Time for a nap
Brainy people get to dream a little more than not-quite-so-brainy people, correlationally speaking, if their brains and genomes accord with the findings of researchers from the University of the Republic in Uruguay, University College London and the Broad Institute in Massachusetts.
鈥淥ur findings suggest a modest causal association between habitual daytime napping and larger total brain volume,鈥� the researchers say in a published in the journal Sleep Health.
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They crunched numbers obtained from brain scans and genetic information. The crunching involved brain sizes (normalised, says the report, for people鈥檚 head sizes) from one group of people. The crunching also made use of other, genetically-similar-in-some-ways people鈥檚 answers to the question 鈥渄o you have a nap during the day?鈥�.
The team notes that 鈥渘apping is notoriously difficult to measure using objective methods鈥�. Fighting to overcome that difficulty, the numerical crunching joined together genome info from the scanned group and the nap-queried group. Previous research had produced the knowledge 鈥� or suspicion 鈥� that certain stretches of DNA seem to be associated with a person鈥檚 proclivity to nap.
Feedback is eager to see the modesty of the causal association evident in future head-size-normalised, genome-augmented studies, if there are any, of habitual daytime napping in huge and tiny animals (elephants, perhaps, and fruit flies), in notoriously nap-loving dogs and cats, and in two and three-toed sloths. Thanks to Kit Thompson for awakening us to this line of research.
Beyond sloth sleep
杏吧原创s have been awake to many facets of sloths, but not so much to their hair.
Perhaps the most beloved sloth study was done 15 years ago and given the title 鈥溾��. It looked at electroencephalogram recordings of snoozing 鈥渂rown-throated three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegatus) inhabiting the canopy of a tropical rainforest鈥�. That experience led the researchers, a team from Germany, Switzerland, the US and Panama, to 鈥渟uggest that sleep in the wild may be markedly different from that in captivity鈥�.
Now, awakened to the range of sloth unknowns, an Australian team has published a study called 鈥溾��. The researchers hasten to explain their interest: 鈥渆xtensive studies have been conducted on sloth phylogeny, anatomy and locomotion, suspensory lifestyle, mutualism and even their sleeping habits. However, in comparison, there are fewer articles that concentrate on another unusual feature of these ancient creatures 鈥� their hair.鈥�
After studying hairs from two-toed and three-toed species of sloth, the researchers report that, in most respects, 鈥渢heir hairs did not differ greatly from each other or from that found in other mammals鈥�.
Apples and onions
Elizabeth Gilliard cries foul over a medical team鈥檚 inconclusive conclusion, as reported by Feedback on 12 August, that 鈥渢he effects of apples and apple derivatives on disease risk reduction are both challenging and encouraging鈥�.
鈥淭he present day maxim is a corruption,鈥� Elizabeth tells Feedback, because 鈥渢he original was 鈥榓n onion a day keeps the doctor away鈥�, and a roast onion is still reckoned good for colds.鈥�
Researchers in the US looked at the apple/onion distinction, then presented their findings at the American Thoracic Society鈥檚 2023 International Conference in Washington DC. They called their report 鈥溾��.
The researchers got their data from a 鈥渇ood frequency questionnaire鈥� carried out in 2003-2004 that asked people about their 鈥渃onsumption of apples and onions in the previous 12 months鈥�. The data convinced them, they report, of at least three things. First, that eating at least an onion a day resulted in slightly greater odds of 鈥渘ot having a head or chest cold鈥� if you were one of the people who answered that survey. Second, that there was no such association with eating apples.
Third, that quercetin, 鈥渁 flavonoid abundant in onions and apples鈥� and 鈥渁 key component of the Mediterranean diet鈥�, may be 鈥渁 biologically plausible therapeutic to prevent/treat acute respiratory illness鈥�. But, they add, maybe traditionally, more research is needed.
Eclipse of a meeting
Two persistent activities that physicists pride themselves on: achieving higher accuracy and seeking awareness of confounding factors. The American Physical Society (APS) displayed both qualities in this : 鈥淭he 2024 APS April Meeting dates have been adjusted to Wednesday, April 3, through Saturday, April 6, 2024 鈥� three days earlier than initially planned.鈥�
鈥淭he decision to shift the dates,鈥� it goes on to say, 鈥渨as driven by member feedback regarding the total solar eclipse that will take place on April 8, 2024.鈥�
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Marc Abrahams created the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and co-founded the magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Earlier, he worked on unusual ways to use computers. His website is .