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Scientists Say Stimulating Part of Brain Makes Subjects Easier to Hypnotize – Futurism

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Scientists at Stanford University have discovered how to use magnetic pulses to more easily induce hypnosis, a fascinating study published in the journal Nature Mental Health claims.

To be clear, the method clunkily dubbed the Stanford Hypnosis Integrated with Functional Connectivity-targeted Transcranial Stimulation, or SHIFT for short doesn't do the hypnotizing. Instead, SHIFT seeks to facilitate an individual's response to hypnosis, especially in cases where a patient was previously resistant.

Hypnosis isn't just a circus hustle; as The New York Times reported in 2023, several science-backed studies have shown hypnotherapy to have promising health benefits in the realms of pain management, mental health, addiction, and more. But as Stanford psychiatric researcher and lead study author Afik Faerman told The Daily Beast, "only about 20 percent" of the human population is uniquely susceptible to hypnosis and thus, to its potential health benefits. The introduction of a method like SHIFT, then, could make noninvasive hypnosis therapy more feasible for the remaining four-fifths of the world's humans.

"Hypnotizability, one's ability to experience cognitive, emotional, behavioral and physical changes in response to suggestions in the context of hypnosis, is a stable neurobehavioral trait associated with improved treatment outcomes from hypnosis-based therapy," the researchers write in the study. "Increasing hypnotizability in people who are low-to-medium hypnotizable individuals could improve both the efficacy and effectiveness of therapeutic hypnosis as a clinical intervention."

Per the study, SHIFT applies targeted transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in short, a nonintrusive form of electric brain stimulation achieved by administering repeated magnetic pulses using an electromagnetic coil to certain areas of the brain closely associated with susceptibility to hypnosis. It's a simple hypothesis: artificially stimulate these cranial regions, the researchers posit, and the newfound brain activity might cause a patient to be more receptive to hypnosis treatment.

To test that hypothesis, the Stanford researchers recruited 80 study participants suffering from fibromyalgia a chronic disorder associated with often debilitating musculoskeletal pain, among other symptoms. These patients were also all judged to have low-to-medium hypnotizability.

"We tested SHIFT in people with fibromyalgia," Faerman told PsyPost, "because hypnosis has been shown to be effective in reducing pain, and higher hypnotizability is typically associated with better outcomes."

Each patient underwent a short, minute-and-a-half SHIFT treatment session, albeit with one catch: some patients were randomly selected to receive a placebo treatment, while the rest indeed received 800 magnetic pulses to the brain. The Stanford team was ultimately able to determine that the magnetic zaps were "associated with increased hypnotizability," as Faerman told the Daily Beast, "while the sham stimulation did not."

"It was also interesting that participants' guesses as to whether they received active or sham treatment were not associated with the change in hypnotizability," the study leader added.

In other words? The SHIFT treatment appears to have held its own against a placebo control, and may well pave the way towards noninvasive and drug-free therapies. To put such an outcome into context, a wider implementation of drug-free hypnosis treatments could in theory mean a reduction in the wider use of addictive pharmaceuticals like pain-relieving opiates. That hypothetical outcome is still a long way off, but it's an enticing vision nonetheless and the folks at Stanford certainly seem hopeful about the electromagnetic treatment's potential future.

"My vision, as a clinical psychologist, is that patients will have a brief stimulation session to increase the effectiveness of treatment before their therapy appointment," Faerman told PsyPost.

"This will allow us to offer effective drug-free treatments and improve our patients' well-being," he added, "and also to save time and money for our patients and the healthcare system."

More on future therapies: Scientists Say Semaglutide Appears to Help Alcoholics, Too

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People Close to Elon Musk Concerned About Alleged Drug Use, Slurring Words – Futurism

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As Elon Musk'spublic behavior becomes stranger and more disturbing, his business associates are concerned that a factor could be his use of drugs.

In interviews with theWall Street Journal, insiders at SpaceX and Tesla said that there have been multiple occasions in which C-suiters became alarmed by their perception of the billionaire's use of drugs. That substance list allegedly includes regular use of ketamine as well as cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms.

