Ever driven while asleep? No? Are you sure? In America people fall asleep at the wheel all the time. Many sleep experiences are microsleeps, brief “lapses of attention” where much of your brain is asleep – but not necessarily all of it. Microsleeps are generally just seconds long. On the highway, a three second highway microsleep means […]
The Anti-Relaxation Movement
Chill out, calm down, chillax. We hear these messages frequently. The truth is, most of us don’t care to comply. In our time, we have seen the rise of the anti-relaxation movement. Given the choice between lowering tension and increasing arousal and excitation, loads of us prefer sensory overload to sensual enlargement. But it’s not […]
All Coked Up (8/25/14)
Coke Channels Its Inner Monster Stoked and coked. The coca in Coca Cola was cocaine until 1929. Now the corporate giant has bought about of fifth of Monster Energy Drinks for $2.15 billion, hoping to further caffeinate its products and profits – and us. Why Did Coke Buy Monster? Money. The energy drink “niche” is […]
Make It (Money) While You Fake It (11/11/13)
Herbal or Verbal? We’ve said it before but it’s more true than we knew – herbal medicines often don’t contain what they claim. New research looking at “DNA barcoding” found widespread fraud in herbal medicines. How Do We Know? Researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario did a blind DNA test on 44 herbal […]
Driving While Asleep
Safe Driving? Recently Toyota unveiled a new self-driving Lexus – joining a very long list of manufacturers working on self-directed transport. We may need self driving cars soon. People are falling asleep at the wheel – all the time. The CDC and You Recently the Centers for Disease Control conducted a large telephone survey. Nearly […]