Learn about a medical mystery involving blindness and schizophrenia; a new bacteria scientists developed to help protect honeybees; and the surprising strength of helmets used in World War I.

No person who was born blind has ever been diagnosed with schizophrenia by Andrea Michelson

• Love, S. (2020, February 11). People Born Blind Are Mysteriously Protected From Schizophrenia. Vice; vice. https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/939qbz/people-born-blind-are-mysteriously-protected-from-schizophrenia
• Morgan, V. A., Clark, M., Crewe, J., Valuri, G., Mackey, D. A., Badcock, J. C., & Jablensky, A. (2018). Congenital blindness is protective for schizophrenia and other psychotic illness. A whole-population study. Schizophrenia Research, 202, 414–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2018.06.061
• Silverstein, S. M., Wang, Y., & Keane, B. P. (2013). Cognitive and Neuroplasticity Mechanisms by Which Congenital or Early Blindness May Confer a Protective Effect Against Schizophrenia. Frontiers in Psychology, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00624
• Steve Silverstein’s chart tracking skills associated with blindness and schizophrenia: https://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/40106/fpsyg-03-00624-r2/image_m/fpsyg-03-00624-t001.jpg
• Prediction of adult-onset schizophrenia from childhood home movies of the patients | American Journal of Psychiatry. (2020). American Journal of Psychiatry. https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.147.8.1052?journalCode=ajp&
• Pollak, T. A., & Corlett, P. R. (2019). Blindness, Psychosis, and the Visual Construction of the World. Schizophrenia Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbz098

Scientists have engineered bacteria to protect honeybees from colony collapse by Grant Currin

• Bacteria Engineered to Protect Bees from Pests and Pathogens - UT News. (2020, January 30). UT News. https://news.utexas.edu/2020/01/30/bacteria-engineered-to-protect-bees-from-pests-and-pathogens/
• Leonard, S. P., Powell, J. E., Perutka, J., Geng, P., Heckmann, L. C., Horak, R. D., Davies, B. W., Ellington, A. D., Barrick, J. E., & Moran, N. A. (2020). Engineered symbionts activate honey bee immunity and limit pathogens. Science, 367(6477), 573–576. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax9039
• Ramsey, S. D., Ochoa, R., Bauchan, G., Gulbronson, C., Mowery, J. D., Cohen, A., Lim, D., Joklik, J., Cicero, J. M., Ellis, J. D., Hawthorne, D., & vanEngelsdorp, D. (2019). Varroa destructor feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(5), 1792–1801. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818371116
• US EPA,OCSPP. (2013, August 29). Colony Collapse Disorder | US EPA. US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/colony-collapse-disorder

WWI helmets protected against shock waves as well as modern ones by Steffie Drucker

• WWI helmets protect against shock waves just as well as modern designs. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/du-whp021420.php
• Op ‘t Eynde, J., Yu, A. W., Eckersley, C. P., & Bass, C. R. (2020). Primary blast wave protection in combat helmet design: A historical comparison between present day and World War I. PLOS ONE, 15(2), e0228802. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228802

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