The Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch is well regarded as a “psychedelic visionary” of his time, having single-handedly changed the imagery of demons and hell in the west. His depictions of demons are a mishmash of animal and human imagery and objects. While it’s still unknown exactly how he conjured these images, a few experts propose that ergot poisoning could be to blame, as ergot was rampant during the Middle Ages. Ergotamine, which causes ergot poisoning, is similar to LSD in composition, leading to “delusions, twitching, and violent jerking”. Read full article here
Science
‘Ghostly’ neutrinos provide new path to study protons
In groundbreaking research, an international collaboration of scientists from the University of Rochester have used a beam of neutrinos to measure the size and shape of the protons that make up the nuclei of atoms. This feat, once thought impossible, provides scientists with a new way of looking at the small components of an atom’s nucleus and opens up a wealth of new information about the structure of an atom’s nucleus and the dynamics of the forces that affect neutrino interactions. The researchers solved the challenge of harnessing neutrinos in large numbers by using a neutrino detector containing a target of both hydrogen and carbon atoms, and over nine years of data collection at Fermilab’s accelerator. Read full article here