Tag Archives: thompson

‘Magic mushrooms’ ingredient beneficial to cancer patients, report says – latimes.com

Researchers find psilocybin improved the anxiety and depression of terminal cancer patients for up to six months. The study is considered a first step in restoring the hallucinogen's respectability. By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times September 7, 2010 The psychedelic drug psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms,” can improve mood and reduce anxiety and depression in terminal cancer patients, Los Angeles researchers reported Monday. A single modest dose of the hallucinogen, whose reputation was severely tarnished by widespread nonmedical use in the psychedelic '60s and ethical lapses by researchers such as Timothy Leary, can improve patients' functioning for as long as six months, allowing them to spend their last days with more peace, researchers said. The research was a pilot study involving only 12 patients, but it is viewed as a first step in restoring the drug to respectability. Get important science news and discoveries delivered to your inbox with our Science & Environment newsletter. Sign up

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Scientist Watches Glacier Melt Beneath His Feet

Lonnie Thompson, a professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, led a team of scientists drilling for ice cores atop the Puncak Jaya glacier in Papua, Indonesia. Here, their base camp sits below a massif bearing one of the upper ice fields. text size A A A September 4, 2010 Earlier this summer, a group of scientists spent two weeks in Indonesia atop a glacier called Puncak Jaya, one of the few remaining tropical glaciers in the world. They were taking samples of ice cores to study the impacts of climate change on the glacier. Lonnie Thompson, a professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, led the team and what he witnessed shocked him: The glacier was literally melting under their feet. Thompson tells NPR's Guy Raz he has conducted 57 expeditions around the world, but this trip was unusual. It was the first one where he experienced rain on the glacier every day. “Rain is probably the most effective way to … cause the ice to melt,” Thompson says. “So this was the first time you could see the surface actually lowering around you.” While Thompson and his team were there drilling cores, he says, they witnessed the glacier drop 12 inches in just two weeks. “If that's representative of the annual ice loss on these glaciers,” he says, “you're looking at losing over seven meters of ice in a year. Unfortunately, that glacier's going to disappear in as little as five years if that rate continues.” Puncak Jaya is one of the few tropical glaciers remaining in the world, and it's especially vulnerable to climate change. This makes it especially important to researchers. “Well, it's located about 4 degrees south of the equator. It's the only glacier on western side of the Pacific warm pool, the warmest waters on earth,” Thompson says. “For looking at the history of El Nino, it's a wonderful location.” Losing the glacier wouldn't have much environmental impact for the local people, Thompson says, but it would have a deep spiritual impact. “For the tribes that live in that area, the glaciers are the head of the skull of the god and the mountains are the arms and the legs,” he says. “If they lose the glaciers then they’re going to lose part of their soul.” The Canary In The Coal Mine Just because the melting of the glacier won't have a devastating impact on Indonesia doesn't mean it should be ignored, Thompson says. Rather, it's like the canary in the coal mine — an indicator of changes in the planet's warming trends. And one that should be seen with boots on. “When we look at what's happening to the ice on the planet, we use satellites. The problem with the satellite or aerial photography is you don't see the vertical thinning that's taking place,” Thompson says. “Consequently there'll come a year in the future that there'll appear to be a glacier but it will disappear the next year because of the thinning from the top down. And to me, that's very sobering.” added by: JanforGore

REVIEW: Dinner Party is a Bust in Undercooked Change of Plans

Middling, middle-class entertainment aimed at the midpoint between comedy and drama, mass appeal and sophistication, Change of Plans is eager to please and easy to dismiss. Riffing on a familiar premise, director Daniele Thompson ( Avenue Montaigne , Jet Lag ), working from a script she wrote with her son Christopher Thompson, puts 10 Parisian professionals together for a dinner party and lets the sparks, secrets and passions fly. Spouses bicker, kisses are stolen and home design is silently judged.

