Hivemind Times Issue #59

Welcome To The Hivemind Times!

Sweeties! How the hell are ya. 

This has been a wonderful week here at Hivemind HQ, Fan submitted bars with old Quad came out as well as a Mall stores bracket. Cheapseats is chugging along giving you the intelligent sports takes every other analyst is afraid to. 

I am in a state of perpetual admiration for the support you my dear reader continue to show us and for that I offer you this, the 59th issue of the HIvemind Times, the final stand of real hard hitting newslettering on the great expanse of the internet. The beautiful pen of Shvingi has blessed us with one of their thoughtful journal entries, more depressing poetry, recipes and oh so so much more. 

Enjoy reading, enjoy the Geese album and go forth with vim and vigor.

- Riley & Graydon

QUINN’S CHEMISTRY CLASS

On Kratom

I am a regular kratom drinker, and I found a link to a paper that outlines the synthesis of all the main kratom alkaloids and I thought it was really cool, so here is some extremely basic information about kratom and an excerpt from the paper and a link to it.

“Kratom” refers to both Mitragyna speciosa, a tree native to Southeast Asia, and to products derived from its leaves that are marketed as herbal supplements. Kratom leaves contain many chemical compounds (known as bioactive alkaloids) that can affect the body. The most well-studied compounds related to kratom are mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.

Here are some other alkaloids that have been isolated from kratom leaves:

Mitragynine is found in kratom leaves and breaks down into 7-hydroxymitragynine in the body when digested. Both activate mu-opioid receptors (specific molecular structures on the surface of nerve cells), but the resulting effects only partially compare to those of opioids like heroin or oxycodone. I’ll be honest though, if you take 30mg of 7-hydroxy, it feels almost identical to an actual opiate, and you can definitely throw up and nod from it so be careful.

Some research suggests that mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine may not cause some of the more serious adverse effects associated with opioid use—such as respiratory depression (trouble breathing)—that can occur during a life-threatening opioid overdose. 

Here is a basic explanation of the main alkaloid pharmacodynamics for people that find that stuff interesting.

“Kratom alkaloids have shown moderate binding affinity to the established CNS-drug targets of pain, anxiety, mood elevation, and OUD including opioid (μ, κ, and δ) and non-opioid (adrenergic and serotonergic) receptors. The most studied and major kratom alkaloid, mitragynine, is a partial (E_max, 40%) μ-opioid receptor agonist (K_i, 161 ± 10 nM), that can also bind to adrenergic receptors (α_1A, α_1B, α_1D, and α_2C receptors). A metabolite of mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine (7HMG), is a potent partial μ-opioid receptor agonist (K_i, 7.2 ± 0.9 nM), and it has shown indicators of opioid-induced addiction potential in rodents. Mitragynine does not appear to recruit the β arrestin-2 pathway and it can reduce opioid self-administration in non-human animals without any known indicators of addiction potential. It’s potential, along with other alkaloids, may also extend to decreasing alcohol intake, though more work is needed to further support this possibility.”

Here is the outline of the process used to synthesize 7-hydroxy from a Japanese lab paper on the synthesis of Mitragynine, Speciogynine, and 7-Hydroxymitragynine. There are 2 steps preceding this one, one for mitragynine and one for speciogynine, but they are really long and you can just buy mitragynine and purify it yourself for cheap.

Synthesis of (+)-7-Hydroxymiraggynine (3)

To a solution of purified (−)-mitragynine (1, 30 mg, 0.075 mmol) in MeCN (900 μL) and water (100 μL) was added TFA (11.5 μL, 0.151 mmol) at 0 °C, and the reaction mixture was stirred for 5 min at 0 °C. PIFA (32.4 mg, 0.0753 mmol) was added to the stirred mixture at 0°C under Ar atmosphere. The reaction mixture was stirred for 20 min at 0°C, followed by quenching with saturated aqueous NaHCO₃ solution. The aqueous layer was extracted three times with CH₂Cl₂. The combined organic layer was washed with brine, dried over Na₂SO₄, and concentrated under reduced pressure. Flash chromatography (SiO₂ -NH, 40% AcOEt/n-hexane) afforded (+)-7-hydroxymitragyne (3, 22.0 mg, 71%). All spectral data of the obtained (+)-7-hydroxymitrigynine 3(3) were identical to those of natural product.

