$100m in Psychedelics research, suck it, AI 😅

Alright, folks, Blake Mycoskie, the Toms Shoes guy, is now investing $100 million into psychedelic research. Yes, you heard right, the shoe philanthropist is now a psychedelic philanthropist.

Apparently, he had a personal crisis, tried ayahuasca, and it worked wonders for him. Now he's hoping his donation will bring these alternative treatments into the mainstream. Who's is next ;)?

https://www.newsweek.com/donating-psychedelics-research-philanthropy-1811505

One more lab joining DMTX project with $1.5m donation.

UC San Diego research team will implement continuous intravenous DMT infusion protocols to capture what is known as the “extended state” of visions long associated with DMT.

"Our goals are to employ multi-modal approaches to study extended state consciousness elucidated by DMT to further appreciate the nature of reality as well as the role of endogenous DMT in the human body. Reliable methods for measuring DMT directly in the human brain and bodily fluids do not exist, so the intriguing possibilities that endogenous DMT may play a role in consciousness, dreaming and protecting the brain from trauma are still scientific speculation,” said Dean


https://today.ucsd.edu/story/1.5-million-donation-supports-research-on-effects-of-psychedelic-dmt-on-the-brain

Mindstade Design, YC backed Psychedelics startup showed some insights.

Well, imagine if I told you that there's a group of scientists out there who are trying to map the human brain and its responses to psychedelics and already have about 100 compounds mapped to approximately the same amount of receptors, like they're cartographers charting out new galaxies. Sounds like a plot straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster, doesn't it?

Now, here's a quote that really stuck with me from the video and I'm totally agree with it: "The range of psychedelic experience isn't over; it has barely begun." That's a statement that carries a lot of weight.

The work being done by MindState Design Labs is super important. They're not just studying the effects of psychedelics, but are trying to understand the biological basis of these experiences and separate them from set and setting effects. By correlating the subjective experiences reported by 70000 users with the biological targets of these substances, they're creating a map of the human mind under the influence of psychedelics and more importantly their combinations to precisily tune particular responses. This could potentially lead to the development of new therapeutics that can target specific regions of the brain, opening up a whole new frontier in mental health treatment.

https://youtu.be/3Sr5OOEcHQQ

Even particles know that the right vibe can be a game-changer 😅

You know how it goes - you're at home, bored out of your skull, so you decide to vibrate a box of particles, and voila! You've got yourself a strange new material. Just a typical Tuesday, am I right?

"An interesting picture seems to emerge," the researchers note in their report. "Tiles of the desired shapes form very rapidly, probably as a consequence of their efficient local packing. However, global alignment requires much more collective rearrangements that appear to be rare events."

From a scientific perspective, this experiment demonstrates the spontaneous formation of quasicrystals, a structure previously deemed impossible, in a granular material. The formation of these quasicrystals, which exhibit a unique blend of order and chaos, challenges our understanding of material symmetry. This discovery could potentially revolutionize fields such as insulation and electronics, given the unique properties of quasicrystals. However, further research is needed to fully understand the conditions under which these quasicrystals form and their potential applications.


https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-vibrated-a-box-of-particles-and-they-formed-a-strange-new-material

Wow, there is a lot of new stuff on "The Odin" since my last experiments with bacterias, yeast and CRISPR.

Fluorescent Axolotl looks time the best B-day present for a geek 😅


https://www.the-odin.com/glowmander-fluorescent-gfp-axolotl/?mc_cid=552591d98d&mc_eid=3c5f6f6c59

Wow, DMT patches, dreams come true💥

So, you know how we've been slapping patches on ourselves for everything from nicotine to birth control? Well, now there's one for DMT. Yeah, DMT! Because hey, precise and simple DMT delivery is a huuuge pain in the ass, trust me😅.

PharmaTher's newfangled microneedle patch for DMT delivery has shown some promising results. It's worked pretty well in both male and female rats. ( I'm curious, by the way , if rats also see Elf-rats 🤓).

The microneedle patch is based on this thing called gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), which is friendly to our bodies and can break down naturally. It's designed to deliver drugs, whether they dissolve in water or not, in a specific way by getting past the outer layer of our skin.

This is a big step forward in transdermal drug delivery tech. It could potentially change the game for how we administer a whole range of drugs, not just DMT.

https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/23/07/33273164/pharmathers-dmt-patch-shows-positive-outcomes-investment-toward-the-clinical-stage

Weekends Psychedelics history article: Ergot 🤓

Prepare to be blown away by the history of Ergot, a fungus that has been shaping human history for millennia. From the fall of Julius Caesar's army to Wich hunt and the birth of LSD, Ergot has been a silent player in some of the most pivotal moments in our past.

