Science | The Guardian

Smell has an outsize effect on our thoughts and moods, so it's worth paying more attention to itIf you have been on holiday recently, do you think you could recall and describe what the place smelled like? You probably don't get asked that question very often. And yet, the characteristic smell of a place seems to contain its special essence. Photos can't truly bring back the feeling of being there, but smell has that power.Our sense of smell develops before we're born, and it is strongly linked to brain centres associated with creating new memories and perceiving emotions andbodily sensations. As a result, smells can merge these together, forming vividly personal memories. Most of us have smells that act as a trigger, transporting us to another time and place; for some it is the ocean breeze in summer, for others it might be urban smells of coffee houses, exhaust fumes or a hot pavement on a sunny day. I remember moving to Chicago after completing my PhD in Sweden 15 years ago. In the taxi from the train station, amid the gloomy midwestern winter, I realised the entire city was doused in the mostincredible chocolate smell. I opened the window and took a deep sniff. That familiar scent, coming from a chocolate factory on the west side of town, immediately made me feel at ease. I believe Proust was right when he wrote that smells contain the vast structure of recollection". Continue reading...

Even average use of nitrogen fertilisers cut flower numbers fivefold and halved pollinating insectsUsing high levels of common fertilisers on grassland halves pollinator numbers and drastically reduces the number of flowers, research from the world's longest-running ecological experiment has found.Increasing the amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus doused on agricultural grassland reduced flower numbers fivefold and halved the number of pollinating insects, according to the paper by the University of Sussex and Rothamsted Research. Continue reading...

A head-scratching hat puzzleUPDATE: Read the solutions hereToday's puzzle retrospectively commemorates UNESCO's World Logic Day, which took place last week. (The date, January 14, is both the day Kurt Godel died and the day Alfred Tarski was born, a calendrical coincidence that links the pre-eminent logicians of the twentieth century.)It is a logic puzzle and, as is typical for the genre, concerns a group of clever people wearing colourful headwear. Continue reading...

The bright beacon of Venus will be a brilliant white, with the distant and fainter Saturn a muted yellowVenus continues to shine like a brilliant beacon in the evening sky. This week it draws close to Saturn, offering an opportunity to see the nearest and further planets that are readily available to the naked eye.The chart shows the view looking south-west from London on 20 January at 18.30 GMT. On this evening, Venus will be approximately 90m km from us, whereas Saturn is out at 1,540m km. Continue reading...

New research into the single-celled organism is providing clues about what the early planet looked like - and raising the prospect that we may not be alone in the universeFor scientists, our earliest ancestor wasn't Adam or Eve but Luca. Luca didn't look anything like us - it was a single-celled bacterium-like organism. A recent study by a team of scientists based in the UK has delivered rather shocking news about this illustrious forebear. Despite having lived almost as far back as seems possible, Luca was surprisingly similar to modern bacteria - and what's more, it apparently lived in a thriving community of other organisms that have left no trace on Earth today.Luca - short for the last universal common ancestor, the progenitor of all known life on Earth - seems to have been born 4.2bn years ago. Back then our planet was no Eden but something of a hell on Earth: a seething mass of volcanoes pummelled by giant meteorites, and having recovered from a cosmic collision that blasted the world apart and created the moon from some of the fragments. There is good reason why the geological aeon before 4bn years ago is called the Hadean, after the Greek god of the underworld Hades. Continue reading...

In the hit TV reality show, as in life, we like to think we are autonomous. In fact, we follow the herdWhat explains the stupendous success of The Traitors? More than 9 million people tuned in to the first episode of this, its third season, and last week it overtook Strictly Come Dancing to become the BBC's most watched reality show. With this sort of trajectory, I'm afraid we must prepare for thousands of imitators to follow in its wake. So what should they be trying to do?Part of the attraction of the show is its host, Claudia Winkleman, who presides over the setting - a luscious castle in Scotland - in the manner of a campy gothic headmistress: talking softly to owls, ruthlessly ordering contestants into coffins and gunge, and all the while managing to navigate the set through the tiny sliver of daylight between low fringe and high roll-necked jumper. Continue reading...