Two of those instances, of course, are extremely well-known: the infamous "420" Tesla stock price tweet from 2018 and its seemingly endless consequencesand the time Musk inexpertly smoked a blunt on Joe Rogan's podcast. Reports of more serious drug use, though, haven't seen as much daylight and though there's nothing wrong with dabbling with drugs safely, Musk's many government contracts and leadership position over many billions of dollars of assets give the allegations unusual heft.

In late 2017, people familiar with the matter told theWSJ, the serial entrepreneur took to the stage very late for an all-hands SpaceX meeting and began rambling and slurring his words for about 15 minutes. At one point, he referred to the company's Big Falcon Rocket prototype as its "Big F*cking Rocket" which, to be fair, was a running joke before it was renamed "Starship" and was eventually intercepted by SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, who took over for the incoherent CEO.

After that spectacle, the WSJ's unnamed insiders allege, SpaceX leadership began to privately confer about what they'd just witnessed. One even referred to Musk's performance as "cringeworthy," "nonsensical," and "unhinged."

Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, denied these claims and said that Musk is "regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test," which the South African-born tech mogul has alluded to before.

He also said that "there are other false facts" in theWSJ's reporting, but declined to say what they were.

After theWSJ's article was published, Musk weighed in to say that it was "not fit to line a parrot cage for bird."

Over at Tesla, there have been similar concerns. According to the WSJ's sources, board members at the electric vehicle maker have gone so far as to reach out to Kimbal Musk, the billionaire's brother, to tactfully communicate their concerns without using the term "drugs."

Soon after that infamous 2018 appearance, people in Musk's inner circle learned, per insider allegations, that the multi-hyphenate CEO was under the influence of something when he got choked up during aNew York Timesinterview when discussing some of his personal and business difficulties though to be fair, being wont to cry is apparently part of his whole deal.

There could, of course, be other explanations for the CEO's strange behavior. In 2017, he seemed to claim in response to a tweet that he had undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and also seemed to publicly suggest that he microdoses ketamine therapeutically to treat depression.

To be clear: taking drugs recreationally or therapeutically can be fun and beneficial. But it's very easy to over-do it, especially with ketamine and its infamous "K-hole," making Musk's seeming drug of choice cast a dark shadow over his antics.

More on drugs: Incredible Hotline Counsels Drug Users Through Potential Overdoses Without Shame

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Tesla Admits Its Cars Have Shorter Driving Range Than It Claimed – Futurism

It's a meaningful first step. Down Range

After being accused of artificially inflating range figures, Tesla has downgraded the estimated number of miles of numerous versions of its Model Y, S, and X cars in the US.

As first spotted by Electrek, the vehicle configurator on the EV maker's website now shows that its Model Y Performance SUV has an estimated range of 285, a drop of 18 miles over previous estimates. The Long Range trim of the Model Y fell from 330 to 310 miles.

While we still don't know with absolute certainty why Tesla made these changes, Electrek suggests it may be related to how Tesla tests its vehicles to arrive at Environmental Protection Agency range estimates, which are the most common yardstick for the range of EVs in the US.

According to internal documents obtained by Drive Tesla, the range decrease may have also been due to "comfort and functionality improvements," which draw more energy from the vehicle's reserves.

It's nonetheless a noteworthy admission. Tesla has garnered a reputation for overstating the range of its vehicles, culminating in a Justice Department investigation last year.

In July, Reuters revealed that the EV maker had created an entire team to divert customer complaints regarding "rosy" range numbers, which were reportedly intentionally inflated.

The news also comes after YouTubers tested out Tesla's latest Cybertruck, finding that it fell far short of its advertised, EPA-rated range of 320 miles, covering only 254 highway miles, albeit at a brisk 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

Given Tesla's complete lack of a communications department, we're unlikely to get any answers as to why it chose to downgrade the estimates of only some of the trim levels of its vehicles and not others.

