Medications

What is nitrous oxide, and how dangerous is it?

Media reports last week linked the use of "nangs" to the death of a teenager at schoolies week on the Gold Coast. Hamish Bidgood died when he fell from a balcony. He and his friends had reportedly been using "nangs" that ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Why we look for a partner who laughs (and makes us laugh)

Whether we're looking for love or lust, we look for someone with a good sense of humour. Studies of courtship on Tinder and Facebook show that a sense of humour is the most valued quality in a potential mate.

Psychology & Psychiatry

Serious research into what makes us laugh

More complex jokes tend to be funnier but only up to a point, Oxford researchers have found. Jokes that are too complicated tend to lose the audience.

Psychology & Psychiatry

Laughing gas studied as depression treatment

Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, has shown early promise as a potential treatment for severe depression in patients whose symptoms don't respond to standard therapies. The pilot study, at Washington University School of Medicine ...

Cardiology

Laughing gas does not increase heart attacks

(Medical Xpress)—Nitrous oxide—best known as laughing gas—is one of the world's oldest and most widely used anesthetics. Despite its popularity, however, experts have questioned its impact on the risk of a heart attack ...

page 1 from 2