Thursday, March 7, 2013

Another terrible scientific name

(Medical Xpress)—What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide? The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists at UCLA have measured the release of a specific peptide, a neurotransmitter called hypocretin, that greatly increased when subjects were happy but decreased when they were sad. 
Really? You had to name this happy-making peptide hypocretin? Jeebus. From dictionary.com:

Cretin. Noun.
  1. A stupid person (used as a general term of abuse).
  2. A person deformed and mentally handicapped due to a congenital thyroid deficiency.
    Synonyms: nitwit, imbecile.