The Daily Populous

Thursday June 28th, 2018 night edition

image for Amazonian psychedelic may ease severe depression, new study shows

Our team of Brazilian scientists has conducted the first randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of ayahuasca – a psychedelic drink made of Amazonian plants.

The results, recently published in the journal Psychological Medicine, suggest that ayahuasca can work for hard-to-treat depression.

People in the Amazonian region of Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador have for centuries used ayahuasca for therapeutic and spiritual purposes.

Starting in the 1930s, Brazilian religions were founded around the use of ayahuasca as a sacrament.

Our findings support a 2015 Brazilian clinical trial on the potential of ayahuasca as an antidepressant.

The placebo effect for depression is so strong that some scientists have questioned whether antidepressants really work.

Participants who took ayahuasca scored significantly higher on that questionnaire than those who drank a placebo. »

Former Equifax Manager Charged With Insider Trading

Authored by sec.gov

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former Equifax manager with insider trading in advance of the company’s September 2017 announcement of a massive data breach that exposed Social Security numbers and other personal information of approximately 148 million U.S. customers.

In March, the former chief information officer of Equifax’s U.S. business unit was charged with insider trading.

Bonthu, 44, was terminated from Equifax in March after refusing to cooperate with an internal investigation into whether he had violated the company’s insider trading policy. »

Trump told G-7 leaders that ‘NATO is as bad as NAFTA’: report

Authored by thehill.com
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It's much too costly for the U.S.," Trump said during the meeting with leaders, according to an official who read notes transcribed from the closed-door meeting to Axios.

Trump was reportedly making a reference to the upcoming NATO summit in Brussels in July.

The report highlights what appears to be a growing rift between Trump and the United States' Western allies. »

Now AI is beating us at our favorite video games

Authored by cnet.com
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Bill Gates tweeted on Tuesday that artificial intelligence bots working in a team had beaten human players at the esports video game Dota 2.

He praised the victory as "a huge milestone in advancing artificial intelligence."

That’s a big deal, because their victory required teamwork and collaboration – a huge milestone in advancing artificial intelligence. »