Breaking News
44 Special vs. 357 Magnum: Which Cartridge Is Right for You?
Both Canadian and U.S. RVers are reporting harassment because of political tensions
TEENS Turn a BARREN Paddock Into a FARM That Feeds Their Community!
Putting a Price on Life: From 9/11 to the BP Oil Spill and Boston Marathon
Top Tech News
Graphene Dream Becomes a Reality as Miracle Material Enters Production for Better Chips, Batteries
Virtual Fencing May Allow Thousands More Cattle to Be Ranched on Land Rather Than in Barns
Prominent Personalities Sign Letter Seeking Ban On 'Development Of Superintelligence'
Why 'Mirror Life' Is Causing Some Genetic Scientists To Freak Out
Retina e-paper promises screens 'visually indistinguishable from reality'
Scientists baffled as interstellar visitor appears to reverse thrust before vanishing behind the sun
Future of Satellite of Direct to Cellphone
Amazon goes nuclear with new modular reactor plant
China Is Making 800-Mile EV Batteries. Here's Why America Can't Have Them
China Innovates: Transforming Sand into Paper
Rare moss contains marijuana-like compound with potentially superior medicinal effects
The compound closely resembles that of THC, but exhibits less of a psychoactive effect with potentially better anti-inflammatory properties.
While several plants other than marijuana are known to produce cannabinoids, cannabis is the only plant so far discovered to contain THC, the primary psychoactive compound generally associated with a "high." In the 1990s scientists discovered that a liverwort plant called Radula perrottetii contained a natural compound with an extraordinary structural similarity to THC.
This natural compound, dubbed perrottetinene, underpinned anecdotal reports suggesting this particular genus of liverwort moss could be an effective "legal high." However, the actual pharmacological effects of this unique compound have never been investigated.
In a new published study, scientists for the first time have homed in on the pharmacological effects of perrottetinene, discovering it does indeed activate the same cannabinoid receptors in the brain as THC, albeit with a significantly reduced psychoactive potency.