B. When a Distressing Disorder Affects Children

Narrator: This is Science Today. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is more readily diagnosed in adults who have survived traumas such as bombings, kidnappings, natural disasters or war. But Dr. Herb Schreier, the chief psychiatrist at Children's Hospital Oakland, says in children this form of mental illness is often more subtle or confused with other symptoms.

Schreier: There are three criteria involved in post-traumatic stress disorder. One is re-experiencing the trauma. The other is a kind of numbness and avoidance and the third is a more kind of startled response children who are hyper-reactive.

Narrator: Schreier led a study along with University of California, San Francisco researchers and discovered parents and caregivers greatly underestimated PTSD in children. But Schreier hesitates giving parents a list of red flags to look for.

Schreier: Because there are suggestions that if the parent got too involved in picking up on these symptoms, that they could actually make the child more anxious.

Narrator: But Schreier says parents should not hesitate seeking help if children seem seriously distressed after a traumatic event. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.

C. Another Dimension in Sea Exploration

Narrator: This is Science Today. An optical, laser imaging system called 3-D Sea Scan is giving researchers the ability to view objects and organisms on the sea floor with a range of accuracy down to the thickness of a penny. Jules Jaffe, a research scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, was one of the designers of this new three-dimensional device.

Jaffe: Most of the imaging systems that we had in the past, if not all of them, were simply a good camera and a good light. And you can get some beautiful pictures under water, but there's an interesting, perceptual phenomenon when you see a three-dimensional image rotated in front of you. It really gives you a much more physical sense for what the thing actually looks like.

Narrator: This can benefit not only biologists, but engineers working on underwater oil and gas lines, explorers mapping objects on the sea floor and even the military to better detect underwater mines.

Jaffe: It should be a new tool for people who are looking for things that shouldn't be there or trying to find things that are there and so, we're excited about all of the above.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.

D. A Growing Experience that's all in the Mind

Narrator: This is Science Today. Thirty-five years ago researchers led by Marian Diamond, a professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, had a hard time convincing others the brain could change with experience or enrichment.

Diamond: Nobody believed us because they thought the brain was immutable.

Narrator: Today, Diamond says there's a trend towards over-stimulating young minds.

Diamond: I worry with over-stimulation because our rats who get too many toys too fast don't show the same brain changes that those that get the toys given to them at reasonable intervals.

Narrator: And Diamond says it's not just the brain of a child that benefits from enrichment....

Diamond: But the brain of the teacher, of the parent. So when a parent is working with a child, his or her brain is changing as well. And the teachers can sometimes get bored - they think, oh my gosh, I've done this so long but if I keep using it and challenging, I can keep my brain active, too. So everybody benefits.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.

E. A Mushroom with Anti-cancer Properties

Narrator: This is Science Today. A toxin from a poisonous mushroom is showing great promise as an anti-tumor drug that can selectively destroy cancer cells without harming healthy ones. Trevor McMorris, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, says this anti-tumor compound is derived from a wood rotting fungi known as the jack-o-lantern mushroom.

McMorris: The mushroom, by the way, is fairly common in this country. The drug is obtained from this parent compound, illudin, which is found in the mushroom. Actually, the amount in the mushroom growing in the wild is quite small - the amount of the drug. But when the mushroom is grown in culture, in the lab, we have been able to obtain much higher yields.

Narrator: That's good news when it comes to production on a large scale. Meanwhile, McMorris says the compound is being tested in nationwide clinical trials against a variety of cancers.

McMorris: It has gone through Phase 1 and they have observed signs of anti-tumor activity with tolerable toxicity and now the National Cancer Institute are pushing ahead to Phase 2.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.