to operate due to the presence of the lactate fuel to charge the SC module without interruption.
  • For the system operated solely on the BFC module, the system suffered from slow booting with a 6-min delay.
  • Two wearable applications were selected as examples of two operating modes for demonstrating the potential and advantages of the wearable microgrid system (Fig.

As Cases Spread Across U.S. Last Year, Pattern Emerged Suggesting Link Between Governors' Party Affiliation and COVID-19 Case and Death Numbers

[Source] | [Reddit Discussion]

  • For their study, the researchers analyzed data on SARS-CoV-2-positive nasal swab tests, COVID-19 diagnoses, and COVID-19 fatalities, for the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
  • The transition occurred for testing-positivity on May 30, for COVID-19 case diagnoses on June 3, and for COVID-19 deaths on July 4.
  • Other studies have found evidence that Republican governors in 2020 were broadly less strict than their Democrat counterparts in setting policies on mask-wearing, social distancing, and other pandemic-related measures.
  • “Despite a more coordinated federal response this year, governors still play a key role in the pandemic response,” says Benjamin-Neelon.
  • “Associations between governor political affiliation and COVID-19 cases, deaths, and testing in the United States” was written by Brian Neelon, Fedelis Mutiso, Noel Mueller, John Pearce, and Sara Benjamin-Neelon.



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