If you want to check out the full paper; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9910625/

- Quinn

THE LATEST JOURNAL FROM SHVINGI INGËBÖRKSEN

Abundantly Inflamed

I think it’s one of GW Bush’s speechwriters credited with the phrase “soft bigotry of low expectations.”  In other words, there is something pernicious about expecting little of individuals or groups of people.  It reflects a judgment about their capabilities and, probably, their value to society.  Of course, this is especially negative when directed towards groups sorted by immutable traits like race or ethnicity.

Since first hearing it, I think about it often.  Recently, however, I have considered the extent to which the inverse is impacting the current moment.  What are the unintentional consequences of expecting too much?

Many Americans are told early on they can do anything they set their mind to.  With hard work and determination—you will succeed.  But the American Dream, though not a straight up lie, is certainly an overly rosy outlook given current circumstances.

Take housing. The idea of the affordable house behind the white picket fence was a reality for, what, two to three generations? If that? Before then, sure shit was affordable but you were either homesteading in the middle of nowhere or crammed in tenement housing dying of coal smoke lung cancer in an industrial hub. The concept of a modern suburb is less than 80 years old.

Even so, it was never possible for everyone to experience the 1950s ideal. Not for one minute.  For one, once the postwar generations got their single family home, they shut the door behind them.  No high density housing, no mixed use zoning, low property taxes.  

Whatever the precise reasons, the possibility of widespread homeownership for young people starting families is fundamentally more difficult now than it was in decades prior.  For many, this may seem like a dirty trick. 

“We thought we could do whatever we wanted! We were the princes that were promised! What the fuck is an HOA!?”

This dynamic must somehow play into the ripping temperatures of political debate. Here we have a large group of very disappointed people who were promised the world and have since been largely priced out. They also believe that their singular voice(s) are important enough to be publicly broadcast. And with less real estate wealth than their parents, they have less to lose by watching the system burn down.  Schedenfreude is often more powerful than altruism. 

The counterculture of the late 60s sold out during Reagan’s great cashout of the 80s (see the Big Chill). We will see if something similar happens here in the next one to two decades that will quench the furor of those who feel fundamentally cheated. That would require some unknown explosion in economic productivity none of us can predict today. If that doesn’t happen, all bets are off.

- Shvingi

RILEY’S TWITTER DRAFTS

NEW HIRE FIT CHECK

POEM OF THE WEEK

Paul Verlaine 1844-1896

Heartbroken Mf

Oh, heavy, heavy my despair,
Because, because of One so fair.

My misery knows no allay,
Although my heart has come away.

Although my heart, although my soul,
Have fled the fatal One's control.

My misery knows no allay,
Although my heart has come away.

My heart, the too, too feeling one,
Says to my soul, "Can it be done,

"Can it be done, too feeling heart,
That we from her shall live apart?"

My soul says to my heart, "Know I
What this strange pitfall should imply,

"That we, though far from her, are near,
Yea, present, though in exile here?"

RECIPES

POKE BOWL!

Poke: Cut a filet of sushi-grade tuna into small cubes. Mix with mayo, sriracha, soy sauce, sliced green onion, and sesame seeds.

Cucumber salad: Thinly slice cucumber and red or white onion. Combine with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, sliced green onion, and sesame seeds.

Rice: Cook rice (preferably a short-grain rice) and combine with rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt.

Fun additions: Edamame, avocado, mango, roasted seaweed.

- Graydon

THIS WEEK’S COMICS

MERCH