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In all this discussion, I’d like to add a piece of interesting recent scientific discovery regarding the mechanism of action that might well explain the increase in neuroplasticity from psychedelics like psylocibin and LSD and offers hope that we will find drugs that have the positive neuroplasticy increasing effect without causing hallucinations [1].

Below the abstract of the mentioned research (BDNF is Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor, a kind of growth hormone for the brain), note the 1000 fold(!) higher affinity of the psychedelics:

Psychedelics produce fast and persistent antidepressant effects and induce neuroplasticity resembling the effects of clinically approved antidepressants. We recently reported that pharmacologically diverse antidepressants, including fluoxetine [= SSRI] and ketamine, act by binding to TrkB, the receptor for BDNF. Here we show that lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocin directly bind to TrkB with affinities 1,000-fold higher than those for other antidepressants, and that psychedelics and antidepressants bind to distinct but partially overlapping sites within the transmembrane domain of TrkB dimers. The effects of psychedelics on neurotrophic signaling, plasticity and antidepressant-like behavior in mice depend on TrkB binding and promotion of endogenous BDNF signaling but are independent of serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2A) activation, whereas LSD-induced head twitching is dependent on 5-HT2A and independent of TrkB binding. Our data confirm TrkB as a common primary target for antidepressants and suggest that high-affinity TrkB positive allosteric modulators lacking 5-HT2A activity may retain the antidepressant potential of psychedelics without hallucinogenic effects.

[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-023-01316-5



Wondering same. If my math is right, this was a 1/25 sec. exposure. (40/1000)


For context:

Donald Bitzer, a pioneer of cyberspace and plasma screens, dies at 90

He helped shape cyberculture as the father of PLATO, a computer-based educational network that sparked the development of plasma screens and digital messaging.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/12/13/donald-...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42406158



Sorry, i get what the PLATO system is (was?), but I can't get what the IRATA.ONLINE is and how its related. Is it a revival of this PLATO., or a PLATO system, what's the cool thing about it? that you can get Apple II to connect to a service and stream ASCII?

Really, this video is not really descriptive, and question by @op stays.


https://irata.online/#features seems to cover it? It's a multi-user terminal system where you can log in, send text to other users, and run games and applications. It's not clear if the server software is available, but the links are to various client software for connecting to their service.


Sounds like the Mex language back in the BBS era.


Pertinent and timely, after recently watching a great documentary on HBO Max about Pegasus, Surveilled by Ronan Farrow.

Commercial spyware, touted as a tool used by governments to fight terrorism, is now appearing on the phones of activists, journalists, politicians, and even ordinary people. In Surveilled, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow illuminates a clandestine industry that is reshaping the concepts of privacy and power, revealing the ethical dilemmas that both governments and citizens must navigate in the brave new world of cyberespionage.

HBO Documentary Films presents Surveilled. Producers and directors, Matthew O’Neill and Perri Peltz; producers, Ronan Farrow, Beth Morrissey, and Unjin Lee; editor, David Meneses; composer, Mac Quayle; writers, Ronan Farrow, Matthew O’Neill, and Perri Peltz. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Sara Rodriguez.

[1] https://www.hbo.com/movies/surveilled


You actually can do that by pressing the 'lock' button below the 'monitor'.


Ah that wasn't clear to me, thanks.


What's with the influx of Atari ST postings lately? I'm surely enjoying it!

Can EstyJS run in monochrome (640 x 400) mode? There were some great games in b&w, like Bolo and Oxyd [0] by Meinolf Amekudzi.

I remember studying the 'Hitchhikers Guide to the BIOS' [1], which was the only piece of documentation I initially had for the ST when it had just come out. If I'm not mistaken, it did ship with a C compiler and assembler.

[0] https://www.atariuptodate.de/en/authors/meinolf-amekudzi-104...

[1] https://archive.org/details/rearc_atari-st-e-tt-toolkit-b1-3...


Hey I'm all for the postings too. It's a great system that really got me into learning assembly for the first time as well.


A modern alternative are bamboo frames, e.g. https://my-boo.de


Whilst bamboo is an interesting "green" material, it doesn't really compare well to a carbon fibre frame. Modern thinking is that the frame weight is secondary to aerodynamics and one of the advantages of CF is that the frame "tubes" can be shaped specifically to help with that. Of course, the main aerodynamic advantage to be gained is from the human sat on top of the bike.


I heard that Google's project Loon was having issues with LTE time outs due to the distance of the balloons LTE antenna from the ground. How does this square with the much larger distance of LEO satellites?


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