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REVIEW: Dinner Party is a Bust in Undercooked Change of Plans

‘The Switch’ Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know

Don’t get mixed up: Check out all our fun facts about the Jennifer Aniston/ Jason Bateman romantic comedy. By Kara Warner Juliette Lewis and Jason Bateman in “The Switch” Photo: Miramax In case you’ve missed all the talk of bodily fluids and “basting” around MTV News this week, we’ve been gearing up for Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman’s new romantic comedy, “The Switch,” which opened Friday (August 20). In brief, the story revolves around BFFs Wally (Bateman) and Kassie (Aniston). One day, Kassie informs Wally that she’s ready to have a baby via a sperm donor, and Wally is surprised, to say the least. Kassie moves on with her plan, enlists a donor whom she dubs “the Viking,” played by Patrick Wilson, and Wally manages to crash the scene and mess up the donation and ends up replacing it with his own. Kassie moves away to have the baby, and no one figures out the switch until many years later. We’ve been following the film from its humble beginnings, cast additions, title changes, trailers, etc. Here is everything you need to know about “The Switch”! The Aniston/Bateman team-up was initially announced as “The Baster” in February 2009, a title that raised a few eyebrows. When our Hollywood Crush caught up with screenwriter Allan Loeb to discuss the film just two weeks later, the studio’s marketing department had already set the wheels in motion to change the title. “As a movie title, it doesn’t seem to be as exciting to the powers that be that are going to have to market it,” Loeb explained to MTV News. “So the title will change. “I can tell you that the movie is wonderful,” he added. “I am very proud of it and very happy with it. … Fans of Jason Bateman and Jennifer are going to be very happy and very excited to see their performances in this picture.” Loeb went on to compare the Aniston/Bateman chemistry in the film to that of “When Harry Met Sally.” “The chemistry between them isn’t as much they’re going to rip each others’ clothes off and you want to see them go to town on each other. It’s much more ‘Harry Met Sally,’ ” Loeb explained. “It’s much more fun. It’s a lot of good banter, if I do say so myself, as I wrote it. But it’s a lot of good banter, and it’s real shorthand between them.” Earlier this year, the first trailer debuted , along with the film’s new title. Hollywood Crush awarded points to the studio’s marketing team for not revealing the entire plot of the film, as trailers sometimes do. After the trailer and new title dropped, news about the film was almost nil for several months. A couple of weeks ago, a new clip was released , and at that point, it was time for us to attend the film’s press day, during which we learned a lot about the “basting” process and a bonus fact from Aniston: she’s “obsessed” with MTV’s own “Warren the Ape.” Last but most certainly not least, MTV News attended the Hollywood premiere, where we posed a very important question to the cast: Which fluid is the sexiest to donate — sperm or blood ? Check out everything we’ve got on “The Switch.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Photos Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, More At ‘Switch’ Premiere

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‘The Switch’ Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know

‘Nanny McPhee Returns’ Star Used Snail Mail To Woo A-Listers

‘I always send the script with a nice letter,’ Emma Thompson says of casting Ralph Fiennes, Ewan McGregor. By Kara Warner Emma Thompson Photo: MTV News Despite her less than comely appearance, the magic-wielding Nanny McPhee delighted audiences enough in 2005 for her to make a second trip to theaters in this week’s “Nanny McPhee Returns.” When MTV News caught up with the film’s star and screenwriter, Emma Thompson, she told us that taking on dual roles is “hugely satisfying.” She also had no complaints about the hours spent in the makeup chair, calling them a reward for having spent a “few years writing the story.” The story is kid-centric and full of fantasy-like surprises — piglets that perform a synchronized swimming routine in a pond, a baby elephant and goat that spend a night in children’s beds — and boasts appearances by esteemed actors Ralph Fiennes and Ewan McGregor. When we asked Thompson how she managed to snag the two busy men for the film, the Oscar-winner said it all came down to a simple exchange of favors. “Well, you know, just one or two quite simple sexual favors, and that was it,” Thompson joked. “Not much [effort was required], really. Not bad, they were very generous,” she laughed, adding, “I should be so lucky, quite frankly.” The real story is that Thompson used good old-fashioned snail mail. “I always send the script with a nice letter, ‘Look, you know, if you fancy it, would you?’ And they both said yes immediately,” Thompson explained. “I’m very grateful to them because they’re both wonderful.” Thompson also dished about how both she and Fiennes had appeared in at least one “Harry Potter” film , a feat that seemed to have been accomplished by every working actor in the U.K. Thompson plays kooky sometimes-psychic Professor Trelawney. “Absolutely everyone in equity has been in it,” she joked of the franchise’s lengthy cast list. “Including all my family, practically, my sister just finished. I don’t know what the name of her character is; she’s got a major role in this last one.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Nanny McPhee Returns.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .

