The Good: Mercury is one of the most destructive elements when ingested. While mercury once was found in just about everything: paint, gas, and more widespread, fish. Now though, more and more agencies are searching for cheap and easy ways to bring mercury detection to the masses. University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers set out to do just that and created a plastic stir stick that would detect mercury. The sticks are created from cotton fiber papers that are specially treated with terpyridine. When the stir stick come in contact with water that has the standard amount of mercury or more it turns pink. This could help to insure that the water people are drinking both in their normal lives and while away from home (camping, etc.) is safe. Yay, for innovation!

The Bad: In this day and age many people are looking for herbal alternatives to conventional medications. While I am all for natural things (medication, cleaning, etc.), research is needed to confirm which naturals work and which do not. St. John’s wort is one of the most used natural alternatives to Ritalin and has also been shown to increase norepinephrine (a chemical lacking in ADHD patients) in rats.

A recent collaboration by doctors from Seattle to Boston researched the effects of St. John’s wort on children with ADHD. The results of the study though deflated the hopes of many that there would be a natural alternative to Ritalin: the effects of St. John’s wort and placebos on children with ADHD are the same. So dear parents, relax. There is not a natural replacement for ADHD medication yet, but research is always expanding, so hopefully something will come about as an alternative soon.