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A UK company is making synthetic diamonds from carbon that's sucked out of the air. But just how eco-friendly are these manufactured gems? » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com A UK company named Skydiamond hopes to revolutionize the traditional diamond mining industry by using carbon capture technology to do just that. The company calls it a ‘zero-impact diamond’ because the process pulls carbon dioxide right out of the air. Although, a diamond traps only a modest amount of carbon — one carat contains just 200 milligrams. Pure carbon can take many forms — it all depends on how the atoms are arranged. Graphite is arranged into multiple layers, graphene in a single layer, and if it’s rolled-up, it forms carbon nanotubes. But when each carbon forms 4 strong bonds in a tetrahedral structure, it becomes a diamond. Most natural diamonds were formed over a billion years ago, more than 120 kilometers beneath the Earth’s surface. This is where intense temperature and pressure cause carbon atoms to strongly bond together and arrange into crystal structures. Volcanic eruptions bring these crystals embedded in magma to the surface. When the magma cools, it hardens in long vertical shafts called kimberlite pipes. And these pipes are what's sought after in the mining industry. #co2 #emissions #diamonds #seeker #science #elements Read More: Eco-friendly diamonds made from the sky https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/54734306 "t took the team more than five years to get the technique right, ensuring they are physically and chemically identical to Earth-mined diamonds. The diamonds - certified by the International Gemological Institute — take a couple of weeks to be made." Are laboratory-grown diamonds the more ethical choice to say 'I do'? https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/mar/10/diamonds-lab-grown-climate-change "Diamonds are formed naturally through a combination of heat, pressure and time, growing deep underground until deep-set volcanic eruptions bring them closer to the surface, ready to be excavated. Lab-grown versions recreate this using a fragment of diamond in a sealed chamber which is heated to extreme temperatures..." Why turning China's smog into diamonds isn’t as crazy as it sounds https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/why-turning-smog-into-diamonds-isn-t-as-crazy-as-it-sounds/ "After a pilot in Rotterdam, the Smog Free Project is coming to China. The project consists of two parts. First, a 7m tall tower sucks up polluted air, and cleans it at a nano-level. Second, the carbon from smog particles is turned into diamonds." ____________________ Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested on all the compelling, innovative and groundbreaking science happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond. Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe. Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker Seeker on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerMedia/ Seeker http://www.seeker.com/

For the first time ever, scientists have figured out a way to 3D print bones using living cells. A team at UNSW Sydney has developed a new technique that's taken us one step closer to directly 3D printing bones into a human body. » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com 3D printing has revolutionized our world, providing endless opportunities from printing homes, to even modeling organs. And now, scientists are tackling the challenge of incorporating living cells into bone-like structures using a new ceramic ink. This could one day allow surgeons to repair damaged bones by applying ink directly into the injury. Until now, if you needed a 3D printed bone it had to be premade in a lab somewhere, and the process involved using either high-temperature furnaces or toxic materials. Any living cells have to be added after the bone was printed. What’s cool about this new 3D printing technique is it eliminates the toxic chemicals and extreme heat by printing at room temperature with a unique new ink on demand and with live cells ready to grow. #3Dprinting #medicalresearch #science #seeker #elements Read More: 3D-Printing Resin for Dental Prosthetics Cleared by FDA https://www.plasticstoday.com/medical/3d-printing-resin-dental-prosthetics-cleared-fda Desktop Health announced today that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for Flexcera Base, a proprietary resin for use in 3D printing high-quality dental prosthetics. It reportedly improves on existing 3D-printed dentures because of its enhanced fracture resistance and appearance. 3D Printing Bone Directly Into the Body https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/devices/3d-printing-bone-directly-into-the-body Next, Roohani hopes to work with surgeons, dentists and others to explore healthcare and research applications of COBICS, and pursue a path to regulatory approval. In the US, the FDA has already signaled that 3D-printed bone technologies are eligible for FDA clearance. LEGO-Inspired 3D-Printed Bricks Help Broken Bones Heal Faster https://scitechdaily.com/lego-inspired-3d-printed-bricks-help-broken-bones-heal-faster/ Inspired by Lego blocks, the small, hollow bricks serve as scaffolding onto which both hard and soft tissue can regrow better than today’s standard regeneration methods, according to new research published in Advanced Materials on July 23, 2020 Each brick is 1.5 millimeters cubed, or roughly the size of a small flea. ____________________ Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in all the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond. Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe. Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker Seeker on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerMedia/ Seeker http://www.seeker.com/