People with post-infectious diseases sometimes struggle to communicate the debilitating impact of their conditions. But a new technique can help them explain visuallyPost-infectious diseases such as long Covid and ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) pose a puzzle to the medical establishment. Patients report debilitating symptoms such as extreme fatigue, shortness of breath or muscle pain, but often show normal results on routine medical checkups. And many sufferers do not look ill, leading some to question the severity of their disease. In the absence of diagnostic tools or an understanding of the pathophysiological processes, many sufferers find it difficult to share their experiences. They lack a verbal language that expresses the true impact of the illness.Now, researchers from Oxford University are using the technique of body mapping" to help patients better communicate the physical, cognitive and emotional dimensions of their illness to family, friends and health professionals. Continue reading...

WHO is critical in protecting US business interests', says CEO of firm that may see lean years if Trump carries out vowThe World Health Organization (WHO) could see lean years ahead if the US withdraws membership under the new Trump administration. Such a withdrawal, promised on the first day of Donald Trump's new administration, would in effect cut the multilateral agency's funding by one-fifth.The severe cut would be uncharted territory for the WHO, potentially curtailing public health works globally, pressuring the organization to attract private funding, and providing an opening for other countries to influence the organization. Other countries are not expected to make up the funding loss. Continue reading...

From a starter' of dishing out compliments to a dessert' of smashing laptops in rage rooms, scientists and authors share 15 portion-sized' ideas for a positivity boostDopamine has a reputation as the body's feelgood" hormone, but it's really more about motivation than about positive affect", says happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky. This is the chemical that nudges you towards things you enjoy, helping you muster the effort required to attend a party you're on the fence about, then showering you with a sense of reward when you actually have a great time. Dopamine works with other neurotransmitters like serotonin to give you a sense of momentum: do one thing to give yourself a mood boost, and the cascading effects of that decision can help you break out of a rut and resuscitate your zest for life. January, with its clean slate, is the ideal time to rev this process up.Enter the concept of the dopamine menu: a fresh sheet of stimulating activities designed to lift your spirits: quick starters" that take relatively little time and effort to pull off; more substantial mains"; and subtle sides" or indulgent desserts". Continue reading...

Starship test sent orange-glowing shards streaking over northern Caribbean and forced airlines to divert flightsThe US Federal Aviation Administration and officials from the Turks and Caicos Islands have launched investigations into SpaceX's explosive Starship rocket test that sent debris streaking over the northern Caribbean and forced airlines to divert dozens of flights.There are no reports of public injury, and the FAA is working with SpaceX and appropriate authorities to confirm reports of public property damage on Turks and Caicos," said the FAA, which oversees private rocket launch activity. Continue reading...

A doorbell camera captured the moment a meteorite hit the front porch of a home in Canada Continue reading...

Sound was also recorded in footage of space rock hitting house entranceway, producing cloud of smoke and a crackleA doorbell camera on a Canadian home has captured rare video and sound of a meteorite striking Earth as it crashed into a couple's walkway.When Laura Kelly and her partner returned home after an evening walk, they were surprised to find their walkway littered with dust and strange debris, according to the Meteoritical Society, which posted the video with its report. Continue reading...

Donald Trump and SpaceX owner Elon Musk have ambitious plans in space. Are they shooting for the moon?As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House next week with Elon Musk at his side, the pair are planning to write the next chapter in US spaceflight history with an ambitious agenda that includes the first human footprints on Mars.How many of their grandiose aspirations get cemented into official US space policy and what gets left on the launchpad remains to be seen. But analysts envision a lively few years from the partnership between Musk, the enthusiastic billionaire founder of SpaceX, and Trump, who exploited US achievements in space during his first term for some jingoistic flag-waving. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Scientists at UCL hope one-off dose of powerful hallucinogenic could help drinkers reduce intakeA powerful psychedelic that is used in healing ceremonies by Indigenous groups in the Amazon is being trialled as a pioneering approach to reduce problematic alcohol consumption.Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is the active ingredient in ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic brew that has been used for thousands of years by shamans in South America. Scientists based at University College London are testing whether a one-off dose of the drug could help hazardous drinkers who want to reduce their alcohol intake.The study is currently recruiting volunteers, who need to be regular drinkers aged 21 to 65 who do not have a formal diagnosis of alcohol disorder. Continue reading...

