DISCOVERY

BRAIN AND SLEEP. 

A new study found that sleep difficulties may be linked to a more rapid decline in brain volume.

In the study, published yesterday in the online issue of Neurology, European researchers assessed the sleep habits of 147 adults between the ages of 20 and 84 and took two MRI scans three and a half years apart. They found that 35 percent of the group that had poor sleep quality also had a reduced volume within the major brain regions of frontal, temporal, and parietal areas, during the study. Those over the age of 60 had the most pronounced results.

This finding doesn't definitively mean sleep deprivation or having trouble falling asleep causes brains to shrink, though. It could be the other way around, according to study author Claire E. Sexton, who is out of the University of Oxford.

Sexton wrote by email that it's possible that "greater rates of decline in brain volumes may make it more difficult to get a good night's sleep." If true, that would suggest those in the study who had difficulty sleeping already had shrinking brains for whatever reason. Regardless of what caused what, Sexton doesn't think everyone with difficulty sleeping should now rush out to get brain MRIs.

"I would not say that our findings should be a cause for concern for people," wrote Sexton by email. "Previous studies have linked several factors with an increased rate of decline in brain volumes, such as physical inactivity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Our study indicates that sleep is also an important factor, and since there are many effective treatments for sleep disorders, it could be an exciting avenue through which to promote brain health."

Past studies, that have linked poor sleep habits to everything from weak immune systems to dementia, make this finding not too shocking to those in the medical world. It seemed to naturally follow from existing research. But the sleep-deprived need not worry quite yet that their brains are declining since the study did not directly show a cause and effect between sleep habits and brain size. VISIT Soutce

ANIMALS. 

Mike the Headless Chicken (April 20, 1945 – March 17, 1947), also known as Miracle Mike, was a Wyandotte chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off. Although the story was thought by many to be a hoax, the bird's owner took him to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to establish the facts.

On September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, Colorado, was planning to eat supper with his mother-in-law and was sent out to the yard by his wife to bring back a chicken. Olsen chose a five-and-a-half-month-old Wyandotte chicken named Mike. The axe removed the bulk of the head, but missed the jugular vein, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact.

Due to Olsen's failed attempt to behead Mike, the chicken was still able to balance on a perch and walk clumsily. He attempted to preen, peck for food, and crow, though with limited success; his "crowing" consisted of a gurgling sound made in his throat. When Mike did not die, Olsen instead decided to care for the bird. He fed it a mixture of milk and water via an eyedropper, and gave it small grains of corn and worms.

Once his fame had been established, Mike began a career of touring sideshows in the company of such other creatures as a two-headed baby. He was also photographed for dozens of magazines and papers, and was featured in Time and Life magazines. Mike was put on display to the public for an admission cost of 25 cents. At the height of his popularity, the chicken's owner earned US$4,500 per month ($51,500 today); Mike was valued at $10,000.

In March 1947, at a motel in Phoenix on a stopover while traveling back from tour, Mike started choking in the middle of the night. He had managed to get a kernel of corn in his throat. The Olsens had inadvertently left their feeding and cleaning syringes at the sideshow the day before, and so were unable to save Mike. Olsen claimed that he had sold the bird off, resulting in stories of Mike still touring the country as late as 1949. Other sources say that the chicken's severed trachea could not properly take in enough air to be able to breathe, and it therefore choked to death in the MOTEL.  VISIT Source

TIME. 

Snails are fascinating creatures. They're hermaphrodites. The diameter of their shells can be microscopic to over a few feet. Their greatest weakness is lack of moisture, and salt can kill them.

But the fascinating facts don't stop there. Snails also have bizarre sleeping habits. They can sleep for hours at a time or up to three years.

According to a 2011 study, researchers found that the sleep cycle of snails tends to follow a two to three-day period, as opposed to the 24-hour cycle of humans. Even more interesting, they found that within that two to three day period, snails will experience seven periods of sleep over the first 13 to 15 hours, followed by 30 hours of alertness and ACTIVITY.  VISIT Source

HUMAN BODY

Rods and cones, they’re the components in your eyes that help you see light and colors. They’re located inside the retina. That’s a layer of thin tissue at the back of your eyeball near your optic nerve. Rods and cones are crucial to sight. Rods are sensitive to light and are important for allowing you to see in the dark. Cones are responsible for allowing you to see colors.

Most people, as well as other primates like gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees, even some marsupialsTrusted Source, only see color through three different types of cones. This color visualization system is known as trichromacy (“three colors”).

But some evidence exists that there are people who have four distinct color perception channels. This is known as tetrachromacy.

Tetrachromacy is thought to be rare among human beings. Research shows that it’s more common in women than in men. A 2010 study suggests that nearly 12 percent of women may have this fourth color perception channel.

Men aren’t as likely to be tetrachromats. Men are actually more likely to be color blind or unable to perceive as many colors as women. This is due to inherited abnormalities in their cones.

Tetrachromats have one extra type of cone that allows them to see the fourth dimensionality of colors. It results from a genetic mutation. And there’s indeed a good genetic reason why tetrachromats are more likely to be women. The tetrachromacy mutation is only passed through the X CHROMOSOME.  VISIT Source