Blah, Blah, Blahg

We’ll probably continue to get these kinds of updates for a few more decades until we get to the really hard to find giant dinosaurs, I suppose:

Take the report last month that Spinosaurus is now officially the biggest carnivorous dinosaur known to science. This two-legged beast actually strode onto the fossil scene in 1915 when a specimen was described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer. He figured this theropod (defined as a two-legged carnivore) was bigger than Tyrannosaurus rex, but the original Spinosaurus bones were destroyed by Allied bombs in 1944. So the T. rex reigned as the king size, carnivorous land beast for decades.

[tags]Dinosaurs, paleontology[/tags]

Well, the folks covered in the following article won’t need this, but I’ll probably find a use for it, personally.

WASHINGTON (AP)—Federal regulators approved the first antidepressant skin patch on Tuesday, providing a different way to administer a drug already used by Parkinson’s disease patients.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the selegiline transdermal patch, agency spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said. The drug belongs to a class of medicines that is rarely a first or even second choice to treat depression.

Shoot. Not a first or second choice? Guess that leaves me out of the likely market. My problems are easily handled by the most mild anti-depressants out there.

The FDA will require the drug to bear a so-called “black-box” warning of the risks of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children and adolescents treated with antidepressants. The drug is meant for use only by adults.

Honestly, I’ve always been surprised that anyone is surprised to hear people who are very depressed have suicidal thoughts when on the strongest anti-depressants. Really, if these people are depressed enough to need the stronger medicines, don’t they already fall in to the group of people likely to have suicidal thoughts? I don’t mean to make light of this, and I certainly don’t know enough about the statistics of various groups to know if there is any real meaning, but it doesn’t come as a shock to me that very depressed people sometimes have suicidal thoughts, even when medicated.

[tags]Anti-depressant, Depression patch[/tags]

Yeah, I take anti-depressants.  According to this article, I shouldn’t need them.

“Research shows that people who are grateful, optimistic and forgiving have better experiences with their lives, more happiness, fewer strokes, and higher incomes,” according to Easterbrook. “If it makes world a better place at same time, this is a real bonus.”

Hmmmmm.  Have you ever seen Groundhog day?  The scene where Andy McDowell’s character is listing her traits of a perfect man and Bill Murray’s character says “Me. Me. Also me.” comes to mind here.  Only for me, I’d think of the above characteristics and say “Not me.  Not me.  Not me.”

“If you are looking for something to complain about, you are absolutely certain to find it,” Easterbrook told LiveScience. “It requires some effort to achieve a happy outlook on life, and most people don’t make it. Most people take the path of least resistance. Far too many people today don’t make the steps to make their life more fulfilling one.”

Hey!  Now that’s starting to sound like me.    🙂

One route to more happiness is called “flow,” an engrossing state that comes during creative or playful activity, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has found. Athletes, musicians, writers, gamers, and religious adherents know the feeling. It comes less from what you’re doing than from how you do it.

Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California at Riverside has discovered that the road toward a more satisfying and meaningful life involves a recipe repeated in schools, churches and synagogues. Make lists of things for which you’re grateful in your life, practice random acts of kindness, forgive your enemies, notice life’s small pleasures, take care of your health, practice positive thinking, and invest time and energy into friendships and family.

The happiest people have strong friendships, says Ed Diener, a psychologist University of Illinois. Interestingly his research finds that most people are slightly to moderately happy, not unhappy.

Well, I have strong friendships.  It’s just that mine are with the same people I was friends with 20+ years ago or with people I only know online.  But that counts for something, I’m sure.  And look – I’m up there in the list of people who know the feeling of the “flow.”  See, I’m a gamer.  My wife will be happy to know that I know how to be happy.Oh, and according to the article, happy people “…on average have stronger immune systems, are better citizens at work, earn more income, have better marriages, are more sociable, and cope better with difficulties. “  Sounds just like me.  See, this article has already improved my life, my wife’s life, and my marriage.

[tags]Happiness, How to be happy[/tags]