Thermal bath complex is latest discovery among ruins of Italian city destroyed by Vesuvius eruption in AD79A large and sophisticated thermal bath complex that was believed to have been used by its owner to woo well-heeled guests has been discovered among the ruins of ancient Pompeii.The baths were found during excavations of a home on Via di Nola in Regio IX, a wealthy district of the city before it was destroyed by the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Continue reading...

Negative stereotypes linked to some accents raise serious concerns of bias in justice system, warn researchersResearchers have said a study that found people who speak with accents perceived as working class are more likely to be suspected of committing a crime raises serious concerns" about bias in the UK criminal justice system.People with accents from Liverpool, Newcastle, Bradford and London risked being stereotyped, according to research led by the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University. Continue reading...

Scientists say frog's journey shows difficulty of spotting insects or fungi spread by global plant tradeA tiny tree frog hitchhiking in a bunch of roses to Sheffield from Colombia has inspired a study into invasive species reaching the UK's shores.Dr Silviu Petrovan, a researcher in the University of Cambridge's zoology department and a senior author of a paper published today in the journal BioScience, had his interest piqued when he was asked to identify a live frog found in roses in a florist's shop in Sheffield. Continue reading...

The Guardian's health editor Andrew Gregory explores the promises and challenges of revolutionary technology in the fight against cancerDecades ago, the treatment options for cancer patients could be summed up in three words: cut, burn, poison.As the Guardian's health editor, Andrew Gregory, explains, it was a shorthand for the limited choices open to oncologists and their patients - surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy - at a time when a cancer diagnosis was often understood to be a death sentence. Continue reading...

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad. The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights

Rocket's six engines appeared to shut down one after another after nearly nine minutes, while booster returnedSpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight on Thursday, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad.Elon Musk's company said the spacecraft's six engines appeared to shut down one by one, with contact lost just 8min 30sec into the flight. Continue reading...

International research also reveals conscientious or agreeable children are likely to receive preferential treatmentAs Philip Larkin once noted, your mum and dad have a lasting effect on you. Now, researchers have revealed which siblings in a family are more likely to be favoured: it is bad news for sons.Researchers have found daughters, older children and those who are more conscientious or agreeable are likely to receive preferential treatment. Continue reading...

Suni Williams got a change of scenery after a one-week mission stretched to months following capsule problemsOne of Nasa's two stuck astronauts got a much-welcomed change of scenery on Thursday, stepping out on her first spacewalk since arriving at the International Space Station more than seven months ago.Suni Williams, the station's commander, had to tackle some overdue outdoor repair work alongside Nasa's Nick Hague. They emerged as the orbiting lab sailed 260 miles (420km) above Turkmenistan. Continue reading...

If successful, Rocket Factory Augsburg will become first company in Europe to carry out vertical launch into orbitThe UK has granted permission to send the first rocket into space from the Shetland Islands to a German startup that plans to launch a craft as early as this year.Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Thursday it had awarded the vertical launch licence to Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) to take off from SaxaVord spaceport in the archipelago 50 miles (80km) north of Scotland's mainland. Continue reading...

Potential looting and commercial trips pose risk to artefacts left by lunar landings, says World Monuments FundThe moon has been placed on a list of threatened heritage sites, owing to fears of potential looting and destruction caused by planned commercial trips.The watchlist of the World Monuments Fund (WMF) usually includes vulnerable cultural sites on Earth. This year's selection - the first since 2022 - includes Qhapaq Nan, a pre-Hispanic Andean road system. Antakya in Turkey and the Noto peninsula in Japan, which were damaged by earthquakes, also made the list. Continue reading...

With vaccine sceptic as Trump pick to lead US health policy, parents and advocates anticipate devastating changesA political battle over school-based Covid protocols in early 2021 quickly turned personal for one Colorado family, whose son's cystic fibrosis - a life-threatening genetic disease affecting the lungs and other vital organs - made him susceptible to complications from the virus.Kate Gould said the classroom became a dangerous place for her son after hardline conservatives took over the Douglas county school board and the district removed masking requirements. Continue reading...