At the end of the day, real-world ranges of EVs are affected by a huge number of external factors, including weather, tires, driving habits, and so on. In other words, even official EPA estimates should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

At the same time, a bit of clarity, especially regarding accusations of having willfully inflated ranges, couldgo a long way not that we'd expect the Elon Musk-led company to have such a change of heart.

More on Tesla: The Cybertruck's Real World Range Is Incredibly Feeble

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SpaceX Sues Government Over Claim It Fired Employees for Criticizing Elon Musk – Futurism

I know you are but what am I? Agency Smith

Elon Musk's SpaceX is suing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because, according to the company's claim, the agency itself is unconstitutional.

Filed before a federal district court in Texas, SpaceX claimed in a complaint that the NLRB which earlier this week accused the company of firing workers for being critical of Musk is "an unconstitutionally structured agency" whose in-house courts should have no jurisdiction over the spaceflight firm.

To be fair, there's little doubt that SpaceX did, in fact, fire people who were critical of Musk. That much is very public, considering that the ex-employees in question were terminated after signing and issuing an open letter calling on their employer to distance itself from its founder because his erratic behavior was, per their description, a "frequent source of distraction and embarrassment."

As the NLRB alleged in its complaint against the company, SpaceX president and CEO Gwynne Shotwell and other C-suiters at the firm acted illegally when interrogating employees about the letter and then telling them to keep those conversations secret, and overall creating an "impression of surveillance (including reading and showing screenshots of communications between employees)," the agency wrote in its filing.

Now, in an effort to kibosh this latest NLRB clapback against the many alleged labor infractions committed by companies in Musk's portfolio, SpaceX is using an unusual but not altogether unheard of argument in its countersuit: that the agency's in-house courts are "miles away from the traditional understanding of the separation of powers." Citing constitutional framer James Madison, the SpaceX suit even goes so far as to call the NLRB "the very definition of tyranny."

The countersuit goes on to insinuate that the agency is unduly biased against him a claim Musk himself has made repeatedly regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission's insistence on taking his stupid pot joke tweet in 2018 seriously.

"If the current Members of the NLRB are asked to make a prosecutorial determination about whether SpaceX is in violation of the [National Labor Relations Act], there is an objectively high risk that they would not later be able to provide the neutral adjudicative forum that the Constitution demands," the company's attorneys wrote, "and so would need to recuse from further participation in any agency adjudication against SpaceX."

While it's fairly unlikely though not impossible that any judge will agree with SpaceX's assertion, that's far from the point of this kind of filing. Musk is trying to gum up the works in this latest labor drama. And unfortunately, because he has enough money for an army of galaxy-brained lawyers, he's likely to succeed for the time being.

More on Musk: Elon Musk Is Getting Absolutely Destroyed in Sweden

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Scientists Found Hazardous Phthalates in Almost Every Food They Tested – Futurism

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A new investigation from Consumer Reports has found plastics in "almost every food" it tested, affirming that these chemicals remain "widespread" in what we eat despite the risks they pose to our health.

The chemical phthalate, a type of "plasticizer" used in plastic manufacturing that makes the material more flexible and durable, was found in all but one of the 85 common food items tested. Bisphenol A, another chemical used in plastic manufacturing, was found in 79 percent of the samples.

Technically, none of the levels found exceeded the acceptable limits set by American and European regulators. But, as CR argues, that's just one reason why the likes of the US Food and Drug Administration is sorely behind what the science says on how dangerous these chemicals phthalates especially, given their ubiquity can be.

It notes that there's no confirmed safe level of phthalates, and a broad body of studies have linked them to asthma, diabetes, reproductive issues, and hormonal problems, even at levels "well below" the limits set by regulators.

"Many of these thresholds do not reflect the most current scientific knowledge, and may not protect against all the potential health effects," Tunde Akinleye, a chemist at CR who oversaw the testing, said in a statement. "We don't feel comfortable saying these levels are okay. They're not."

