Both astronauts and cancer patients have a decrease in muscle mass, bone demineralisation and changes in heart function. Astronauts may have trouble focusing or they get a little forgetful (space fog), and this experience is similar to what is called “chemo fog” in some cancer patients. Astronauts are required to exercise prior to their mission and then during their mission, though under different settings; and, back home, they are monitored until their cardiorespiratory fitness and other systems return to their pre-mission baseline levels. Exercise physiologist Jessica Scott fount that it’s completely opposite to how cancer patients may still be advised to rest in preparation for or during treatment and may have to obtain permission to exercise. Today, NASA has technologies that provide safety for astronauts in space for up to 11 months, but 90% of people who now survive early-stage cancer have no access to similar efforts to counteract the stress their body undergoes during treatment. Scott said, “Using NASA’s exercise plan could help with this”.
SNEAK PEEK
1. Novices and experts
When you’re a novice at something, your brain turns to different things and your neurons are engaged in different things. But when you become an expert, you hone in on exactly what you’re going to do. Who made a biophysical model to identify it from neuron activities?
Ans: Anne Churchland (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
2. It isn’t ‘resting’ state
Sleep is usually considered to be a kind of equilibrium. In fact, the ‘resting’ state of healthy sleep is maintained through “bursts in cortical rhythm activity that obey similar temporal organisation, statistics, and mathematical laws as earthquakes”. Who proposed this?
Ans: Plamen Ch. Ivanov (Boston University)
3. Three times riskier
The ability to read and write allows people to engage in activities that use the brain and the central nervous system. Who, in a study, noticed that people who are illiterate may have nearly three times greater risk of developing dementia than people who can read and write?
Ans: Jennifer J. Manly (Columbia University Medical Center)
4. Lichens not so old
Lichens are thought to be one of the first organisms to pave the way for modern plants because they grow on tree bark and rocks. Who delved deep into the DNA of the algae and fungi that form lichens and found that lichens likely evolved millions of years after plants?
Ans: Geobiologist Matthew Nelsen (Field Museum)
5. Missiles, dragonflies
A dragonfly’s reaction time to a maneuvering prey is a mere 50 milliseconds. A human blink takes about 300 milliseconds. To keep up with a dragonfly, an artificial neural network system needs to complete information processing after just 3 steps. Who did the computing?
Ans: Akito Kawahara (Florida Museum of Natural History)
6. Going to happen
For most people, deja vu (“I’ve been here before”) is a fleeting sensation. But for some, it could get real bad. They feel certain they know what’s going to happen next. And an “I knew that was going to happen” feeling would follow soon. Who noted this serious condition?
Ans: Deja vu expert Anne Cleary (Colorado State University)
7. Plants helping plants
Plants might be helping each other, contrary to the belief that they’re always in competition. When an established large plant (called a ‘nurse’) shields a seedling, it produces more flowers than the same plants of equal size growing all alone nearby. Who reported this?
Ans: Dr. Rocio Pérez-Barrales (University of Portsmouth)
8. AI to aid fashion
Think of an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can look at the photo of an outfit and give helpful tips to make it more fashionable. It may ask you to select a sleeveless top or a longer jacket. Who developed such a system and said it is “like a friend giving you feedback”?
Ans: Kristen Grauman (University of Texas) and team
9. Emotional journey
When tourists go on disconnected from electronic devices and social media, it could be quite an emotional journey. They engage more with other travellers and locals during their disconnected travels and spend more time with their companions. Who found it in a survey?
Ans: Dr. Wenjie Cai (University of Greenwich Business School)
[ANSWERS]
1. Anne Churchland (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
2. Plamen Ch. Ivanov (Boston University)
3. Jennifer J. Manly (Columbia University Medical Center)
4. Geobiologist Matthew Nelsen (Field Museum)
5. Akito Kawahara (Florida Museum of Natural History)
6. Deja vu expert Anne Cleary (Colorado State University)
7. Dr. Rocio Pérez-Barrales (University of Portsmouth)
8. Kristen Grauman (University of Texas) and team
9. Dr. Wenjie Cai (University of Greenwich Business School)
QUIZ No. 930
1. Who proposed that the ‘sweet spot’ in learning is when failure occurs 15% of the time?
– Oliver Wolf Sacks
– William Beecher Scoville
– Robert Wilson
1. Robert Wilson
2. Who linked a high sense of purpose to a lower risk of death or heart-related disease?
– Dr. Randy Cohen
– Roy Glenwood Spurling
– Samuel A. K. Wilson
2. Dr. Randy Cohen
3. Who offered specific metrics that might qualify foods vaguely called hyper-palatable?
– Robert Wheeler Rand
– Moritz Heinrich Romberg
– Tera Fazzino
3. Tera Fazzino
4. Which musicologist conducted an X-ray technique to identify J.S. Bach’s handwriting?
– Eva Badura-Skoda
– Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov
– Uwe Wolf
4. Uwe Wolf
5. The diaries of which pornographer were used to charge police officers with bribery?
– James Humphreys
– Charles Everett Traynor
– Eric Franklin Rosser
5. James Humphreys