Launch of Amazon founder's New Glenn craft on second attempt ramps up rivalry between tech billionairesJeff Bezos's Blue Origin company hailed a new era" in commercial spaceflight on Thursday after its giant New Glenn rocket made a long-awaited successful maiden launch from Florida.The spectacular early morning liftoff from Cape Canaveral space force station was a milestone moment for Bezos's rivalry with fellow billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has stolen a march in Nasa's reliance on private industry for satellite and crewed launches in lower Earth orbit. Continue reading...

The mutatio, on Ermin Street linking Silchester and Gloucester, would have provided a place for travellers to rest or change horsesAt Gloucester services on the M5, travellers are resting and refuelling, taking a break from the demands of the road.Just a few miles east, scores of archaeologists are completing a two-year project that has unearthed a forerunner of the site, a 2,000-year-old Roman take on the service station. Continue reading...

Last year was full of unexpected science news, from a new strain of Mpox emerging in the DRC, to artificial intelligence dominating the Nobel prizes and two astronauts getting stuck' in space. So what will this year bring? Ian Sample and science correspondent Hannah Devlin discuss the big stories likely to hit the headlines and share their predictions for 2025Clips: France 24, Super Data Science podcast, R. DigitalSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

Ed Miliband says funding pledge means Britain within grasping distance' of secure, clean, unlimited energy'The UK government has promised a record 410m investment in nuclear fusion which could help construct a world-leading fusion power project on the site of an old coal plant in Nottinghamshire.Ministers hope the funding, which will be made available for the coming financial year, will support the rapid development of the UK fusion energy sector and deliver a future powered by limitless clean energy". Continue reading...

Privately built spacecraft from Texas-based Firefly and Japan's ispace will conduct experiments for future missionsTwo privately built lunar landers were speeding towards the moon on Wednesday after space start-ups from Texas and Japan split the cost of an early-hours ride aboard a SpaceX Falcon rocket.The 1.11am ET launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Center saw a rover from the Tokyo company ispace share cargo space with a lander from Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace, whose Blue Ghost Mission 1 will conduct a number of experiments for Nasa after it touches down in early March.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

Study highlights role of women in Celtic Britain and challenges assumptions most societies were patrilocalFrom Neanderthals to royal courts, history seems awash with women upping sticks to join men's families, but researchers have found that the tables were turned in Britain's Celtic communities.Researchers studying DNA from iron age individuals in Britain have found evidence that men moved to join their wives' families - a practice known as matrilocality. Continue reading...

Looking back through her post bag, Observer Magazine's Philippa Perry answers her readers most commonly asked question: why are other people so awful?From my many years as a therapist and advice columnist, I've started to see clear patterns in the problems that bother my readers the most. And I can confirm that Sartre was right: hell is other people. It's difficult relationships with those around us that cause the most anguish. It's such a common theme that I've given a lecture on the subject: Why are other people so awful? To help you into the new year, here's my advice on this most commonly experienced problem.Struggles in connecting to others - or, more specifically, the tension between wanting connection and feeling disconnected - can manifest in many ways. As well as difficulties in existing relationships, such struggles can also make you feel lonely or alienated. Continue reading...

Luke Evans, whose work has been called breathtakingly new', says he has lost experimental data and all equipmentA scientist in Liverpool has lost more than a decade of work after the prefabricated building that served as his research lab was destroyed in a suspected arson attack.Luke Evans, the chief executive of Scintilla CME and a PhD student at the University of Liverpool, was due to submit his work in March. His research centres on advanced fuel cell technology that converts organic waste into clean energy, and could be crucial in the transition away from fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Expert says the planet parade will be best viewed around 21 January and recommends downloading a sky map app to help spot them

Experts believe H5N1 bird flu belongs in a growing category of infectious diseases that can cause pandemics across many species. But there are ways to reduce the risksBird flu poses a threat that is unique and new in our lifetime" because it has become a panzootic" that can kill huge numbers across multiple species, experts warn. For months, highly pathogenic bird flu, or H5N1, has been circulating in dairy farms, with dozens of human infections reported among farm workers. It has now jumped into more than 48 species of mammals, from bears to dairy cows, causing mass die-offs in sea lions and elephant seal pups. Last week, the first person in the US died of the infection.This ability to infect, spread between, and kill such a wide range of creatures has prompted some scientists to call H5N1 a panzootic": an epidemic that leaps species barriers and can devastate diverse animal populations, posing a threat to humans too. As shrinking habitats, biodiversity loss and intensified farming create perfect incubators for infectious diseases to jump from one species to another, some scientists say panzootics could become one of the era's defining threats to human health and security. Continue reading...

