Nuclear Fusion Is Doing the Impossible—Uniting Politicians

Jess Thomson -NEWSWEEK

Nuclear fusion could be within America's grasp by the end of the next decade, with investment and interest in the energy source from both Biden and the former Trump administration.

Fusion scientists have told Newsweek that the power source now provides huge appeal across the political spectrum to solve the many problems that face this near limitless, clean source of power.

In April, the White House said the Biden-Harris was developing a strategy to push fusion energy forward, including $50 million to advance research in the area.

Steven Cowley is the director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory that researches nuclear fusion science. "There is considerable interest in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House in accelerating fusion," He told Newsweek.

"The summit on March 22 in the White House set out an aim to make first fusion electricity on a decadal timescale. I believe that we could have fusion electricity by the end of the 2030s."

Nuclear fusion is a form of energy generation that produces next to no by-products. It involves heavy hydrogen atoms colliding with enough force that they fuse together to form a helium atom, releasing large amounts of energy as heat in the process. This heat can then be used to generate electricity, in much the same manner as a steam engine: heat evaporates water to create steam, which turns a turbine.

If the heavy hydrogen plasma reaches a high enough energy state, it "ignites," meaning that the fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining, producing enough power via fusion alone to maintain the temperature without external heating.

In a recent milestone in the field, fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL's) National Ignition Facility (NIF) was confirmed in three peer-reviewed papers.

The crucial factor of nuclear fusion in our age of climate change and fossil fuels is that the only fuel required is hydrogen, which can be harvested from seawater using simple electrolysis, and the only by-product is helium, which we can be used for various important purposes like in coolants and in arc welding.

If we could get to the point where a fusion reaction was controlled and self-sustaining long-term, the only energy input required would be the starting nudge to begin the chain reaction.

"Fusion seems to be something that appeals broadly to both [political] parties—it could provide firm power for manufacturing and urban centers, and it is safe, carbon-free, and environmentally sustainable," Nathaniel Ferraro, a research physicist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, told Newsweek.

"Both the Trump and Biden administrations were and are looking to leverage private investment in fusion research as a way to accelerate the national program, and this has been reflected in an increase in funding to public-private partnership programs.

"The Biden administration signaled its support for fusion in March with a relatively high-profile event at the White House to showcase how fusion energy can help achieve the policy goals of net zero carbon emission by 2050 and promoting environmental justice."

According to Ferraro, the recent positive developments in fusion research, in terms of science, policy, and investment, have led to a surge of optimism in the field.

"With an accelerating climate crisis, and a war raging in Europe, made more complicated by global dependence on Russian oil and gas, we need innovation more than ever, to secure our energy future, and stop emission of greenhouse gasses," Sally Benson, Deputy Director for Energy at OSTP, said at the White House Summit on Developing a Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy on March 17, 2022.

"The amount of fusion fuel that could fill a bathtub holds as much energy as all the oil Russia produces each day—about 10 million barrels. For more than 70 years, fusion scientists and engineers have worked to discover how fusion works and how to control it," she said.

"The benefits are great—a source of emission-free electricity that we can turn on and off when and where we need it. And a combined source of heat and power for clean industrial processing, making hydrogen, desalinating water, and things we can't even imagine today."

Stock image of an atom. Nuclear fusion energy, which involves the
fusing of two hydrogen atoms, may provide clean energy if perfected.

iStock / Getty Images Plus© iStock / Getty Images

Despite the optimism towards the future of nuclear fusion power, there is still greater interest and funding directed towards solar power.


"Investment in solar is much larger—but it is a deliverable technology now," said Cowley. "It is essential that we deploy carbon free electricity now and fusion isn't ready. But it is also essential to develop fusion because the two major 'firm' energy components in studies like the Princeton Net Zero America project are nuclear fission and carbon capture and storage. 'Firm' is the term used for sources that can be switched on and off to balance renewables when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. Fusion is the perfect firm energy source."

Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, who is member of Congress' bipartisan Fusion Energy Caucus, said in a statement: "We need a bicameral, bipartisan–in fact, I would argue non-partisan–effort on fusion energy. We can work together to get this done."

There are many challenges facing the field of nuclear fusion energy, including building structures that can contain the energy produced by the fusion reaction over long periods of time.

Additionally, containing the reaction that sustains the sun requires very specialist equipment, which costs a lot of money.

"There is still a long way to go, since there is a considerable gap between building lab-scale fusion experiments and building a commercially viable fusion reactor," said Ferraro. "But in my opinion the global need for a power source like fusion energy makes it absolutely worth the investment to try."

Scientists say exoplanet 100 light years from Earth may be covered with deep ocean

Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A team of researchers have discovered an exoplanet about 100 light years away from Earth in the Draco constellation, and they say the world appears to be covered in a deep ocean.

The exoplanet -- called TOI-1452b -- is slightly larger than the Earth and is located in a "Goldilocks zone," where temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist. Therefore, astronomers think TOI-1452b could be covered in an ocean.

The exoplanet orbits "a nearby visual-binary M dwarf" star.

University of Montreal researcher Dr. Charles Cadieux led the international team in the discovery and their research was published in the Astronomical Journal.

"TOI-1452b is one of the best candidates for an ocean planet that we have found to date," Cadieux said according to Phys.org. "Its radius and mass suggest a much lower density than what one would expect for a planet that is basically made up of metal and rock, like Earth."

NASA's TESS telescope, which has been operating since 2018, alerted the scientists to the existence of the exoplanet.

Researchers said the exoplanet orbits a much smaller star that our sun and is probably rocky like the Earth, but with a much different mass, radius and density. They say more will be learned about TOI-1452b when NASA's new James Webb Telescope begins atmospheric characterization efforts.