As the article beautifully puts it, "Ergot is one, if not the most influential fungi that has ever graced the Earth. It’s managed to touch and affect nearly every corner of the globe, from infesting grass and rye in Burma to Europe to the ancient Assyrian Empire."

Ergot is a fascinating organism. It contains hundreds of different compounds, some of which are psychotropic (like LSD) and some of which are poisonous.

As we continue to explore the potential of psychedelics in medicine and therapy, it's worth remembering that these substances have been with us for much longer than we often realize.

https://www.leafie.co.uk/psychedelics/psychedelics-ergot-history/

Probably the best video on Ayahuasca history and it's indigenous use by Oxford Psychedelics Society. With only 500 views 😵. Hidden gem 💥

https://youtu.be/dTJmIOWnSa4

Hahaha, nice story, anyone have a prenoscription for Cafergot 😅?


https://youtu.be/jGS7GakRVEA

Hacking Consciousness with Psychedelics or Psychedelic Cryptography 🧠🍄🪄

Slides attached 🤓


Last week a had the privilege to give my first lecture on Psychedelics. The topic of the event was Consciousness and how we can research it in a more precise way. I’ve tried to combine some of my ideas on how we can use them mixed with the latest research studies around Psychedelics happening now. Since many people asked for it, I decided to share the slides here. It was hard to put everything on slides, and of course, the slides without talk can’t give all the details but think about it as a high-level guide that you can use to navigate all the materials that can be important to dive into this topic and pay attention to the links in the end.

I’ll be happy to answer any questions and your recommendations on this topic.

Are we actually dying on 5-Meo-DMT?

New study explores the intriguing parallels and unique differences between near-death experiences (NDEs) and psychedelic-induced experiences. The research, which focuses on the potent endogenous psychedelic drug 5-Methoxy-DMT ( presumably because most of the Five trip reports compare it with death experience 😅), uncovers common themes like ego dissolution and space-time transcendence.

Yet, it also reveals that only NDEs encompass life review, encounters with deceased loved ones, and the sense of a point of no return.

This nuanced understanding of our consciousness and its potential states not only expands our knowledge but also invites us to ponder the profound questions of life, death, and what lies beyond.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230728/Study-analyzes-the-similarities-between-near-death-experiences-and-psychedelic-experiences.aspx

https://youtu.be/oqsnJ9KJ-to

Woooooot!!!! They made it on a real festival 😅. They inserted hidden messages in videos so that only people who took psychedelics can see it and one of the messages was "if you can see it turn the lights on" 🔥

"Businessman's Ayahuasca." Yeah, you heard it right. It's like ayahuasca, but for those who can't afford to take a week off to purge their guts out in the Amazon.

As we know, the main component of Ayahuasca is DMT, the "most democratic of psychedelics," as the author puts it. It's everywhere in nature, and you can extract it from a bunch of plants. But the star of the show is this plant called Mimosa hostilis.

Now, here's the kicker. This plant has been used for centuries in Brazil to make a psychedelic brew called vinho de jurema. But unlike ayahuasca, it doesn't need any other plant with MAOI to activate its effects. It's a one-stop-shop for your psychedelic needs.... Sounds very strange, but there are few reports.

The author quotes ethnobotanist Jonathan Ott, who says, "M. tenuiflora (hostilis) is indeed active neat, with no cooking nor additives, simply by hand-squeezing briefly the pounded root-bark in water." So, you just squeeze it in water, and voila, you've got yourself a trip to the moon and back in a couple of hours.

The traditional preparation of vinho de jurema, a simple water extraction, seems to provide a psychedelic experience without the need for an additional MAOI plant, unlike ayahuasca. This could indicate the presence of yet unidentified compounds in the plant that either have psychoactive properties themselves or inhibit the MAO enzyme, allowing DMT to reach the brain. Further research is needed to confirm these hypotheses.

https://alieninsect.substack.com/p/businessmans-ayahuasca

Mushrooms dosage calculator 🔥

Looks very profound 🤓, the Church of Ambrosia has finally cracked the cosmic code of mushroom munching. Now, thanks to a dosage calculator and a 1 to 40 ratio of mushroom strength, enlightenment is just a precisely measured nibble away. Who knew the path to transcendence could be so... mathematical? 🍄

1. Dosage standards https://ambrosia.church/new-dosage-standards/

2. Dosage definitions
https://ambrosia.church/magic-mushrooms/levels/

3. Dosage calculator https://ambrosia.church/magic-mushrooms/dosage-calculator/


Press-release:

https://ambrosia.church/psilocybin-potency-the-missing-link-for-magic-mushroom-safety/

The links between DMT and Deja Vu


Ah, DMT, the world's strongest psychadelic, now scientificly proven to make you feel like you've been somewhere before. Who knew that a trip to an alternate reality could feel so familliar? Maybe it's just the brain returning to 'normal,' or perhaps we're all just tapping into an objective reality beyond our own. Either way, it's comforting to know that 22% of people feel like they're going home. The answer to this question might really give us an interesting insights on how our brain works.

https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/dmt-familiarity-study/

How does Ketamine work⁉️

Ketamine turning on the module of the brain responsible for alerting about unusual activity so that you became constantly in a mood to learn about everything. You might see a super usual thing but and you start learning everything about it and later remember since your neuroplasticity is also turned on. This part is done by targeting manipulating NMDA to which Ketamine is binding.