The investigation tested 67 foods bought at supermarkets, as well as a selection of 18 fast foods from popular chains. No one type of food appears to be more plastic-prone than others, and the levels vary drastically even among the same type of foods, brands, and packaging.

Notable store-bought products include Gerber's baby foods, Yoplait yogurts, and Cheerios cereals. The worst culprit out of them all was Annie's Homegrown Cheesy Ravioli, an "organic" canned meal that turned out to harbor more than 53,000 nanograms of phthalates per serving.

Among fast food, Wendy's Crispy Chicken Nuggets topped the category with nearly 34,000 nanograms. Competitors like McDonald's and Burger King were also found to have notably high levels.

Illustrating just how variable the levels can be, another Wendy's item, the Dave's Single Hamburger, was towards the bottom of fast foods, with only a tenth of the nuggets' levels, with McDonald's own offering of chicken McNuggets also significantly lower than Wendy's.

"That tells us that, as widespread as these chemicals are, there are ways to reduce how much is in our foods," James Rogers, who oversees CR's product safety testing, said in the statement.

The organization's scientists say that a reassessment by the FDA and other regulators is "overdue and essential." But keeping these plastics out of our food won't be easy. If they aren't introduced by our food's plastic packaging, once the focus of phthalate regulation, the chemicals can be introduced by the gloves and conveyor belts used in food processing, CR said.

And of course, there's potentially our plastic choked environment at large to contend with. As more research reveals the sheer ubiquity of microplastics that are being found in everywhere from our bloodstreams to clouds, the fight to shield ourselves from their harmful effects becomes all the more daunting. But, in CR's opinion, keeping phthalates out of our food "should be possible."

More on food: Uber Eats Mocked for Grotesque AI-Generated Food Pictures on Menu

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FDA Investigating Link Between Semaglutide and Hair Loss, Suicidal Thoughts – Futurism

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating whether semaglutide, the active ingredient of the weight loss drug Wegovy and the diabetes medication Ozempic, might cause hair loss and suicidal thoughts, CNN reports.

Semaglutide belongs to a category of drugs which work by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone in the gut, which can affect the secretion of insulin and how food passes through the stomach.

In a recent update, the FDA said its Adverse Event Reporting Systems (FAERS) received reports of patients using these GLP-1 drugssuffering a form of hair loss known as alopecia, as well as suicidal ideation, andinstances of aspiration in which food and liquids accidentally enter the lung. As of December 12,the agency is "evaluating the need for regulatory action."

"The appearance of a drug on this list does not mean that FDA has concluded that the drug has the listed risk," the FAERS website says, as noted by CNN. "It means that FDA has identified a potential safety issue, but it does not mean that FDA has identified a causal relationship between the drug and the listed risk."

Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk, has been hailed as a "miracle" for its ability to suppress a person's appetite. In the years since its approval in 2021, Wegovy, along with its technically only for treating diabetes cousin Ozempic that's often prescribed off-label, have virtually revolutionized weight loss (a remaining wrinkle: Wegovy is extremely expensive and not currently available on insurance.)

Officially, some of listed side effects of semaglutide drugs like Wegovy include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation.

Since their rise in popularity, though, more troubling side effects seemingly caused by the semaglutide drugs continue to emerge, such as itsmocked drawback of supposedly causing facial aging, or "Ozempic face."

But some of its most severe alleged consequences include reports of the drugs causing stomach paralysis andserious bowel blockage. In addition, European regulators have already been investigating a risk of suicidal ideation from taking semaglutide and other GLP-1 drugs since last year.

It's unclear how prevalent these more harmful complications are, but the reports are evidently significant enough to warrant an investigation.

"If newly identified safety signals are identified, the FDA will determine what, if any, actions are appropriate after a thorough review of available data," the agency told CNN in a statement.

What those actions might be remain to be seen, but one course of action could be requiring an update to the labeling of these drugs, although more drastic measures or none at all aren't out of the question, either.

More on drugs: Semaglutide Patients Regained More Weight Than Theyd Lost After Stopping Their Injections

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