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Today's featured article Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound produced by over 200 species of mushrooms, collectively known as psilocybin mushrooms. The effects can include euphoria, visual and mental hallucinations, changes in perception, a distorted sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as adverse reactions such as nausea and panic attacks. Although increasingly restrictive drug laws of the late 1960s curbed scientific research into the effects of psilocybin and other hallucinogens, its popularity as an entheogen grew in the next decade. The mind-altering effects of psilocybin typically last from two to six hours; however, to individuals under the influence of psilocybin, the effects may seem to last much longer, since the drug can distort the perception of time. Psilocybin has a low toxicity and a relatively low harm potential, and reports of lethal doses of the drug are rare. Since the 1990s, there has been a renewal of scientific research into the potential medical and psychological therapeutic benefits of psilocybin for treating conditions including obsessive-compulsive disorder, cluster headaches, and anxiety related to terminal cancer. Possession of psilocybin-containing mushrooms has been outlawed in most countries, and it has been classified as a scheduled drug by many national drug laws. (more...) Recently featured: Murasaki Shikibu – John McCauley – Alboin Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the victory by Minoru (pictured) at the 1909 Epsom Derby made his owner Edward VII the first reigning British monarch to win a Derby? ... that Bay Darnell crashed his race car into Lake Lloyd during an ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway in 1964? ... that the Coimbatore bypass included construction of a 32.2 metres (106 ft) toll bridge over the Noyyal River in India? ... that the 126-acre Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens, which opened November 15, 2008, contains 13 separate and distinct ecosystems? ... that an entire print run of Svetlana Kalinkina's newspaper was seized by the Belarusian police? ... that, shortly after being sentenced to death for treason, Ioan C. Filitti became manager of the National Theatre Bucharest?

In the news Chinese architect Wang Shu wins the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius (pictured), wins five Oscars, including Best Picture, at the 84th Academy Awards. At least 23 people are killed during protests after copies of the Quran are burned at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. A train crash in Buenos Aires kills 51 people and injures more than 700 others. Eurozone finance ministers reach an agreement on a second bailout for Greece. On this day... February 29: Leap day (Gregorian calendar) 1704 – Joint French and Native American forces destroyed the English settlement at Deerfield, Massachusetts, during Queen Anne's War, killing over fifty colonists. 1720 – Unable to establish a joint sovereignty similar to Great Britain's William and Mary, Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden (pictured) abdicated in favour of her husband, who became Frederick I. 1940 – At the 12th Academy Awards, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to be awarded an Oscar, winning Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. 1944 – The Admiralty Islands campaign during the Pacific War of World War II began when American forces assaulted Los Negros Island, the third largest of the Admiralty Islands. 2004 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced to resign as President of Haiti following popular rebel uprising. More anniversaries: February 28 – February 29 – March 1 It is now February 29, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture A technician performs a Mantoux tuberculin test (named after its creator, French physician Charles Mantoux), which is used to evaluate people for latent tuberculosis infection. The injection causes a 6–10 mm (0.24–0.39 in) wheal (bump) and the test is evaluated by measuring the diameter of the induration (hardening of the skin) at the injection site a few days later. Photo: Greg Knobloch, CDC Recently featured: Common Blue Damselflies mating – Photonastic movement of Oxalis triangularis – Pine Siskin

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