Contrary to what everyone – even potheads – think about marijuana, a new study shows that the drug has “minimal” effects on the brain. Conducted by a team of investigators from the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Switzerland and Australia, the “systematic literature review”, recently published online by Psychological Medicine, combines 41 different studies from around the world of marijuana’s effect on brain function. And after thorough review, the researches concluded that its effects are nearly nonexistent. (more…)

When you’re neck deep studying for finals, cramming in chapters and writing papers, anything that can help you get a handle on your course-load can make all the difference. Luckily for you, Shmoop.com has your back. Loaded with more than 230 topics in literature, US history, and poetry as well as essay writing, Shmoop breaks down course content with easy to understand summaries and insights to help ease the stress of studying. Not only that, but now they want to give three lucky COED readers $100 in Amazon.com cash!

Here’s how to enter:

1. Shoot over to Shmoop.com and quickly register a free account.

2. Choose a summary or tip that you find particularly helpful.

3. Post the link to your favorite tip in the comments section below. (Make sure to enter a working email address, so we can let you know that you won.) The three best links will win the dough!

The winners will be announced next Tuesday. Good luck and happy Shmooping!

Starting this coming Wednesday, and lasting until, say, next Wednesday, your chances of getting laid are dramatically increased. A new study has shown that this week long period, otherwise known as “the holidays”, is about more than just giving gifts — it’s also about having sex, and lots of it.

More condoms are sold, more babies are conceived and more virginities are lost during the coming week than at any other time of year. Joy to the World!

To some of you, this isn’t a big deal. You get laid all the time, and the uninhibited, random sex that you reliably stumble into every New Year’s Eve isn’t much different than the uninhibited, random sex you had last Tuesday. Congratulations, you are awesome. But! If you’ve spent the duration of 2008 sexless, stop making excuses and start taking notes. The reproductive season is in full swing, and you’ve got one week left to turn it around make this a year to remember.

If you find yourself constantly putting tasks on the backburner, you are not alone.

According to Joseph R. Ferrari, a psychology professor at DePaul University in Chicago, seven out of 10 of you, a.k.a. ‘academic procrastinators,’ put off doing your schoolwork or doing it at all. Twenty percent of students, referred to as ‘chronic procrastinators,’ are those who always – always – wait…and wait…and wait. Sound like anybody you know?

Such were the results of Ferrari’s study, which also revealed that the higher the selectivity of schools, the higher the rates of procrastination. At better schools, where the work is tougher, students find the assignments daunting or belittling, if they fail to measure up. As expected, stress is a huge factor in avoiding important assignments. No shocker there. (more…)

Why do people have sex? Seems about as obvious as Ms. Star Jones having weight loss surgery, but apparently it is not.In a recent study published in Archives of Sexual Behavior (I actually saw this study on the Today Show), 2,000 people were asked why they had sex.

The answer? Well, surprisingly, there were more than one. 237 reasons, to be exact.

The top three most popular responses for both men and women seemed the most obvious:
1. They were attracted to the person
2. They wanted to experience physical pleasure
3. “It feels goodâ€?

The other 234 reasons were random, interesting and – sometimes – scary.

Some included: to burn calories, for revenge, to make babies, to get closer to the person, to get closer to God and to pass STDs onto someone else (yikes!).

My personal reasons for having sex: (more…)