The current wave of marches and activism around the world is the largest in documented history, giving scientists the chance to study what makes for a successful campaignOn 27 September last year, three climate activists were arrested for throwing soup over Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh at the National Gallery. The Just Stop Oil protest landed on the national front pages. But will the action help further the activists' cause to end fossil fuels?Scientists are beginning to find answers to this question. The number of protests more than tripled between 2006 and 2020 and researchers are working out which tactics are most likely to change public opinion, influence voting behaviour, change policy or even overthrow political regimes. Continue reading...

They may stare into space from shonky-looking booths, but these citizen scientists have helped discover comets, dangerous asteroids and more Continue reading...

Defiance isn't a one-size-fits-all prescription,' says psychologist Sunita Sah - here's what happened when I gave it a whirlGiving in to a pushy salesperson. Keeping quiet when you witness a workplace interaction that strikes you as unjust. Biting your tongue when a hairstylist declares that life is not worth living without micro-bangs. We've all been there. We've all caved in.Thank goodness for Sunita Sah's spirited book, Defy: The Power of No in a World that Demands Yes, which unpacks the act - and art - of refusal. The Yorkshire-raised physician, organizational psychologist and Cornell Business School professor's manifesto is a rousing call to action - or inaction, as it may be. She has researched our inclinations to submit to others' suggestions, expectations and orders, even when they entail putting our core beliefs and best interests on the back burner. Continue reading...

Wider sample used data from across 29 countries and 5m people, with a quarter from non-European ancestriesA global study has identified 300 previously unknown genetic risk factors for depression because it included a much wider population sample.According to the World Health Organization, 3.8% of the population has depression at any one time, affecting about 280 million people. Continue reading...

As wildfires continue to cause devastation in Los Angeles, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Albert van Dijk, professor of water science and management at the Australian National University, about how rising temperatures are causing rapid swings in extreme weatherClips: CBS News, CBS Sunday Morning, King 5 SeattleClimate crisis wreaking havoc' on Earth's water cycle, report finds Continue reading...

Study has linked a soft and liquid diet to smaller jaw size in children, but others say evolution is more likely the causeUltra-processed foods (UPFs) have caused concern among experts for their potential impact on human health, but now scientists have warned they might also affect how our bodies develop, in particular our jaws.We take a look at the issue and explore what, if anything, should be done. Continue reading...

In this fascinating book, the neuroscientist makes a strong case for the therapeutic force of music, describing ways in which it can be a beneficial part of recovery for patientsThat great music can up be uplifting, transportive, transcendent - and conversely sorrowful or deeply unsettling - is a given, but its power to heal in the medicinal sense strikes me as a much more difficult proposition to prove. In Music As Medicine, Daniel Levitin makes a valiant attempt to do just that, citing in his introductory chapter heavyweights such as Confucius - Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without" - and Plato - More than anything else, rhythm and harmonyfind their way into theinmost soul and take hold uponit".While both these statements attest to the deep pleasure to be derived from music - its soothing rather than healing properties - perhaps the most pertinent quote comes from the late Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and author of bestselling books such as The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and The Island of the Colourblind. Sacks was an enthusiastic piano player who, according to Levitin tackled Bach fugues with great joy and exuberance". He once described his clinical approach as essentially a musical one - I diagnose by the feeling of discordancy or some peculiarity of harmony." As Michael Rossato-Bennett's 2014 documentary Alive Inside shows, the impact of music on people can sometimes be spectacular: one 92-year-old man, Henry Dryer, whose days in a nursing home werepassed in a near catatonic state, suddenly became excited when played music from his youth- as Levitin puts it, singing joyfully and reminiscing". Continue reading...

Controllers scrap launch of 320ft New Glenn rocket due to unspecified issue in final minutes of countdownBlue Origin called off the debut launch of its new rocket early on Monday because of technical trouble.The 320ft (98-meter) New Glenn rocket was supposed to blast off before dawn with a prototype satellite from Florida's Cape Canaveral space force station. But launch controllers had to deal with an unspecified rocket issue in the final minutes of the countdown and ran out of time. Once the countdown clock was halted, they immediately began draining all the fuel from the rocket. Continue reading...