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‘Nanny McPhee Returns’ Star Used Snail Mail To Woo A-Listers

DMX Released From Jail, Rents Car, Pulled Over, Arrested For Lack of Valid License

DMX is the man. When barely a day passes in between your run-ins with the cops, that’s when you know you are hard core. Lindsay Lohan and her driving woes have nothing on him. Just hours after X was released from jail yesterday, the rapper was pulled over by the police driving down Sunset Blvd in a rented Mercedes and busted again! X’s manager says he recording studio around 11:20 p.m. when he was stopped for a minor traffic violation. Officers then learned he didn’t have a valid license. A rare kind of DMX photo – it wasn’t taken in a police station! DMX was issued a citation and will be due to appear in court sometime in the near future. Cops even allowed a passenger in the car to drive the rapper home. That’s nice. Give the man a break. He’s been in solitary confinement enough times this year already … might as well give him a night or two in his own bed. Yesterday’s release from jail came after the man served just 18 days of a 90-day sentence stemming from a reckless driving conviction way back in 2002. Lohan was let out after 14 for the same thing. Just saying.

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DMX Released From Jail, Rents Car, Pulled Over, Arrested For Lack of Valid License

Shelly Thompson Dares to Hassle the Hoff

A woman claiming to be David Hasselhoff’s girlfriend says she plans to sue the star for domestic abuse, even though he claims they’ve never even met. These things happen when you are an international sex symbol and revered for your role in the epic, long-running television drama known as Baywatch. Shelly Thompson, who also goes by Shane Starlet, is alleging she was physically hassled by the Hoff and has engaged a high-profile Hollywood lawyer. If Thompson is to be believed (a big if) her story is no joke. She says she began living with Hasselhoff in 2007 until their relationship came to an end this July, when he threw her out of his car onto the street. “My mother and I were on our way down to San Diego with David for his Comic Con appearance,” Thompson recalled . “He was drunk, we got into an argument and he pulled over on the side of the road and told us to, ‘Get the f*%k out!’” Who does he think he is, Mel Gibson ? No photo evidence of Thompson and Hasselhoff together is know to exist, despite her claims that she and Hasselhoff – who is famously battling alcohol and other problems – dated for nearly three years. Quite fishy, no? Another hole? Thompson claims the incident occurred on July 24. There are photos of Hasselhoff at a Comic Con event in San Diego with his daughter on July 22 – two days before Thompson says she went to the event with him. Hasselhoff’s legal team says this reeks of a shakedown, claiming “he has never met” Shelly Thompson, “doesn’t know anyone by that name” and the whole story “is absolutely not true.” The accuser says it is true, and there are witnesses. We’ll see.

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Shelly Thompson Dares to Hassle the Hoff

Just In Time For Nanny McPhee Returns, Emma Thompson Goes Naked on Her Web Site

In less than three weeks, the family comedy Nanny McPhee Returns is released, but if you can’t wait that long for it, fret not. Today, you can see more of its stars Emma Thompson and Maggie Gyllenhaal — much more.

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Just In Time For Nanny McPhee Returns, Emma Thompson Goes Naked on Her Web Site

REVIEW: Jim Broadbent, Cillian Murphy Anchor Eccentric Perrier’s Bounty

Loose, flinty, and a little in love with itself, Perrier’s Bounty struts the fine line of self-consciousness drawn by neo-gangster capers like The Usual Suspects , In Bruges and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. It’s still a relatively new — and presumably malleable — design, but director Ian Fitzgibbon seems comfortable within its broad strokes: Chronic f*ck-up angers casually vicious, slightly absurd kingpin; bon mots and a body count ensue. Not designed to blend in (can a film in an eccentric mold achieve true eccentricity?) and yet lacking the extra inch to distinguish it from its better-known kin, Perrier’s Bounty is content to merely measure up.

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REVIEW: Jim Broadbent, Cillian Murphy Anchor Eccentric Perrier’s Bounty