Overcoming depression, fast

IN THE climate change discourse, the role of trees and forests has largely been seen as carbon stocks and carbon sinks. Now scientists are beginning to study a more fundamental correlation—the direct effects that trees and forests have on climate through rainfall and cooling. Trees help retain water on the ground and produce cooling moisture, which, in turn, have a positive impact on food security and climate change adaptation. Scientists say the direct relevance of trees in protecting and intensifying the hydrologic cycle, associated cooling and the sharing of atmospheric moisture is beyond reasonable doubt. Scientists believe that emerging research must deeply explore the widening impact of trees on climate.

Environmental Change, March 2017 Global

six of us suffer from depression at some point in our lifetime. In an attempt to find faster-acting antidepressant medications, researchers have found that inhibiting an enzyme called Glyoxalase 1 (GLO1) relieves depression faster than existing medicines. When they tested their research on mice, they found that those inhibiting the GLO1 enzyme reduced depression-like symptoms in five days, whereas it took 14 days for Prozac to have the same effect. The medicines are yet to be tested on humans.

Psychiatry, March 21 Molecular

EARTH SCIENCE