"[Observations] should reveal the true nature of this intriguing exoplanet lying within the radius valley, whether this is a rocky world or one with a volatile envelope," researchers wrote in the study. "TOI-1452b is a unique system for studying exoplanets at the transition between super-Earths and mini-Neptunes."

The researchers noted, however, that it's also possible that TOI-1452b is not an ocean planet. They say it could also be a bare-rock planet with an iron content less than half of the Earth's -- or a terrestrial planet with a thin, low molecular weight atmosphere.

James Webb Telescope Captures Stunning Images Of Jupiter

Douglas Helm - Yesterday 

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to impress with incredible images of our solar system. The most recent round of pictures gives us unprecedented looks at the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. NASA explained that the images are composites from several images taken by the telescope. Since infrared light is invisible to the naked eye, the images have been colorized on the visual spectrum to highlight certain details of the planet. You can see some of the images below:


James Webb Telescope Captures Stunning Images Of Jupiter© Provided by Giant Freakin Robot


James Webb Telescope Captures Stunning Images Of Jupiter© Provided by Giant Freakin Robot


James Webb Telescope Captures Stunning Images Of Jupiter© Provided by Giant Freakin Robot


James Webb Telescope Captures Stunning Images Of Jupiter© Provided by Giant Freakin Robot

Related video: James Webb telescope captures new images of Jupiter


The first image gives us a great close-up view of Jupiter while the other image zooms out a little, showing some of the orbiting moons of Jupiter and the rings. In the third image, you can see some points of interest labeled. For some scale, see you can see Adrastea and Almathea in the second and third images. These are moons of Jupiter. If you want to scale Jupiter to Earth, you can look at the famous Great Red Spot. In these images, the spot appears white due to the reflection of the sun. The Great Red Spot is a raging storm that is larger than Earth. The storm has been going strong for over a century.

Jupiter is easily the biggest planet in our solar system, with a size twice as big as all the other planets of our solar system combined. Jupiter is a gas giant, meaning it doesn’t have a surface like the one we take advantage of on Earth. It’s possible that Jupiter may have a solid inner core. However, the planet is primarily comprised of clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. And if you think Earth’s moon is impressive, Jupiter actually has as many as 79 moons. Perhaps the most interesting of these is Europa, which is the most likely to support life. Io, Ganymede, and Callisto are also of great scientific interest out of the many satellites in Jupiter’s massive orbit.

While the picture from the James Webb Space Telescope isn’t our only observation of Jupiter, it’s definitely one of the most high-quality images we have of the planet yet. NASA has sent a total nine of nine spacecraft to visit Jupiter, with seven of them passing by the gas giant and two of them observing from orbit. Juno is the most recent spacecraft to observe Jupiter up close, arriving on the planet in 2016. While these incredible images of Jupiter are great, the James Webb Space Telescope’s power will be primarily used to observe further flung events and phenomena in our galaxy and beyond. The James Webb Space Telescope is currently about one million miles from Earth and has the capability of detecting light that began traveling toward Earth 13 billion years ago. This amazing technology has the potential to reveal new information on new star formation, galaxy formation, and even the potential life-supporting potential of exoplanets. One thing is for sure, we’re bound to get more cool photos from the James Webb Space Telescope either way.

Vast Sunspot Has Grown 10 Times in Size in Just 48 Hours

Ed Browne - 6h ago


A huge sunspot on the surface of the sun has reportedly grown in size more than tenfold over the past couple of days.

The sunspot, known as AR3085, has also been shooting off several minor solar flares, though nothing strong enough to be disruptive on Earth.

Sunspots are regions on the sun where magnetic fields are so intense that some heat is prevented from reaching the sun's surface. As such, sunspots may appear as dark patches.

Due to the intense magnetic fields, sunspots are known sources of solar activity. When these magnetic field lines suddenly shift, a vast amount of energy is released in the form of a flash of radiation, known as a solar flare, or a cloud of plasma and magnetic field, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME).

These are both examples of space weather. Both flares and CMEs can interact with our planet and potentially interfere with modern technology if they're strong enough.

Flares and CMEs can disrupt radio communications and cause power grid issues. When CMEs influence Earth's magnetic field, they can also cause auroras to occur at lower latitudes than normal.

At the moment, it seems unlikely that sunspot AR3085 will lead to any strong space weather activity.

As of August 21 it had given off only C-class solar flares, which are a weak type. Generally, only M-class flares and the strongest X-class flare types are powerful enough to cause radio issues on Earth, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).

These photos from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) show how the sunspot grew in size from the afternoon of August 21 to the evening of August 22.


Sunspot AR3085 seen on August 21, 2022. NASA/SDO/HMI© NASA/SDO/HMI


Sunspot AR3085 on August 22, 2022, having grown from the previous day. NASA/SDO/HMI© NASA/SDO/HMI

According to solar activity news website Spaceweather.com on Tuesday afternoon: "Two days ago sunspot AR3085 barely existed. Since then it has grown more than 10-fold, turning itself into a double sunspot group with cores nearly as wide as Earth."

In a more recent update on Wednesday, Spaceweather.com stated space weather should remain calm for the rest of the week with AR3085 being the only significant sunspot group in sight of Earth.


A NASA illustration of the Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite. The SDO is a NASA mission which has been observing the Sun since 2010, the observatory is part of the Living With a Star (LWS) program. NASA© NASA

This is in contrast to last week when Earth was buffeted by several CMEs and solar flares, leading the SWPC to issue space weather alerts across three days.

Space weather activity can be expected to increase in the coming years during an increasingly active stage of the roughly 11-year solar cycle.

