Hybrid Sharks; The Parts of Weed That are Bad for the Brain

Rebecca Greenfield

Discovered: Hybrid climate change fighting sharks, weed's effects on brain function, smartphones are addictive, an astounding link between diabetes, income and ADHD, and the kindness of humble strangers 

  • The world's first hybrid shark. While climate change is making our ecosystems bad for humans, know that the animals will evolve. At least that's what the sharks are doing. Today researchers discovered the first ever hybrid shark, which they take as a sign that the species are adapting to climate change. "It's very surprising because no one's ever seen shark hybrids before. This is not a common occurrence by any stretch of the imagination," lead researcher Jess Morgan told the AFP. Basically, these special sharks have the genes of one type of shark, but the bodies of another. Like Don Knotts in The Incredible Mr. Limpet. But instead of fighting Nazis, the sharks are adapting to climate change. See, this new breed can live in different temperature waters than the purebred shark. Morgan called it "evolution in action." [AFP]

  • The parts of weed that are bad for your brain. Contrary to whatever that pot-head down the block says, weed isn't exactly good for one's brain. But certain parts of marijuana have different effects on brain activity, found new research in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Researchers tracked the THC and cannabidiol (CBD) altered brain activities. They found the following scary sounding conclusions: "Pairwise comparisons revealed that Δ9-THC significantly increased the severity of psychotic symptoms compared with placebo and CBD whereas there was no significant difference between the CBD and placebo conditions." And:  "collectively, these observations suggest that Δ9-THC may increase the aberrant attribution of salience and induce psychotic symptoms through its effects on the striatum and lateral prefrontal cortex." You had us at psychotic. [Eureka] 

  • The many levels of smartphone addiction. iPhone use is not only addictive, but it correlates with other addictive behaviors -- like drug and alcohol use. In other news: We heard there were 6.5 million new Angry Birds downloads on Christmas Day alone. [Case Western] 

  • Diabetes plus low-income equals ADHD. When low socioeconomic status combines with gestational diabetes, kids are 14 fold more likely to develop ADHD, found a study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 14 is a lot of times more likely. And considering diabetes correlates with lower socioeconomic status the finding doesn't bode well for future kids trying to concentrate on things.  [Eureka]

  • Humble people are also kinder people. In obvious research of the day, humble people were more likely to lend a helping hand, found a Baylor study. And arrogant jerks don't care about other people. Glad science cleared that up for us. [Baylor]