Integrating science and spirit through the interconnected phenomena of emergent complexity, self-organization, self-similarity, and consciousness, to reveal a larger unifying fractal paradigm underlying individual and cosmic evolution.

There are also images from a series called "Logos: Attractor" on this page which are quite good.

Almost 8% of 832 patients studied at a sleep disorders center reported bouts of sexsomnia -- having initiated sexual activity with a bed partner while asleep -- and the prevalence of the behavior was three times more common in men than women, Canadian researchers report...

People who reported sexsomnia, however, were twice as likely as other sleep center patients to admit to using illicit drugs (15.9% vs. 7.7%), the researchers say.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed SB 1449 (Leno), which lowers the penalty for personal possession of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction. This long-awaited reform makes low-level marijuana possession a fineable offense, rather than a misdemeanor, the penalty since 1975 when the offense was reduced from a felony. The Governor's action occurs as California voters begin to cast early ballots deciding the fate of Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative.

"Sacramento finished what it started 35 years ago -- lowering the penalties for personal marijuana possession to those of a traffic ticket," said Stephen Gutwillig, California director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "The voters, however, are already poised to take the next step, adopting Prop. 19 to eliminate all penalties for personal possession and begin to bring this state's unregulated $14 billion underground marijuana market under the rule of law once and for all."

Originally published in Britain, in 1957, 'A Drug-Taker's Notes' by Richard Heron Ward describes 6 LSD sessions the author undertook between 1954-55, under the supervision of a medical psychiatrist only identified as Dr. X. The doctor was studying the effects both on herself and mentally ill patients, which corresponds to what LSD manufacturers Sandoz deemed as valuable research methods for the hallucinogen. Richard Ward's role was as a 'mentally balanced' control subject, asked to join the research by his friend Dr. X. As far as I’m aware, this is the only edition of the book ever published and is the first literary account of the LSD experience.

NGC explores drug cultures around the world where people use drugs to enter an "altered state" -- sometimes with dangerous consequences. We visit a village in Venezuela where shamans use drugs to contact the spirit world, a festival in Nepal where hashish is temporarily legalized and a club scene in Amsterdam where drugs have become a focus of both recreational indulgence and scientific inquiry.

[Thanks Mr. Tumnus!]

[Thanks JRoast!]

The widely popular Did You Know internet video series where incredible statistics about the changing world are portrayed infographically has released a Drug War edition. A perfect video to share with your friends and family to help them understand how the drug war affects us all. [There is text in the animation so I recommend watching in HD and full-screen.]

A man died after downing a pint of vodka in four seconds, an inquest heard.

Richard Davies, 29, from Thornaby, near Stockton, had been drinking with friends before the alcohol knocked him unconscious in January.

Mr Davies was found not breathing in a pool of his own blood, and died hours later.

Of minor interest, a British media report that actually manages to waive judgment of mephedrone:

The hearing on Tuesday at Teesside Coroner's Court was told how the electrician's mate was five-and-a-half times the legal drink-drive limit and his body contained traces of the then-legal high mephedrone, which has since been banned.

However, Mr Eastwood said the alcohol in his system had killed him and that the mephedrone was not a contributing factor.

This all reminds me of a Warren Ellis T-shirt design which provides the cocktail recipe for "The Pint of Whisky." Note that even Mr. Ellis does not suggest that such a cocktail must be consumed in four seconds. (I suspect he possesses the arcane wherewithal for such mayhem, of course.)

Escort - Cocaine Blues

The kind of pain that you feel when you get rejected socially feels different from the hurt you feel when you break your leg or scald your hand, but neurologically speaking, they're closely related. As researcher Naomi Eisenberger has shown, circuitry underlying both sorts of pain are found in the anterior cingulate cortex.

But if that's the case, can a drug that dulls pain in the body have a similar effect on one's emotions? A surprising new study suggests that the answer is yes. Psychologist C. Nathan DeWall of the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology led a team that asked 25 subjects to take either acetaminophen (aka Tylenol) or a placebo for three weeks, and then to lie in a brain scanner and play a video game that was rigged to make them feel uncomfortably ostracized. (Such games typically involve passing an electronic ball back and forth among three players, two of whom are actually a computer program and ignore the test subject after the beginning of the game.)

DeWall's team found that the subjects who had taken the Tylenol showed less activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. According to the paper, the "findings suggest that at least temporary mitigation of social pain-related distress may be achieved by means of an over-the-counter painkiller that is normally used for physical aches and pains."

[Thanks Sam!]