Before The Walking Dead, Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later and before Night of the Living Dead, zombies — or, at least, the idea of zombies — were very different. Originating from Haitian culture and influenced by the Voodoo religion, the zombies that preceded the modern American interpretation were a far cry from the dead-eyed, flesh-eating monsters we see in post-apocalyptic horror films.Early ideas and depictions of zombies aren’t monsters at all, but victims of slavery. They were an undeadAngelina Cook

Within weeks of denying an anticipated change in the DEA’s classification of cannabis as a schedule I controlled substance, the DEA has announced plans to post another harmless plant as schedule I by September 30th, 2016. The newly posted schedule I substance is kratom.Schedule I is a category of drugs the DEA considers dangerous, subject to abuse, and addictive. The DEA has many drugs like that in other more permissive categories, but the clincher for cannabis and now kratom is that they lackRichard Warren

If you've been to a restaurant in the last few years, you’ve likely seen the words gluten-free written somewhere on the menu. But what exactly is gluten, and why can’t some people process it? And why does it only seem to be a problem recently? William D. Chey unravels the facts behind celiac disease, wheat allergies and non-celiac glutenWhitney Welch

With 18% of the population suffering, anxiety is the most common mental health condition in North America. Through clinical practice, I’ve quickly come to learn that “anxiety” is a term that means many different things to different people. Its symptoms can range from a mild sense of unease to full-blown panic attacks and the heavy weight of impending doom.Anxiety disorders are quite diverse. They include, according to the DSM-IV, specific phobias, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)Don Wheeler

Tai chi and other traditional Chinese exercises may benefit people with heart disease, researchers report.The new review of 35 studies included more than 2,200 people in 10 countries. The investigators found that, among people with heart disease, these types of low-risk activities appeared to help lower blood pressure and levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol and other unhealthy blood fats.Tai chi, qigong and other traditional Chinese exercises were also linked to improved quality of life andAngel Alvarez

Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science:Pinpointing Mechanisms of a Mechanistic Treatment: Dissociable Roles for Overt and Covert Attentional Processes in Acute and Long-Term Outcomes Following Attention-Bias ModificationRebecca B. Price, Mary L. Woody, Benjamin Panny, and Greg J. SiegleTo better understand the mechanisms that make attention-bias modification (ABM) training beneficial for specific individuals, Price and colleagues tested individuals who wereDana Kreuzberg

Carl Jung, the Swiss founder of depth psychology and early proponent of dream analysis, was the first to seriously study what he called “big dreams” — vivid and memorable dream experiences that occur rarely, but when they do, can have a lasting impact on an individual’s life.Jung noted that while most dreams are fuzzy in our memory and quickly forgotten, others remain imprinted in our minds for months or even years. So why do we intensely remember a few striking, symbolic dreams?In his new bookDana Kreuzberg

A chart published last month by the European Union as part of a survey about attitudes towards tobacco in Europe lists the percentage of daily smokers in 28 countries. At the top is Bulgaria, where 36 per cent of the population smokes daily. Greece and France are close behind, with 35 and 33 per cent respectively.Further down the list are Spain (26 per cent), Italy (24 per cent) and Germany (23 per cent). Near the bottom are Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark, all at 16 per cent. As of 2015Grace Armstrong

Świętowit, the pagan Slavic god photo: Andrzej Sidor / ForumSlavs, meaning who?At a first glance everything seems neat and simple. At the turn of the 6th and 7th centuries AD, the Slavs set off from their primordial abode, considered to be located either around present-day Kiev or between the Ural mountains and the Volga river. They began travelling to new territories and creating new settlements. Legend has it that the ancestor of all Poles, Lech, was guided to the place of his future home byDana Kreuzberg

Turmeric is a yellow-pigmented curry spice that is often used in Indian cuisine. But this spice is far more than a cooking staple. It also has a long history of medicinal use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as well as Ayurvedic medicine.Traditional medicinal uses include the treatment of liver disease, skin problems, respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments, sprained muscles, joint pains, and general wound healing.Its benefits have since been well documented in the medical literatureWhitney Welch

American poet Walt Whitman is most famous for penning "Leaves of Grass," his collection of poetry that includes such classics as "O Captain, My Captain!" (his tribute to Abraham Lincoln), "Song of Myself" and "I Sing the Body Electric." But a graduate student from the University of Houston recently uncovered a series of advice columns written by the 19th-century poet, and the suggestions were surprisingly similar to health advice you might read today.Eat lean meat. Wear comfortable shoes. GetTracy Campbell