Health and Wellbeing

The rejuvenating power of naps has been known about for some time, with various studies showing that even a short nap can increase alertness. While a nap of around two hours is of most benefit as it encompasses all stages of sleep, a power nap of up to 30 minutes is certainly better than nothing. It's not long enough for you to enter deep sleep (and consequently risk feeling worse than before), but it's long enough to take the edge off your need to actually go to bed. Whether such evidence would ever be enough to persuade a company to provide designated areas for workers to sleep is unclear, but CalmSpace exists for that very purpose.  Read More

Often, when people talk about children and the psychological effects of playing video games, it’s nothing good – there are certainly plenty of individuals who maintain that if a child spends too much time blowing away virtual enemies, they will become more aggressive, antisocial people in the real world. A new game developed at Boston Children's Hospital, however, is intended to do just the opposite. It helps children with anger problems to control their temper, so they’ll get along better with other people.  Read More

Despite the misgivings that many people have surrounding cow’s milk, it is a good source of nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D. Now, thanks to scientists at Melbourne University, special milk may also be used to protect people from HIV. Working with the Australian biotechnology company Immuron Ltd, a team led by Dr. Marit Kramski has vaccinated pregnant cows with an HIV protein – the first milk that those animals produced after giving birth contained HIV-disabling antibodies.  Read More

If someone feels motion sickness coming on, they don’t want to wait any longer than necessary for pills or capsules to take effect. With that in mind, scientists have created a chewing gum that they claim alleviates motion sickness faster than swallowed medications.  Read More

Fans of micromanagement have a new device to help them optimize diet, fitness, work production and sleep. Called larklife, the technology was designed by lark technologies and consists of a wristband that connects via Bluetooth to iOS-based smartphones. The new product adds another item to the growing wearable monitor market.  Read More

If you get a minor burn somewhere on the outside of your body, you can usually help dull the pain and promote healing by applying a piece of gauze and an ointment such as Polysporin. When you scald your tongue on a hot food or drink, however, you can’t exactly put a Band-Aid on it. That said, you may soon be able to apply a soothing medicated strip, instead.  Read More

In a world of complex fitness monitors, the Scosche RHYTHM Armband Pulse Monitor keeps things light and simple. The fitness monitor eliminates the heart rate strap common in other monitors and uses a lightweight interface to keep you focused on the workout, not a complex array of buttons and features.  Read More

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease can make a huge difference in the management of the disease, and this can be achieved by making testing procedures more easily accessible. For that reason, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers led by Ellen Yi-Luen Do have created a digital version of the Clock Drawing Test commonly used to detect cognitive impairment. The two-part evaluation does away with the paper and makes it easier for patients to get tested, besides giving doctors a more sophisticated tool for making assessments.  Read More

While the overall lung cancer five-year survival rate in the U.S. is 15 percent, the odds of survival increase significantly with early detection. However, the expense or invasiveness of current screening methods and the lack of symptoms at early stages of the disease means most people aren’t diagnosed until the cancer is well advanced. Findings by researchers at the University of York could pave the way for a simple blood test that would detect the disease even in its early stages.  Read More