MindHacks.Org

The unrelenting pace of scientific discovery makes us more knowledgeable of our own minds and bodies with every coming year.

Here's what scientist learned in 2006.

1. U.S. life expectancy in 2005 inched up to a record high of 77.9 years.
2. The part of the brain that regulates reasoning, impulse control and judgment is still under construction during puberty and doesn't shift into autopilot until about age 25.
3. Blue light fends off drowsiness in the middle of the night, which could be useful to people who work at night.
4. Scientists have discovered that certain brain chemicals in our tears are natural pain relievers.
5. A sex gene responsible for making embryos male and forming the testes is also produced by the brain region targeted by Parkinson's disease, a discovery that may explain why more men than women develop the degenerative disorder.
6. A gene for a light-sensitive protein in the eye is what resets the body's "internal clock."
7. Red wine contains anti-inflammatory chemicals that stave off diseases affecting the gums and bone around the teeth.
8. At least once a week, 28 percent of high school students fall asleep in school, 22 percent fall sleep while doing homework and 14 percent get to school late or miss school because they overslept.
9. Women gain weight when they move in with a boyfriend because their diet deteriorates, but men begin to eat more healthy food when they set up a home with a female partner.
10. Around the world, middle-aged and elderly men tend to be more satisfied with their sex lives than women in the same age group, a new survey shows.
11. Just 30 minutes of continuous kissing can diminish the body's allergic reaction to pollen, relaxing the body and reducing production of histamine, a chemical cell given out in response to allergens.
12. DNA analysis determined the British descended from a tribe of Spanish fishermen who crossed the Bay of Biscay almost 6,000 years ago.
13. Most of us have microscopic, wormlike mites named Demodex that live in our eyelashes and have claws and a mouth.
14. Sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday can disturb your body clock, leaving you fatigued at the start of the week.
15. During the past five years, the existence of a peanut allergy in children has doubled.
16. Red wines from southwest France and Sardinia boast the highest concentrations of chemical compounds that promote heart health.
17. One of the most effective ways for athletes to recover after exercise is to drink a glass of chocolate milk.

From Jeff Houck, The Tampa Tribune

Full Article Here >>

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 at 9:21 pm and is filed under Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.