Now another thing which is even more important that it binds to Kappa opioid receptors which requce pain and elevate mood.

So as a result of this combination you not only turning on your curiosity mechanism but you making it pleasant experience and your brain saving this feeling and experience for later.

Since an important part of a depression is simply a lack of interest in exploring new things Guess how Ketamine are helping here. ;)

It might be oversimplified, but if you want to know all the details, guess who posted this new Ketamine episode 🤓

https://youtu.be/Rxmv7rT9leo

SpongeBob DMT, time to update diving certificate 🤣

In a world where licking toads is more than a fairy tale, we've discovered the secret to enlightenment. Or have we?

Sea sponges aren't just for cleaning anymore. Dive into the ocean of your mind with 5,6-dibromo-DMT a relatively new compound with yet to be discovered properties. Just don't forget to come up for air!

From desert toads to ocean sponges, nature's pharmacy is open for business. but also opening a Pandora's box of legal and ethical dilemmas.

https://www.mdlinx.com/article/you-patients-are-hunting-toads-and-sea-sponges-to-have-psychedelic-experiences/3UZWhzntMX0kYxQeyGzlLP

Psylocibin therapy Economics 🤑


Oregon's psychedelic mushroom treatment is here! At $1,500 a session, it's the future of mental health. Affordable?

Nonprofit have some efforts to make it accessible.

Want to become a licensed facilitator? Just $2,150 plus training fees. Healing has never been so business-savvy!"

More details on Psylocibin Mushrooms Therapy economics in the article

https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/health/2023/08/03/oregon-psychedelic-mushroom-treatment-psilocybin-anxiety-depression-ptsd-addiction/70501604007/

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-exploring-brain-psychedelics-meditating-hypnosis.html

Brainy folks over at the University of Zurich's Psychiatric Hospital decided to explore what happens in the ol' noggin when you're tripping on psychedelics, meditating, or hypnotized.

They took a bunch of people, gave 'em some psilocybin and LSD, and threw in some meditation and hypnosis to spice things up. Then they stuck 'em in an MRI scanner to see what their brains were up to. I mean, who wouldn't want to know what their brain's doing while they're seeing unicorns and talking to their inner guru?

Now, here's the best quote from the article, "Our findings showed that even though psilocybin, LSD, meditation, and hypnosis induce overlapping subjective effects, the underlying brain changes are distinct." In other words, it might feel the same, but your brain's doing a whole different dance depending on whether you're tripping, meditating, or hypnotized.

Scientific analysis of this study reveals a nuanced understanding of altered states of consciousness. The data suggests a potential synergy in therapeutic effects, with a marked difference in brain activity between these states.

Exactly 🤓

https://fortune.com/2023/08/15/today-cutting-edge-artificial-intelligence-based-neuroscience-50s-60s-imagine-ai-could-do-incorporate-latest-breakthroughs-tech/

Tripping Rats reveal consciousness secrets 🐀

Yet another scientists wanted to understand how consciousness works, and they figured, "Hey, why not use psychedelics to study the neural basis of consciousness?" Makes sense, right? I mean, who wouldn't want to see a rat tripping balls?

They hooked up electrodes to these rats' brains and found something wild. Both LSD and ketamine created this crazy synchronized wave pattern in the brain, oscillating 150 times per second.

"It suggests that consciousness relies on a coupled collective state rather than the activity of individual neurons – it is greater than the sum of its parts." Profound, ain't it?

This research indicates a possible link between neuron-level system dynamics and consciousness. The synchronized wave phenomenon may be strongly linked to the psychedelic state, providing insights into how information is integrated across neural systems.

"Likely, this hypersynchrony has major effects on the integration of information across neuronal systems and we propose that it is a key contributor to changes in perception and cognition during psychedelic drug use. Potentially, similar mechanisms could induce hallucinations and delusions in psychotic disorders and would constitute promising targets for new antipsychotic treatments."

Predictively, this could pave the way for understanding consciousness at a deeper level, though human studies are needed to confirm these findings.

https://theconversation.com/how-consciousness-may-rely-on-brain-cells-acting-collectively-new-psychedelics-research-on-rats-211685