Related Articles

Magic mushrooms plus psychotherapy can quell heavy drinking, study shows


Giving psilocybin -- the psychedelic substance found in magic mushrooms -- to patients with alcohol use disorder, along with psychotherapy, helped reduce heavy drinking more than psychotherapy alone, new research shows. 

Photo by Shots Studio/Shutterstock



Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Adding psychedelics to psychotherapy helped treat adults' heavy drinking problem more than psychotherapy alone, a study published Wednesday says.

Giving high-dose psilocybin -- the psychedelic, mind-altering compound found in magic mushrooms -- twice to patients with alcohol use disorder, combined with psychotherapy, helped reduce the number of heavy drinking days more than a placebo medication and therapy.

And eight months after their first dose, 48% of the study's participants who received psilocybin stopped drinking completely.

That's the gist of research findings published in JAMA Psychiatry.

These results provide support for further study of psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol use disorder, according to the research team led by Dr. Michael P. Bogenschutz, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Bogenschutz also is director of the NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine, where he has studied psilocybin for the past decade.

The investigators said that although classic psychedelic medications have shown promise in treating alcohol use disorder, the efficacy of psilocybin is just being studied now.

RELATED Psychedelics may be future of depression treatment, experts say

During a press conference in New York on Wednesday, Bogenschutz described alcohol use disorder as a very serious, undertreated problem -- and said the effectiveness of current medications and psychotherapies, unlike psilocybin, tends to be minimal and don't work for many patients.

He was joined at the press conference by two study participants whose treatment with the new regimen was successful.

Jon Kostas, a middle-aged man who said he went to his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at age 16 and described his drinking problem as treatment-resistant, said of the NYU psilocybin study: "It definitely affected my life. I think it saved my life."

RELATED Study: Psychedelic mushroom ingredient helps reduce depression

Paul Mavis, who said he'd been drinking for four decades, but decided he needed help in 2018, described his participation in the study as "a game changer in every single way."

Neither had ever used psychedelics, they said. And neither found the experience something they wanted to repeat.

"This was the exact opposite of a 'high' ... a very profound thing" that should be conducted under medical supervision, Mavis said.

"It's tough work, and I think that's why it works so well," Kostas said of being treated with psilocybin.

Psilocybin "definitely alters people's subjective experience," said lead researcher Bogenschutz. But this may be quite pleasant or highly disorienting.

"You can't just say, 'I want to feel good, I'm going to use psilocybin,'" he said. "It's definitely strongly mind-altering, but not a 'feel-good' drug."

Other researchers are trying to determine the psychedelic substance's usefulness in treatment for other woes.

In February, Johns Hopkins Medicine reported that two doses of psilocybin was effective in easing the symptoms of major depressive disorder for most patients for up to one year.

Johns Hopkins, which runs the Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, is recruiting for a new study to investigate whether psilocybin can help people with depression who drink regularly.

The NYU-led study was a double-blind, randomized clinical trial offering participants 12 weeks of psychotherapy, and randomly assigning them to receive either psilocybin or diphenhydramine, an antihistamine medication, during two day-long medication sessions at weeks four and eight.

In the first session, people were given 25 milligrams per 70 kilograms of psilocybin or 50 mg. of diphenhydramine. In the second session, they received 25 to 40 mg. per 70 kg. of psilocybin, or 50 to 100 mg. of diphenhydramine.

Alongside this, they received motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Use of marijuana, hallucinogens soared to new high in 2021, NIH says

Use of marijuana and hallucinogens among young adults in the United States reached an all-time high in 2021, the National Institutes of Health reported Monday. 

Photo by Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Use of marijuana and hallucinogens among young adults in the United States reached an all-time high in 2021, the National Institutes of Health reported Monday.

Use of these drugs, as self-reported by adults aged 19 to 30 years old, increased significantly last year compared to five and 10 years ago -- with marijuana use reaching its highest level in this age group since these trends were first monitored in 1988.

Overall, 43% of young adults reported past-year marijuana use in 2021, up from 34% in 2016 and 29% in 2011, a news release said. Daily pot use also climbed to involve 11% of young adults in 2021, up from 8% in 2016 and 6% in 2011.

In 2021, 8% of young adults reported past-year hallucinogen use: an all-time high since the category was first surveyed in 1988 -- and up from 5% in 2016 and 3% in 2011. Types of hallucinogens reported by participants included LSD, MDMA, mescaline, peyote, "shrooms" or psilocybin and PCP, the release said.

That's according to the latest Monitoring the Future panel study. Researchers have been surveying substance use annually since 1975 among a nationally representative sample of teens, following up to track participants' drug use through adulthood.

The latest data also show that rates of nicotine vaping in the past month, which have gradually increased in young adults over the past four years, continued their general upward trend to 16% in 2021 after leveling off in 2020. That compares to a 6% rate of nicotine vaping in 2017, when the practice was first monitored.

And marijuana vaping in the past month, which had significantly fallen in 2020, rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in 2021: doubling to 12% in 2021 from 6% in 2017.

Alcohol remains the most used substance among adults in the study, though rates of past-year, past-month and daily drinking have been decreasing over the last decade.

Binge drinking -- of five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks -- rebounded in 2021 from a historic low in 2020 during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And "high-intensity" drinking -- having 10 or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks -- has been steadily increasing over the past decade. In 2021, it reached its highest level ever recorded since first measured in 2005, a news release said.

"As the drug landscape shifts over time, this data provides a window into the substances and patterns of use favored by young adults. We need to know more about how young adults are using drugs like marijuana and hallucinogens, and the health effects that result from consuming different potencies and forms of these substances," National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Dr. Nora Volkow said in the release.

