rising

22Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

CBD: Rising Star Or Popular Fad?

Cannabidiol, or CBD, has become a household name. On many social media sites, people suggest “but have you tried CBD oil?” on posts pertaining to any health-related issue. CBD, a minor constituent of marijuana, is widely touted as nature’s miracle by CBD enthusiasts. It does not get people high, unlike marijuana’s main constituent, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, given the recent surge in its popularity, you’d think the molecule is magic. We are behavioral pharmacology scientists, and we study how drugs act on the body. Specifically, we have an interest in developing new drugs for the treatment of pain that possess lessened drug abuse potential, and therapeutic interventions for drug abuse. Although there is scientific interest in the use of CBD for both pain and drug addict...

Thanks To A Long-Overdue ‘Thrifty Food Plan’ Update, SNAP Benefits Are Rising For Millions Of Americans

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIETY

Thanks To A Long-Overdue ‘Thrifty Food Plan’ Update, SNAP Benefits Are Rising For Millions Of Americans

Tracy Roof, University of Richmond The U.S. Department of Agriculture adjusts Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits to reflect changes in food prices once a year. The government agency will take two other factors into account when it increases those benefits, which help people buy food, on Oct. 1, 2021. One is an unprecedented update of the Thrifty Food Plan – an estimate of the minimum cost of groceries to meet a family’s needs. That revision is behind the largest-ever permanent increase in benefits and puts a healthier diet within reach for the 42 million Americans enrolled in SNAP, which replaced food stamps. The other change, the expiration of a temporary 15% increase in SNAP benefits to offset some of the economic hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic, will hav...

Resentment Over COVID-19 Shutdowns Is Colliding With Rising Numbers In Rural America

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Resentment Over COVID-19 Shutdowns Is Colliding With Rising Numbers In Rural America

As COVID-19 spreads through rural America, new infection numbers are rising to peaks not seen during this pandemic and pushing hospitals to their limits. Many towns are experiencing their first major outbreaks, but that doesn’t mean rural communities had previously been spared the devastating impacts of the pandemic. Infection rates in rural and frontier communities ebbed and flowed during the first seven months, often showing up in pockets linked to meat packing plants, nursing homes or prisons. Even if they had no cases, many rural areas were under statewide public health orders that left businesses closed and events canceled. And that has become part of the problem today. The early compassionate and cohesive community responses to COVID-19 quickly gave way to growing anger and complia...

How technology can combat the rising tide of fake science

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY

How technology can combat the rising tide of fake science

Science gets a lot of respect these days. Unfortunately, it’s also getting a lot of competition from misinformation. Seven in 10 Americans think the benefits from science outweigh the harms, and nine in 10 think science and technology will create more opportunities for future generations. Scientists have made dramatic progress in understanding the universe and the mechanisms of biology, and advances in computation benefit all fields of science. On the other hand, Americans are surrounded by a rising tide of misinformation and fake science. Take climate change. Scientists are in almost complete agreement that people are the primary cause of global warming. Yet polls show that a third of the public disagrees with this conclusion. A crop circle in Switzerland. Jabberocky/Wikimedia Commons In...

Why teen depression rates are rising faster for girls than boys

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Why teen depression rates are rising faster for girls than boys

We’re in the middle of a teen mental health crisis – and girls are at its epicenter. Since 2010, depression, self-harm and suicide rates have increased among teen boys. But rates of major depression among teen girls in the U.S. increased even more – from 12% in 2011 to 20% in 2017. In 2015, three times as many 10- to 14-year-old girls were admitted to the emergency room after deliberately harming themselves than in 2010. Meanwhile, the suicide rate for adolescent girls has doubled since 2007. Rates of depression started to tick up just as smartphones became popular, so digital media could be playing a role. The generation of teens born after 1995 – known as iGen or Gen Z – were the first to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. They’re also the first group of teens...

Why isn’t the US dealing with the rising threat of white supremacy?

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS, VIDEO REELS

Why isn’t the US dealing with the rising threat of white supremacy?

Despite growing white nationalist violence worldwide, US conservatives are pushing for antifa to be designated a "terrorist" group. Twenty people are dead in a weekend shooting at an El Paso Wal-Mart. The incident is being called one of the worst attacks on Latinos in US history. The suspected shooter is in police custody, and posted an anti-immigrant manifesto online before the attack. Authorities are charging him with “domestic terrorism .” Around the country, calls are growing for the US to starting taking white nationalism seriously. In July, FBI director Christopher Wray said the majority of the 100 "domestic terrorism" arrests made by the bureau this year involved white supremacists. And white supremacists were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks in the...