science

ICCMR’s singing robots, Tom, Dick and Harry, were programmed at the University of Plymouth to sing Happy Birthday to celebrate the centenary of the London Science Museum. The robots were on display at the Science Museum’s Dana Centre on 10 June 2009. Read more…

This is a bizarre bit of news – researchers and psychiatrists are giving the notorious rave drug “ecstasy” to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and are asking the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand the program.

Does this mean that the VA hospital is going to start looking like a rave hall?

Not yet. While this may bring to mind glow sticks and pacifiers, the drug is being administered under controlled circumstances.

“It’s not going to be a normal prescription drug like the antidepressants,” says researcher Rick Doblin. “It’s only going to be administered under therapist supervision.”

“Patients would be required to spend the night in the facility. Our approach is catharsis, enhancing the psychotherapeutic interchange.”

Scientists say methylenedioxymethamphetamine produces an experience described as “inhibiting the subjective fear response to an emotional threat.” Read more…

This could be just about the best scientific discovery ever: dance music could save your life.

Scientists have found that listening to just 50 minutes of uplifting dance music not only increases the levels of antibodies in your body, but it decreases your levels of stress hormones, which can weaken the immune system.

Volunteers who played a percussion instrument along with the music also benefited from the immune boost.

No word on the dudes that stood around in corners getting wasted and shoe gazing.

Nurse Techno Is Here To Give You Your Medicine

It gets even better, though. The researchers, from Sussex University and the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, say their findings demonstrate how dance music could be used to help aid patients’ recovery while in hospital.

They found that playing music while a patient was under anesthetic during an operation helped to lower the levels of harmful stress hormones.

“We think the pleasant state that can be induced by music leads to special physiological changes which eventually lead to stress reduction or direct immune enhancement,” said Dr Ronny Enk, a neurocognition expert at the Max Planck Institute. “Stress reduction probably plays an important role, but the stress reducing effect seems to be different for various types of music.”

The researchers tested 300 people, asking them to listen to 50 minutes of happy, joyful dance music or to a random collection of tones (the stuff I usually listen to).

They found:

• People that listened to dance music had significantly lower levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, compared to a control group.
• After listening, the levels of the antibody immunoglobin A, the immune system’s first line of defense, were heightened.

“Listening to music in hospitals might show benefits for patients and may for example lead to shorter recovery times,” added Enk.

So next time you’re sick, remember that a dose of dance music could do your body some good.

Image: Simon Davison