The study's participants self-reported their drug use across three primary time periods: lifetime, past year and past month. The research is conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research in Ann Arbor, and funded by NIDA.

Data for the 2021 survey were collected online from April through October 2021.

The investigators followed up with participants to assess their outcomes over a 32-week, double-blind period after the first dose of medication.

They found the percentage of heavy drinking days over the 32 weeks was 9.7% for the psilocybin group and 23.6% for the diphenhydramine group. Also, daily alcohol consumption -- the number of standard drinks per day -- also was lower in the psilocybin group.

And they found no serious side effects among the people who received psilocybin.

The study included 93 adults 25 to 65 years old who had been diagnosed with alcohol dependence and had at least four heavy drinking days during the 30 days before screening.

It excluded people who had major psychiatric and drug use disorders, hallucinogen use, medical conditions that wouldn't allow the use of the study's medications and those in treatment for alcohol use disorder.

Use of LSD rising among young Americans

By Steven Reinberg,

 HealthDay News

The increase in hallucinogen use is likely caused by a decrease in the perception of the drug as risky, a recent study suggests

. Photo by Dick Stuert/Wikimedia Commons

If you think hallucinogens like LSD are a thing of the past, think again.

New research estimates that the use of mind-altering LSD rose from less than 1% in 2002 to 4% in 2019 among people aged 18 to 25. And, overall, 5.5 million Americans used some kind of hallucinogen in 2019.

"According to our results, hallucinogen use is a growing public health concern, warranting prevention strategies given the growing risk of unsupervised use," said lead researcher Dr. Ofir Livne. He's a postdoctoral fellow in the department of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

The increase in hallucinogen use is likely caused by a decrease in the perception of the drug as risky, Livne noted.

"Studies now indicate that certain hallucinogens, such as LSD and psilocybin, can improve cognitive [mental] function, productivity and mental health," Livne explained. "Nowadays, we see 'micro-doser' communities, essentially individuals who are exploring the reported positive effects of micro-doses of LSD without experiencing any negative effects."

Still, "in light of our findings, we believe there is a need for a comprehensive examination of the motives behind the use of LSD and other hallucinogens, especially since previous studies have reported increased risks of negative outcomes, such as cognitive impairments and mood disorders," Livne added. "Before hallucinogen use becomes 'normalized,' there needs to be a larger body of literature that can help discern safe use from hazardous use."

The research was published online Monday in the journal Addiction.

These findings mirror those of a new federal government study published this week that found that the use of hallucinogens like LSD, MDMA, mescaline, peyote, "shrooms," psilocybin and PCP started to increase in 2021 after staying relatively stable until 2020.

In 2021, 8% of young adults used a hallucinogen in the past year, an all-time high, that study found. In comparison, only 5% of young adults reported using a hallucinogen in the past year in 2016, while only 3% used one in 2011. The only hallucinogen that saw a decrease in use was MDMA (ecstasy or Molly), where use dropped from 5% in 2016 and 2020 to 3% in 2021.

Pat Aussem, associate vice president for consumer clinical content development at the Partnership to End Addiction, said that the increased use of hallucinogens may be a result of newfound interest in their beneficial effects on some mood disorders.

"While many hallucinogens are designated as Schedule 1 drugs with 'no currently accepted medical use,' they are increasingly being discussed on social media, at research institutes and in other forums as alternatives to more traditional pharmaceuticals for certain mental health problems," she said.

"Both personal anecdotes and promising clinical trials have given rise to the use of hallucinogens to address depression, anxiety, PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and substance use disorders, as well as to improve cognitive functioning," Aussem explained.

The promise that hallucinogens can potentially treat depression, PTSD and other mental health ills - in some cases more quickly and with less onerous side effects - has played a role in the growing interest in these drugs, she said.

"There is also the commercial side of the equation, as by some estimates, the market is anticipated to grow from $2 billion in 2020 to over $10 billion in 2027. Huge investments are being made to capitalize on growing consumer interest in these substances," Aussem noted.

In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a medication called Spravato for patients with severe depression who are not responding to other treatments. It's closely related to the psychedelic drug ketamine, but it is not the same as ketamine that someone might buy on the street. It also has to be given with an antidepressant in a supervised setting, she said.

Psilocybin is also being studied in clinical trials to treat depression and anxiety, she added.

Meanwhile, MDMA has been studied in clinical trials to address PTSD.

"It is expected to be approved by the FDA in 2023. Again, it is important to note that although ecstasy and MDMA are often used interchangeably, ecstasy may contain MDMA, but also be formulated with other substances that may be harmful," Aussem said.

Hallucinogens may work for some, but not all people, and for certain conditions they have risks, she said. The use of hallucinogens may be contraindicated if there is a personal or family history of psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or suicidal ideation, as well as heart problems and seizures.

Depending upon the hallucinogen, there can be a wide range of short- and long-term effects, including nausea, increased heart rate, intense sensory experiences, relaxation, paranoia and persistent psychosis. They can also be riskier if mixed with alcohol and other substances, including prescription medications, Aussem said.

There is also a significant difference between the safety of hallucinogens used in a clinical trial and what people get on the street, she noted.

"It is especially important to note that street MDMA has been laced with fentanyl, a powerful pain reliever that is driving skyrocketing overdoses in our country," Aussem said.

"It can be tempting to try hallucinogens, especially if a person is struggling with mental health, but street drugs are not the answer," Aussem said. "The composition, strength, dosing and therapeutic oversight of the hallucinogens in the clinical trials underway and the FDA-approved medications are not a 'do-it-at-home' remedy. A person interested in pursuing hallucinogens may benefit by seeking guidance from their healthcare provider and investigating participation in clinical trials."

