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Cannabis Extracts Demonstrated to Relieve Back Pain

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Cannabis extracts tested for chronic pain treatment

Cappi Thompson/Getty Images

Extracts from cannabis have shown potential in relieving chronic low back pain, offering an alternative to traditional painkillers with minimal risk of serious side effects or addiction.

At present, treatment options for chronic pain are limited, forcing many patients to rely on opioids, which carry a substantial risk of addiction.

The experimental drug VER-01 is derived from the cannabis plant and contains 5% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active ingredient.

In a clinical trial, 820 participants with chronic low back pain were randomly assigned to receive either VER-01 or a placebo over a 12-week period. The results indicated an average pain score reduction of 1.9 for those taking VER-01 on a scale of 0-10, compared to a reduction of 1.4 for those on placebo. No adverse events signaling risks of withdrawal or abuse were reported.

This study stands out as one of the most rigorous to validate a cannabis-based treatment for chronic pain, contributing to the increasing interest in cannabis as a legitimate pain management option.

“This is among the first high-quality research initiatives on medical cannabis that many have been anticipating, both researchers and patients alike,” states Winfried Meissner, a researcher at Jena University Hospital in Germany. “Previous evidence has been weak, with past studies lacking in quality and participants.”

Participants taking VER-01 also reported marked improvements in sleep quality and physical functioning, with mild side effects such as dizziness, fatigue, dry mouth, and nausea. Patients were able to gradually increase their dosage to 13 times per day during the treatment.

This treatment proved particularly effective for lower back pain originating from nerve damage, classified as neuropathic pain. Meissner emphasizes that patients with chronic pain should initially pursue physical therapy, while painkillers can assist those unable to engage in movement. “Even a modest degree of pain relief can motivate patients to exercise,” he explains.

Although the pain reduction was not dramatic, significant reductions in chronic pain are uncommon. Marta Di Forti from King’s College London, who was not involved in the study, notes, “The improvement in sleep quality, a secondary outcome of the research, can profoundly influence daily functioning.” “In chronic pain instances, substantial effects are rare.”

Di Forti added that the study showed no signs of drug dependence among the participants, hoping this could pave the way for a prescription. She frequently hears from patients who find cannabis effective but resort to purchasing it from dealers. She highlights the variability in THC levels in cannabis products, which can lead to excessive consumption and increase the potential for substance misuse.

“In an environment where claims about cannabis proliferate, we are rigorously testing it through randomized controlled trials,” she asserts. “In my opinion, the evidence that it alleviates pain is excellent news.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

New Quantum Entanglement Type Successfully Demonstrated

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Technology Physicist – Israel Institute of Technology says it has observed a new form of quantum entanglement in the total angular momentum of photons, limited to nanoscale structures. Their work paves the way for on-chip quantum information processing, using the total angular momentum of photons as an encoding property of quantum information.

The transformations that occur in two photon nanometric systems are intertwined in total angular momentum. Image credits: Shalom Buberman, Shultzo3d.

So far, quantum intertwining has been demonstrated for a wide variety of particles and their various properties.

In the case of photons, particles of light, entangled particles may be present in the direction of movement, frequency, or the direction in which the electric field is pointing.

It may also be the characteristics that are difficult to imagine, such as angular momentum.

This property is divided into spins related to the rotation of photons in the electric field, and is related to orbitals related to the rotational motion of photons in the universe.

“It’s easy to imagine these two rotational properties as separate quantities. In fact, photons are coupled to a beam of light much wider than the wavelength,” Professor Geibaltal and colleagues said in a statement.

“However, when we try to put photons in structures smaller than the photonic wavelength (a field effort in nanophotonics), it is impossible to separate different rotational properties, and we see that photons are characterized by a single amount, total angular momentum.”

“So why do you want to put photons in such a small structure? There are two main reasons for this.”

“One thing is clear: it helps narrow down devices that use light to miniaturize their electronic circuits.”

“Another reason is even more important. This miniaturization increases the interaction between photons and materials that are travelling (or nearby), allowing for phenomena and use that are not possible with photons of “normal” dimensions. ”

In their new study, researchers found that it is possible to entangle photons in nanoscale systems that are one-third of the size of hair, but entanglement is not performed solely by total angular momentum, depending on the conventional properties of photons, such as spins and orbits.

They uncover the process that occurs from the stage in which photons are introduced into the nanoscale system until they leave the measurement system, and found that this transition enriches the space in which the photons can live.

A series of measurements mapped their states to confirm the correspondence between photon pairs that were intertwined with the same properties inherent to nanoscale systems and exhibited quantum entanglement.

“This is the first discovery of new quantum entanglement in over 20 years, and could lead to the development of new tools for the design of photon-based quantum communications and computing components, as well as important miniaturization,” the scientists concluded.

Their paper Published in the journal Nature.

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A.Cam et al. Near-field photon entanglement in total angular momentum. NaturePublished online on April 2, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08761-1

This article was adopted from the original release by Technion.

Source: www.sci.news

Folding fins increase the speed of fish movement, as demonstrated by Robot Tuna

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This tuna-inspired robot borrows some nifty tricks from the real fish

Lin, Z. et al. (2024).

The tuna-shaped robot harnesses the secret to the speed and agility of real fish – the ability to selectively fold and extend their fins – which could improve underwater robot design.

Tuna are one of the fastest swimming fish in the ocean, thanks in part to their ability to retract and fold their fins to reduce drag. Chung-Rok Hayashi Researchers from China's Xiamen University and their colleagues investigated how such fins could improve the agility of robots.

The researchers built a 50-centimeter-long tuna-shaped robot that can be controlled by motors attached to its head, a dorsal fin on its back, and a fluke at the end of its tail. The researchers filmed the robot swimming in a pool and tested the effects of flattening or erecting the dorsal fin on the robot's acceleration, direction changes, and steady forward motion.

They found that folding and unfolding the dorsal fin had significant effects on factors such as speed, efficiency and linear acceleration. When the robot tuna was changing direction, keeping the dorsal fin erect increased its speed by about 33%. However, keeping the fin erect when the robot was moving steadily forward reduced the efficiency of its movement by up to 13%, increasing the robot's energy consumption.

Lin says these findings are consistent with how tuna in nature raise their dorsal fin to make fast, precise movements, such as when catching prey, then fold it back to continue swimming. “By designing similar flexible control systems, underwater vehicles can improve balance, navigation, and agility at high speed,” he says.

“Understanding this high level of swimming performance in tuna is intrinsically interesting because it is something that even the best human swimmers cannot achieve.” Frank Fish At West Chester University in Pennsylvania.

But Fish adds that the tail fin may play a bigger role than the dorsal fin in a tuna's swimming ability. His own research Many of these animals have shown this to be especially true when it comes to turning, Fish says. “We measured the turning ability of Pacific bluefin tuna and found that it far surpasses the capabilities of a robot,” he says. This may mean that tuna-inspired robots could also be improved by studying their tails in more detail.

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Source: www.newscientist.com