Did you make a New Year's Resolution this year? Research shows that most people stop keeping up with these goals by February. Luckily, there are science-backed ways to break bad habits and form new healthy ones! » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com » Sign Up for Seeker's Newsletter! https://www.seeker.com/newsletters One strategy for breaking a bad habit is to make it harder to do. Psychologists call this increasing friction. If you’re constantly checking your phone, turn it over so you can’t see the screen, or put it in another room where it takes effort to get. At the center of every habit is a neurological pattern with 3 parts. First there’s a cue, or trigger, that tells your brain to go into auto-mode. Then there's the behavior, which is what we normally think of as the habit. The third step is the reward. Rewards cause your brain to release dopamine, a feel-good chemical that helps you remember the habit in the future. Let’s say you walk by the coffee shop everyday on your way to work.. triggering another craving for a cuppa joe and also lightening your bank account. You can avoid this habit by changing the environmental cue. Take a new route instead. But what makes a habit so easy to form in the first place? Functional MRI scans let researchers look into how brains respond to habitual and conscious tasks. The first time you do an action, brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus lights up. This is where a lot of decision-making and planning happens. But when tasks get repeated, activity moves into more rudimentary areas of the brain, like the putamen and the basal ganglia. These primitive areas use up less energy because a bunch of related actions get grouped together, an idea known as “chunking.” This turns the behavior into a habit. #seeker #science #elements #badhabits #howto #advice Read More: Can Brain Science Help Us Break Bad Habits? https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/10/28/can-brain-science-help-us-break-bad-habits In the modern era, habits have become a significant area of scientific inquiry. Psychologists have explored the genesis of habitual behavior and its impact on health and happiness. William James, echoing Aristotle, wrote, “All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits,—practical, emotional, and intellectual . . . bearing us irresistibly toward our destiny.” Distinctive brain pattern helps habits form https://news.mit.edu/2018/distinctive-brain-pattern-helps-habits-form-0208 MIT neuroscientists have now found that certain neurons in the brain are responsible for marking the beginning and end of these chunked units of behavior. These neurons, located in a brain region highly involved in habit formation, fire at the outset of a learned routine, go quiet while it is carried out, then fire again once the routine has ended. What Does It Really Take to Build a New Habit? https://hbr.org/2021/02/what-does-it-really-take-to-build-a-new-habit “There’s no such thing as 21 days to start a new habit,” Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, told me. “The amount of time it takes will vary from person to person.” Developing a pleasurable habit, like eating chocolate for breakfast, for instance, may take a day, while trying to exercise at 5 pm each evening may take much longer. ____________________ Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science that's happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond. Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe. Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker Seeker on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerMedia/ Seeker http://www.seeker.com/

Studying marine aerosols in the field is extremely tricky, so scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have brought the complexity of the ocean—complete with real waves—into the lab. Check out The Swim, now streaming on Discovery+ http://bit.ly/dplus-yt » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com For decades, scientists have speculated that there is a link between ocean microbes, cloud formation, and ultimately, climate. But the logistics of studying marine microbes in their native environment is hard. So an ambitious team of scientists at UCSD is trying to crack that problem by bringing the ocean into the lab to study its biological, physical, and chemical complexity like never before. This “ocean-in-a-lab” at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is a 33-meter long pool that mimics the action of real waves. The tank is enclosed and clean air is pumped in over the channel, allowing the isolated study of aerosol spray and gases, which could include viruses, bacteria, and phytoplankton. The first way marine aerosols form is through sea spray. When waves break at the ocean’s surface, bubbles burst, and sea spray containing salt and all those little microbes go airborne. These marine aerosols can affect the formation of clouds over the ocean. They act as “seeds” that water vapor and ice can cling to, condensing into tiny droplets that can eventually become clouds. some types of aerosols can make clouds that are bright and white, cooling things down. So aerosols can have a really big impact on the temperature of the planet. It’s one of the reasons the ocean is known as the planet’s thermostat, because it plays a large role in regulating climate. #oceanlab #oceanography #cloudformation #climate #space #seeker #science #elements Read More: NSF Awards Scripps Oceanography $2.8 Million to Develop Advanced Ocean and Atmosphere Simulator https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/national-science-foundation-awards-scripps-oceanography-28-million-develop-advanced-ocean-and "For project co-principal investigator Kim Prather, who directs the NSF Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE) at UC San Diego, SOARS will enable more detailed study of aerosols, particles composed of sea salts, organic matter, viruses, and bacteria that are ejected from the ocean surface when waves break and winds blow." ACTIVATE Begins Year Two of Marine Cloud Study https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/activate-begins-year-two-of-marine-cloud-study "The western North Atlantic Ocean is an ideal location for the study because it provides a wide range of weather conditions and receives a variety of aerosol types from sources such as the East Coast, the ocean and even wildfires from the West Coast — as researchers learned during the 2020 flights." Scientists just found 200,000 new marine viruses. Here’s why that matters https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/200000-marine-viruses/ "Viruses are arguably the most successful biological entities in the sea, where they outnumber microbes—their typical hosts—10 to one. But scientists still have no idea what most of them do, or even how many genetically distinct populations of viruses may speckle the seas." ____________________ Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in all the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond. Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe. Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker Seeker on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerMedia/ Seeker http://www.seeker.com/