More information

For more on hallucinogens, head to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.



Medical marijuana for pain linked to higher risk for heart arrhythmia

By Amy Norton, 

HealthDay News

Among 1.6 million people with chronic pain, those prescribed medical marijuana were 64% more likely to suffer a heart rhythm disturbance in the next six months, a recent study found.

 Photo by Circe Denyer/publicdomainpictures



People who use medical marijuana to treat chronic pain may have a slightly heightened risk of heart arrhythmias, a preliminary study suggests.

Researchers found that among 1.6 million people with chronic pain, those prescribed medical marijuana were 64% more likely to suffer a heart rhythm disturbance in the next six months.

The absolute risk was small: about 0.9% of patients on medical marijuana developed an arrhythmia, compared to 0.5% of those not taking the drug.

Plus, experts said, the findings do not prove that medical marijuana, per se, is to blame.

Still, chemicals in marijuana are known to affect the cardiovascular system - including heart rate, blood pressure and the tendency to form blood clots. And the findings add to concerns about the risks of using the drug, medicinally or otherwise, the study authors said.

"Just because something is 'natural' doesn't mean it's safe," said Robert Page, a professor at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Page, who was not involved in the study, was lead author on an American Heart Association scientific statement on the cardiovascular risks of marijuana. It said that a number of studies have linked marijuana use to increased risks of conditions as serious as heart attack and stroke.

RELATED Study: States legalizing pot saw big drop in synthetic cannabinoid poisonings

But those types of studies are unable to prove cause and effect: Most look back at the medical records of people who use marijuana and those who do not, and cannot account for all of the other differences between those two groups.

That's true of the current study, too, Page said.

He pointed to a key reason for the lack of strong data on marijuana's health effects: The drug was illegal for many years across the globe, and under federal law, it remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance in the United States, which limits the research that can be done.

RELATED Few studies have examined treating pain with medical marijuana, CBD

Yet attitudes toward marijuana are rapidly shifting. Medical marijuana is now legal in most U.S. states, while 19 states and Washington, D.C., allow adults to use the drug recreationally, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

But legalization, Page said, should not be mistaken as proof of effectiveness or safety.

At the very least, he said, people should avoid smoking or vaping marijuana, due to all the other chemicals they would be inhaling. But "edibles" have their issues, too, Page noted. Their effects take longer to set in, and people may "stack" doses - which could expose them to high amounts of THC (the chemical famous for the marijuana "high").

Some widely available cannabis products claim to contain only the non-intoxicating chemical cannabidiol (CBD). But there's no way to know how much CBD (if any) a product contains, Page said.

"The problem is: They're unregulated. So it's buyer beware," he said.

The new findings come from Denmark, where medical marijuana was approved in 2018. Doctors there can prescribe it for chronic pain after all standard treatments, including opioid painkillers, fail to help.

The researchers used a national database with medical records from 1.6 million patients with chronic pain (related to cancer, arthritis, neurological conditions and other causes). Just under 4,600 of them filled at least one prescription for medical cannabis.

In Denmark, there are three approved forms of the drug, all taken orally, said researcher Dr. Nina Nouhravesh of Gentofte University Hospital. They include oral solutions and sprays of CBD; teas containing a mix of THC and CBD; and dronabinol, a synthetic form of THC.

Overall, the study found, pain patients on any form of medical marijuana were more likely to develop a heart arrhythmia in the six months after their first prescription, versus other patients.

Nouhravesh was scheduled to present the findings Monday at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, in Barcelona. Studies released at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal.

One issue, Page said, is that people in chronic pain often have other health problems, and take multiple medications.

That was, indeed, the case in this study. And patients on medical marijuana were much more likely to be taking opioids than other pain patients were: 42%, versus 12%.

That's an important difference, said Dr. Jim Cheung, chairman of the American College of Cardiology's electrophysiology council.

Opioid use typically signals severe pain -- which itself could contribute to some arrhythmias, Cheung explained.

He also noted that some arrhythmias are more serious than others, and it's unclear whether medical marijuana was tied to any particular forms.

"I think this study highlights what we don't know," Cheung said. And that's important in itself, he noted. Patients and doctors should be aware the drug is associated with safety "signals" that need to be studied further.

"We don't want to disregard that there may be benefits for patients," Cheung said. "But we also want to be vigilant, just as we would with any medication, about the possible risks."

More information

Harvard Medical School has more on marijuana and heart health.

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Unregulated ingredients in tattoo inks raise health fears

Tattoo ink isn't regulated in the United States, and new research suggests it may contain potentially cancer-causing dyes, plus tiny particles that may cause harm.

 File Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 24 (UPI) -- What's in tattoo inks is widely unknown because they aren't regulated in the United States, and new research suggests they may contain potentially cancer-causing dyes as well as tiny particles that may travel in the body and cause harm.

And tattoo removal also is worrisome because it isn't known how the ink breaks down or what products form when it does, researchers said.

Their findings were to be presented Wednesday at the fall meeting in Chicago of the American Chemical Society, which has produced a video on why tattoo inks are permanent.

After analyzing nearly 100 inks, the scientists concluded that even when these products include an ingredient label, the lists often aren't accurate, a news release said.

RELATED MRI scans appear safe for people with tattoos, researchers say

According to the researchers, tattoo inks contain a pigment and a carrier solution. The pigment may be a molecular compound, such as a blue pigment; a solid compound, such as titanium dioxide, which is white; or a combination of the two compound types, such as light blue ink, which contains the molecular blue pigment and titanium dioxide.

