Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Bee-based Intelligence

I think we could all use a little more intelligence. Nootropics, drugs that improve a person's cognitive function, have been really trendy lately. And now, an all natural, easily harvested substance has been found that works excellently. Namely, bee venom. Wait, what?
Discovery News reports that a study held in Belgium and England reveals that a component of bee venom, Apamin, excites neurons, and injecting onesself with a large amount of this drastically improves neuron efficiency.
Bees probably developed this as a way of magnifying the pain of a sting, to tell the various pesky animals that strive to steal their honey that this is a bad idea for them, and they should persue a different source of food.
Of course, chemical sythesis will probably develop something more effective at this, and cheaper. Milking bee venom is a slow, expensive, and incredibly boring task, but a chemically synthesized version will be saleable by the ton.

5 comments:

Quasidigm said...

So bee stings are a *chemically enhanced* negative reinforcement? Those are some damned sneaky bees.

Professor Preposterous said...

Their message is pretty straightforward: "Our honey. Not yours. Buzz off."

Anonymous said...

I wonder what this will mean for people with degenerative brain disorders. Hopefully something good.

TAE said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apamin#Toxicity

Professor Preposterous said...

Good point Alex. A more efficient brain won't help you very much if your heart stops. Or if your lungs bleed until you drown.

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