The notion that it's bad to be brought up without siblings should be banished for goodWhen I was growing up, only children were generally regarded as unfortunate souls; lonely, socially clumsy and often bullied. Partly, this was because they were unusual back then, and as those who've observed just about any species know, unusual individuals tend to be singled out by the pack. Today we live in a different world. From the late 1960s and 70s, the contraceptive pill, women's increasing control over their lives and IVF meant that parents were better able to plan their families and often chose to make them smaller. The single child no longer stuck out so much.But the stereotype has proved to be tenacious - so much so that many people still feel anxiety about the issue: parents over whether they have deprived their child of the experience of having siblings, only children that they may have missed out on a crucial part of theirdevelopment. Continue reading...

As science misinformation takes hold in the White House, those seeking to set the record straight need to meet people where they areYears ago, a pediatrician told me a story about vaccinating one of his patients. He had carefully drawn up the dose, flicked away the bubbles, and was about to administer the needle when the child suddenly started seizing. Everything ended up fine, but had the seizure started seconds later, could anything have convinced the mother it wasn't because of the vaccine?Vaccination is a miracle of modern medicine, but there's still something bizarre about being jabbed with a weakened pathogen - or some other mysterious substance. To get vaccinated, then, is an act of trust. Continue reading...

As commercial space activity ramps up, detritus from launches poses a risk to active satellites and those of us down on EarthLast month, people in a small village in Kenya looked to the sky and saw a red glowing ring slowly descending. The half-tonne piece of metal crashed into a nearby thicket with a loud bang, leaving them shaken and perplexed. What was the mysterious object? Was it an alien spacecraft? Sadly, the truth of the matter was much more prosaic: it was a piece of space junk.The Kenya Space Agency identified the object as a separation ring from a launch rocket. Such objects are usually designed to burn up as they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere or to fall over unpopulated areas, leading the agency to declare this as an isolated case". Continue reading...

Experts say mental health treatment is key to tackling rise in UK, rather than simply reclassifying drug as class AIt was once viewed as a fringe club drug whose use as a horse tranquilliser gave it a dirty" reputation. But with illegal ketamine use reaching record levels, the Home Office announced last week that it was considering reclassifying it as a class A drug in response to a dramatic increase in use among young people.An estimated 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 reported ketamine use in the year ending March 2023 in England and Wales, the largest number on record, according to Home Office data. Behind the headline figures, there is also evidence of a troubling culture shift, with an increasing number of people taking the drug, which has dissociative, anaesthetic and psychedelic effects, at home rather than in an occasional party setting. This heightens the risk of dependency, experts say, which can lead to devastating health consequences. Continue reading...

The red planet is only about 60m miles away and will also be directly opposite the sun for maximum lightIt's all about Mars this week. The planet is at its closest approach to Earth for the next two years and will experience a close conjunction with the moon at the same time as drawing opposite to the sun in the sky.Like a runner on the inside track, Earth laps Mars every two years or so, and this is currently happening. On 12 January, the two planets were at their closest, separated by only 59.7m miles (96.1m kilometres). Continue reading...

Antimicrobial resistance threatens many of the gains of modern medicine, making even routine surgery much riskier. Some scientists believe phages, lurking in every corner of the planet, offer hope

Dreaming is vital to our mental health - and it is possible to use them for our own goodDreams are pure emotional and cognitive gold. Those often surreal, fragmented images and plot lines that can instantly evaporate when we open our eyes, allow us not only to explore the themes and challenges of our day, but to step into the what-ifs of tomorrow.Whether we remember our dreams or not, our brain and dreams are multi-tasking to the nth degree while we sleep. Together, they are shunting keeper memories into our memory bank, ditching others that don't make the grade and strengthening positive emotions. They are weakening negative or traumatic ones, bolstering our stress resilience, cognitive function, problem-solving capabilities and our mental health. All of which explains the emotional rollercoaster that can come with sleep deprivation and insomnia (I've been there). Because when we're sleep-deprived, we're dream-deprived, robbed of those invaluable sleep-dependent perks that give us a depth of insight and emotional processing that's out of reach to our waking selves. Continue reading...