Medicinal uses are mushrooming
Patients in a pilot study felt decreased
symptoms of anxiety and depression for
at least one week after taking a large
dose of psilocybin, the hallucinogen in
magic mushrooms. The study findings,
published in Scientific Reports, suggest
that the drug may support an “endur-
ing shift” away from negative moods
and cravings. —PATRICIA EDMONDSBREAKTHROUGHS (^) | EXPLORE
PAUL STAMETS (MUSHROOMS); ILIK SACCHERI (CATERPILLARS), BRIAN CHAN (HEAD),
INSTITUTE OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL; FELICE FRANKEL, MIT
PEPPERED MOTHS ARE MASTERS of camouflage. In the larval stage,
they can change the color of their skin to blend into their settings —
even without seeing those surroundings, a new study found. After
raising more than 300 peppered moth larvae, U.K. researchers
obscured the vision of some with black paint (which the
larvae later shed, unharmed). The larvae were placed in
boxes containing white, green, brown, or black sticks, and
given time to adapt. When the researchers opened the
boxes, they found that nearly all the caterpillars, with or
without vision, had changed their body colors to match
the sticks in their box. The researchers then moved the
caterpillars into new boxes containing sticks of two different
colors, and about 80 percent of the insects chose to rest on sticks
that matched their body color. The researchers say their findings
provide strong evidence that peppered moth larvae are capable
of dermal photoreception —seeing with their skin. —ANNIE ROTH
ANIMALS
HOW CAN INSECTS TURN
COLORS THEY CAN’T SEE?
RESEARCH ON THESE CHAMELEON-LIKE LARVAE
SHOWS THEY ‘SEE’ WITH MORE THAN THEIR EYES.
DISPATCHES
FROM THE FRONT LINES
OF SCIENCE
AND INNOVATION
GREEN TECH
Cement of
the future?
The process for
making cement
creates so much
greenhouse gas
that if it were a
country, it’d be the
third largest emit-
ter on Earth. That
statistic is from MIT,
where scientists
devised a process
that would produce
cement using
electricity, rather
than by burning
fossil fuels. In a
water electrolyzer
(below), current to
the electrodes cre-
ates hydrogen and
oxygen gases, an
acid, and a base.
When limestone is
added to the acid,
it’s dissolved and
decarbonated—
loses its CO 2 —and
then can be used to
make a key cement
ingredient. —AR