The carrier solution carries the pigment to the middle layer of skin and typically helps to make the pigment more soluble, scientists said. It also may control the viscosity, or thickness, of the ink solution, and sometimes includes an anti-inflammatory ingredient.

"Every time we looked at one of the inks, we found something that gave me pause," John Swierk, the project's principal investigator and assistant professor of chemistry at Binghamton University -- part of the State University of New York -- said in the release.

RELATED Reason for tattoo permanence may improve methods of removal

For example, 23 of 56 different inks analyzed to date suggest that an azo-containing dye is present, Swierk said. And while many azo pigments -- basically synthetic organic dyes -- don't cause health concerns when they're chemically intact, bacteria or ultraviolet light can degrade them into another nitrogen-based compound that's a potential carcinogen.

The team also analyzed 16 inks using electron microscopy, and about half contained particles smaller than 100 nanometers, which Swierk described as "a concerning size range" since they can pass through cell membranes and potentially cause harm.

The scientists said they plan to add the information to their website, What's in My Ink?, after they run additional tests and the data are peer-reviewed.

"With these data, we want consumers and artists to make informed decisions and understand how accurate the provided information is," Swierk said.

He said the idea for the project initially developed because of his interest in what happens when laser light is used to remove tattoos.

"But then I realized that very little is actually known about the composition of tattoo inks, so we started analyzing popular brands," he said in the release.

Swierk said he and his team interviewed tattoo artists to see what they knew about the inks they use on customers. And while the artists could quickly identify a preferred brand, they didn't know much about its contents.

"Surprisingly, no dye shop makes pigment specific for tattoo ink," Swierk said. "Big companies manufacture pigments for everything, such as paint and textiles. These same pigments are used in tattoo inks."

Swierk noted that while tattoo artists must be licensed for safety reasons, no federal or local agency regulates the contents of the inks.

His conference presentation was to focus on work being done to separate the different components in tattoo pigments and identify them through different analytical techniques, such as Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and electron microscopy.

These analyses confirmed the presence of ingredients not listed on some labels, the researchers said. For example, in one case ethanol was not listed, but chemical analysis showed it was present in the ink. The team also has been able to identify the specific pigments found in some inks.

Swierk's university webpage describes how his lab is involved in a National Institutes of Health-funded effort focused on the safety and photochemistry of tattoo inks.

"Despite the popularity of tattoos and the billions of dollars spent every year on laser tattoo removal, we do not understand how tattoo inks transform under illumination and what risks that may pose to human health," the chemistry lab's site says.

The lab's multipronged approach draws from analytical chemistry, materials science, and cell biology to address the simple question, "How do tattoos fade?" the site says.

Read More  Nanoparticles from tattoos can travel inside the body

Germany remembers the Rostock anti-immigrant riot of 1992

The Lichtenhagen district in Rostock became infamous in 1992 as the scene of a racist riot against the Vietnamese and Roma communities. Some Vietnamese survivors feel even more bitter now about the lack of consequences.

Protesters demonstrated in solidarity with the victims following the violent attacks,

 but few legal consequences ensued

If anything, Dan Thy Nguyen said, he feels more bitter than ever about the Lichtenhagen pogrom of 1992.

The events of those days are recounted every few years: From August 22 to 26, 1992, several hundred neo-Nazis besieged a tower block that had been turned into an asylum-seeker reception center and a residence mostly occupied by Vietnamese people who had worked as foreign contract workers in East Germany.

Initially fueled by xenophobic rage against the hundreds of Roma who had been camped outside waiting to apply for asylum, the rioters threw rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails. They stormed the building, which was often called the "Sonnenblumenhaus" after the large mural of a sunflower adorning its side. 

About 3,000 Rostock residents gathered at the scene, occasionally applauding, and preventing police and rescue workers from intervening. On the third day, August 24, the building was set on fire, and, though it had been largely evacuated by then, about 100 Vietnamese people and a German TV crew were still inside. They were only able to rescue themselves by breaking through several doors and making it to the roof, from which they could still hear people down below shouting, "We'll get you all!"

After the riots, many perpetrators of the Rostock pogrom faced no prosecution

Nguyen, a theater director, met some of these survivors when he created a stage piece about the siege a few years ago. The reason no one died, he said, was partly because many had grown up during the Vietnam War.

"People who were soldiers during the Vietnam War created emergency plans in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, and so they knew how to escape, because they'd learned it when they were very young," he said.

Racism and its consequences

Nguyen, like many Vietnamese Germans, was himself deeply marked by the events, though he was only 7 years old at the time and living in the former West Germany. In 2017, he wrote a powerful guest article in Die Zeit describing how the pogrom made his father teach his children how to defend themselves with rudimentary clubs made of power cables. 

But, three decades on, Nguyen's preoccupation with Lichtenhagen has turned more political, which is where his bitterness comes from. "Even after 30 years, there are no real political consequences, no real judicial consequences," he told DW. "We still don't understand why the police didn't intervene that much."

And, on a social level, Nguyen said, Germany has contented itself with a rehashing media interest for round anniversaries. "The 20th anniversary was big, and now the 30th will be big, but I was there last year and there were a handful of people and no politicians, and I can imagine that next year everyone will forget that too," he said. "And in Lichtenhagen itself there are nearly no social connections to this pogrom."

ROSTOCK RIOTS: HOW THE RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST ATTACK UNFOLDED 30 YEARS AGO
Saturday, August 22: Riots erupt
People gather in front of the "Sunflower House," the city's central admission center for refugees and asylum seekers. The scene turns violent when some 200 in the far-right extremist crowd begin throwing stones. By 2 a.m., the police deploy water cannons, temporarily bringing the situation under control several hours later.
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Several historians and political scientists have discussed the lack of consequences drawn from Lichtenhagen. Criminal investigations were notoriously slow, and the small handful of convictions that were successful mostly ended in suspended sentences, despite charges of attempted murder.

