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CAN YOU PREDICT OPIOID ADDICTION?

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we look at the first FDA approved test for opioid addiction, prepare for California's next massive drenching, learn of a breakthrough in autism diagnosis ... and find out if moths really are attracted to light.

DNA sequencing by gel electrophoresis, a technique used to examine the base-pair sequence or chemical blueprint of lengths of DNA.

PHOTOGRAPH BY PHILIPPE PLAILLY, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

I was in an ambulance bump-bump-bumping from rural New Hampshire to a Boston ER, trying to still a shattered shoulder from a snowmobile accident that would take 27 pins to thread back. I was suffering, on only a half dose of opioids, because—well, I was afraid of becoming an addict.

A new test, the first of its kind approved by the FDA, promises to identify people particularly susceptible to the addiction that kills tens of thousands of Americans ANNUALLY (above, genetic sequencing of DNA). Would a safe test result have encouraged me to accept a higher dose? Let me know what you would have done. Should we trust this test?

COULD OPIOIDS ENSNARE YOU?

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

A small, full length, newborn great white shark, swimming in a sea green waters.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CARLOS GAUNA

This (above) might be the first newborn great white shark ever recorded

The 19th-century leech craze

How a high school teacher solved a geological mystery

Should you take your shoes off in the house?

How you can fight osteoporosis early

Is this a breakthrough to diagnose autism?

‘Forever chemicals’ can be hiding in your kitchen. Here's what you can do.

The science behind the ‘thousand year storm’ in California

Amelia Earhart’s plane? 6 things to know about the latest ‘sighting’.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A composited photograph using both flash and long exposure to leave the ghostly impression of insect flight paths in Monteverde, Costa Rica.

PHOTOGRAPH BY SAM FABIAN

Are moths actually attracted to light? For millennia, people have observed insects flocking around light sources at night, like fires or lamps, but do we actually know why? We tackle the age-old question through a combination of high-speed videography and high-resolution motion capture (pictured above, a composited photograph displaying the ghostly impression of insect flight paths). The answer might surprise you.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A woven leather cord, also preserved by the bog, winds around the neck of a preserved body known as Tollund Man

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT CLARK, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

What are the real secrets behind Europe's bog bodies? Around 2,000 skeletons and mummified remains have been found submerged in peatlands across northern Europe (pictured above, Tollund Man, a body found in the bog near Silkeborg, Denmark). With so much to take away from the remarkable details preserved on these bodies, they have fascinated researchers for centuries. Now, technology is telling us even more.

ROLLING IN THE DEEP

Today’s soundtrack: Rolling in the Deep, Adele

We hope this newsletter brightened your Wednesday! It was curated and edited by David Beard, Nancy San Martín, Jen Tse, and Nishita Naga. Know someone who might want our newsletter in their inbox? Here’s the signup. See you tomorrow!

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