Sometimes, science fills us with awe and wonder.
Sometimes, it just creeps us out.
Remember when scientists grafted an ear on to a mouse's back? Or when a monkey operated a robot using only its mind?
It's not that these weren't great moments in science. But they carried some heavy heebie-jeebie baggage.
So, with that in mind, we're introducing a new feature called Creepy or not creepy? in which we present research that's walking that delicate line between forward-looking science and mad-scientist freak-out. Which is which? You be the judge.
Today's entry: Suppressing the compulsion to steal.
I think we're all in agreement that, aside from those Jean Valjean-stealing-a-loaf-of-bread-to-feed-his-starving-family-type situations, stealing is probably a bad thing. But it sure seems to make kleptomaniacs happy. Now, researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine have given self-described kleptomaniacs a drug called naltrexone, which kills the "rush" compulsive stealers get from a good pilfer.
So is this the sweet relief kleptomaniacs (and other addicts) have been waiting for, or something more sinister? And who gets to decide which "thrills" are acceptable and which should be medicated away?
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