Two investigations into police failures at Lichtenhagen lasted several years — only to be eventually dropped. Dozens of police officers were injured in the clashes, and there are several unresolved controversies over exactly why more police forces weren't sent, or why some forces on the scene retreated. 

As for political consequences, one historian, Gudrun Heinrich, told Deutschlandfunk radio this week that, if anything, the German government engaged in "victim-perpetrator reversal" after Lichtenhagen by tightening asylum laws and making it even harder for immigrants to find a place in Germany.

Hollow remembrance

The hollowness of remembrance, and the earnest anti-racism sentiments that come with it, was perhaps best illustrated at the Hansa Rostock football stadium on Sunday, when far-right fans were allowed to hang a banner emblazoned with the word "Lichtenhagen" and an image of a sunflower — an apparent reference to the building that was set ablaze.

In a statement to DW, Hansa Rostock football club denied that the banner had bearing on the 1992 riot, but simply belonged to a group of fans from the district.

"Both the club and our fans — especially from Rostock — are still clearly aware of the disgrace and the damage to the entire city, and of course no one wants such events to be repeated or forgotten," the statement read.

There have been efforts to foster better relations in Rostock. The organization Dien Hong was founded in the weeks following the attacks by 62 former Vietnamese contract workers. Now it is a support network for migrants and asylum-seekers, and has recently been helping Ukrainians fleeing the war.

Since May, Dien Hong's Vu Thanh Van has coordinated "conversation circles" for Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese residents of Lichtenhagen, reflecting on the events of 1992. "There were some very far-reaching discussions," she told DW. "I think both sides learned more about the other sides feelings and thoughts. It was a good opportunity."

Dien Hong board member Susanne Düskau said Lichtenhagen served as a reminder of "the continuity of racism" in Germany. "People do feel safer now, but it remains an issue," Düskau said. "What has changed is that there is more potential for exchange now."

Nguyen has seen evidence of that in the reaction to his own play on Lichtenhagen, which he began working on in 2011. "At the beginning, no one was interested at all — a lot of people thought there was no importance in reflecting on that," said Nguyen.

That changed in 2015, when refugees came to Germany from Syria, an event met by another wave of anti-immigrant sentiment — and several arson attacks on refugee shelters. "When they started to see parallels, that was the moment when people found my work again," he said.

"One thing that has changed is that now we can talk about racism," Nguyen said. "I think 10 years ago, when I said something about it, a lot of people said: 'Oh no, we don't have racism at all in Germany.'" 

Now, Nguyen said, the emergence of a far-right political party in the Alternative for Germany has made it impossible to deny that racism exists. Racism may be addressed more openly, but it has also gained political legitimacy.

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Right-wing extremism 25 years after Rostock-Lichtenhagen

August 24, 1992, marked a dark day in Germany's postwar history as right-wing extremists attacked a refugee home in Rostock-Lichtenhagen. Twenty-five years on, experts met in Berlin to assess how far Germany has come.  

Germany: Trial starts for neo-Nazi who wanted to start a 'race war'

The young man stands accused of trying to launch a local branch of the Atomwaffen Division far-right terror group. He had also stood as a candidate for Germany's mainstream conservative party.  

• Date 22.08.2022

 Colombia hopes for peace, reforms under new president

Gustavo Petro's new government has big plans; peace is said to be the key to reforms. On a visit to Bogota, Germany's Development Minister Svenja Schulze promised to support the peace process.

Svenja Schulze (second from the left) met with women activists in Bogota

Eulalia Luango is one of the many victims of Colombia's brutal civil war: She can't stop her tears when she talks about her two missing sons. Wilmer was 14 at the time, and Robinson was a year older. "Since 2009 I have been on a path of suffering because I didn't know why and how they took them," says Luango. "A mother's deepest wish is to hold the remains of her children in her hands and to give them a dignified burial." Visibly moved, Germany's Development Minister Svenja Schulze asks Luango how she finds the strength to get through it all and keep fighting.

Bogota is the development chief's first stop on her trip to Latin America. She takes a lot of time to speak with and listen to the victims, in order to understand where Colombia is in the peace process.

A bloody civil war lasting more than half a century lies behind Colombia. The crimes committed are nearly unimaginable: over 450,000 dead, another 121,000 disappeared, almost eight million displaced, and thousands more child soldiers were forcibly recruited.

COLOMBIA: 5 YEARS AFTER FARC DEAL, PEACE REMAINS ELUSIVE
From ragged rebellion to military might
In the mid-20th century, Colombia saw a raging battle between different political camps. Left-wing rebel groups founded independent republics in remote areas, which were gradually taken over by government forces. Two of the leaders of the "Republica de Marquetalia" escaped, however. In 1966, Manuel Marulanda and Jacobo Arenas (left) founded the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC.
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Can reconciliation succeed?

"The most important thing for Colombia now is reconciliation," Francisco de Roux tells Svenja Schulze. The 79-year-old Jesuit priest is a figurehead for peace. Many people in Colombia see him as a saint, because of the attention he has paid to the war's victims. As President of the Truth Commission, de Roux processed the facts of the armed conflict and presented the horrific results to Colombians.

He rides up to his early-morning appointment with the German minister on a small bike. For four long years, the Truth Commission has spoken to victims and perpetrators, conducting more than 30,000 interviews across the country.

De Roux and the Truth Commission presented their findings at a June press conference in Bogota

"Germany was one of the most important international supporters of the truth commission," says de Roux. "It stands for a system of trust, peace, and justice." Now he hopes that Germany will continue to support the reconciliation process. Even though Colombian society is divided, the vast majority of Colombians support peace, says the Jesuit: "Colombia is in a moment of hope."

Petro government has ambitious goals

That hope is also shared by Colombia's newly sworn-in president. Gustavo Petro is the first left-wing president of the traditionally conservative country. He has promised the Colombians peace and wants to implement the recommendations for structural reforms presented by Father de Roux's Truth Commission.

Petro has promised reforms in almost every political area: land reform, tax reform, health care reform, ecological restructuring of the economy, and reform of the police and military. The president also wants to take up the fight against poverty in a country where 40% of the population lives below the poverty line and where incomes are extremely unequally distributed.

"This government came into office with a vision and raised great expectations. Noticeable improvements must now be made quickly," says Stefan Peters, director of Capaz, a German-Colombian peace institute based in Bogota. If the promised reforms stall, he says, there is a risk that there will be violent protests from the disappointed electorate.

Germany to continue support

"Development policy is an essential part of security policy," said Schulze after her talks. She underlined that development police must prioritize human security and peaceful society in the truest sense of the word, and said that the new Petro government marks a turning point in Colombian history.

And yet: the bloody conflict smolders on and on, despite the historic 2016 peace deal with the FARC guerrillas. "Social activists, human rights activists, trade unionists, and journalists still live very dangerous lives. The drug economy is flourishing, entire regions are in the hands of armed actors and are out of state control," says Peters.

Luango continues to lobby for those who went missing during Colombia's decades of conflict, including her own two sons

The women who search for their missing relatives also report experiencing violence and attempts at intimidation when they fight for their rights and against being forgotten. "Don't forget us fighting women!" Eulalia Luango told the development minister. Svenja Schulze promises: "Germany will continue to support Colombia in the peace process. We will not leave you alone."

This article was originally written in German.

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 India sacks 3 officers for misfiring missile into Pakistan

India's air force says the three officers deviated from procedures, leading to an "accidental firing" of a cruise missile into Pakistan's Punjab province.

Three Indian air force officers have been dismissed for accidentally launching a missile toward Pakistan. Pictured is a supersonic missile launched from Wheeler Island in the eastern Indian state of Odisha during a test.

India's air force on Tuesday dismissed three officers for accidentally firing a cruise missile into neighboring Pakistan.

The air force in a statement said a formal inquiry found that "deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile" into Pakistan.

"These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the Central Govt with immediate effect," the statement said.

The BrahMos cruise missile was fired from India on March 9. It landed in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, roughly 125 kilometers (78 miles) inside Pakistani territory, damaging a wall in a residential area. No casualties or injuries were reported.

Pakistani officials demanded an explanation from New Delhi and called the launch a "flagrant violation" of the country's airspace.

Two days after the launch, India's defense ministry acknowledged the mistake, saying that the firing was caused by a "technical malfunction" during routine maintenance. The ministry called the incident "deeply regrettable."

Islamabad sent a letter to the UN Security Council regarding the missile

Tensions between Pakistan and India

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the two country's independence from the British Empire in 1947. Both Islamabad and New Delhi lay claim to the entire territory of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

In 2019, Pakistan's air force shot down an Indian aircraft in a Pakistani-administered area of Kashmir and captured a pilot, who was later released. Earlier, an Indian warplane carried out an airstrike allegedly targeting militants in the town of Balakot in Pakistan's northwestern region of Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The town lies immediately west of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

sdi/rt (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)

 Germans use up their savings to face inflation: report

The outlook on the German economy is becoming bleaker, as private households are forced to use up their savings to combat soaring consumer prices.

With no end in sight to the increase of consumer prices, Germans are forced to empty their pockets (symbolic image)

Inflation has taken a toll on the savings accumulated by Germans during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by the Munich-based Ifo Institute said on Tuesday. 

Ifo economic research head Timo Wollmershäuser said that German citizens had saved around an additional 70 billion Euro (69.5 billion USD) between April 2020 and March 2021 compared to normal circumstances. 

But, the trend has now reversed, with bank balance sheets showing that consumers are using up their savings since the end of last year to an extent that they were "almost completely eliminated by the end of the first quarter of 2022," Wollmershäuser added. 

"In the second quarter, this development continued at an almost unchanged pace," he said, highlighting that inflation is likely to have been a major catalyst.

Consumer prices are soaring in Germany without an end in sight, indicating that "private consumption will unfortunately fail to act as an economic engine in Germany over the rest of the year," the economist said.

While consumption still expanded strongly in the first months of the year, despite high inflation, "since the middle of the year, many leading indicators have been showing a clear dampening effect," he concluded. 

High inflation, rising interest rates and economic uncertainty contributed to the German economy's contraction in August by the most since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. 

According to the economist Phil Smith (S&P), the data "paint a bleak picture of the German economy." 

Increasingly negative impact on real wages 

In the first half of the year, union-negotiated wages did not rise nearly as fast as consumer prices. A trade union study by the Hans Böckler Foundation claims this may not change in the foreseeable future. 

According to their analysis, union-negotiated wages rose by an average of 2.9% in Germany. With consumer prices rising much faster simultaneously, a real wage loss of 3.6% persisted.

The average wage increase of 2.9% in Germany is still largely linked to union agreements that were concluded in 2021 before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Most of them lie at 2.5%. More recent deals brought employees an average of 4.5%, but these still lagged behind inflation. 

los/jcg (dpa, Reuters)