Zinc: A wonder trace mineral for staving off the common cold? Or a totally overhyped home remedy? » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com Your body only needs tiny amounts, but it can still have big impacts on your health. Zinc is involved in hundreds of essential biological reactions in the body. It also aids in very important cellular processes like DNA replication, RNA transcription, and cell division. The human body doesn’t make zinc so we need to get it from our diets, particularly from foods like oysters, red meat, poultry, and beans, or from supplements. According to the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board, the daily recommended dietary allowance of zinc is 11 mg for men and 8 mg for women. When we don’t have these minute amounts of zinc, our bodies don’t work properly, so people who are zinc deficient are often treated with supplements. But the benefits for people with normal zinc levels has remained unclear. The efficacy of zinc supplements for treating the common cold has been debated as far back as the 70s, when researchers observed that zinc also inhibited viral replication. Armed with a better understanding of its role in immune function, people began to acknowledge zinc as an essential mineral for human health during this time. Interest grew even more after a 1984 study found that zinc lozenges may be useful for treating colds, but trials since then have yielded mixed results. But a meta-analysis submitted in November of 2020 might help close the gap of understanding zinc’s potential benefits. Researchers looked at 28 randomized controlled trials involving over 5,000 participants. They found that when zinc was taken to prevent respiratory infections, participants had a 28% lower risk of developing mild symptoms such those you’d get with the common cold—sneezes, sniffles, scratchy throat—and an 87% lower risk of developing moderately severe, flu-like symptoms, like a fever and all those aches and pains that make us feel lousy. If you already have a cold, using zinc to treat it was found to clear up symptoms two days earlier and reduce their severity at the peak of illness, but overall, you’re not in the clear, as they found that the day-to-day symptom severity remained the same. #zinc #health #seeker #science #elements Read More: Taking Zinc Can Shorten Your Cold. Thank A 91-Year-Old Scientist For The Discovery https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/02/10/803886479/taking-zinc-can-shorten-your-cold-thank-a-91-year-old-scientist-for-the-discover " It wasn't even acknowledged as an essential mineral for human health until the 1970s. But that changed thanks to the work of Dr. Ananda Prasad — a 91-year-old doctor who, decades ago, had a hunch that led to a better understanding of zinc's role in immunity." Zinc may reduce symptoms of cold and flu https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/zinc-may-reduce-symptoms-of-cold-and-flu "A recent study, which appears in the journal BMJ Open, reports that taking zinc might shorten the duration of respiratory tract infection symptoms and possibly prevent them." Precious metals and other important minerals for health https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/precious-metals-and-other-important-minerals-for-health "Gold, silver, and platinum get all the attention as the world's most precious metals. But they're more precious for the global economy than for human health. Instead, other metals and minerals (metals are one type of mineral) are more important for our health (see "What essential metals do for us"). ____________________ Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science that's happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond. Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe. Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker Seeker on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerMedia/ Seeker http://www.seeker.com/

Woolly Mammoths could soon make a comeback. A new company is on a mission to create a mammoth-elephant hybrid, and their reason might surprise you. » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker (then hit the little 🔔 icon and select "all.") » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com What if I told you that there’s a plan to bring back wooly mammoths back to Siberia? Wild right?!? And if resurrecting a 6-ton creature that’s been extinct for about 4,000 years isn’t crazy enough, wait till you hear this…they’re hoping to enlist these shaggy creatures to help us solve a mammoth-sized problem. Mammoths were great ecosystem engineers. They knocked down trees and shrubs, making room for light colored grasses that reflected more sunlight than the darker trees, keeping ground temperatures cooler. In the winter, they trampled through the snow, exposing the ground to the arctic chill. By maintaining their grassland home, they also protected a perpetually-frozen layer of carbon-rich soil underneath, called permafrost. By the end of the last Ice Age though, most of the mammoths vanished, and the grasses of the steppe did too. We don’t know whether to point the finger at humans, climate, or some other cause, but what we do know is that the ecosystem changed significantly. #geneticengineering #crispr #cas9 #woollymammoths #Seeker #Elements Read More: AFTER 10,000 YEARS OF EXTINCTION, THIS IS WHEN WOOLLY MAMMOTHS WILL WALK THE EARTH AGAIN https://www.inverse.com/innovation/what-you-need-to-know-about-mammoth-de-extinction With starting capital of $15 million and four-to-six years of research, Lamm tells Inverse the company could produce a “herd” of woolly mammoths calves for the first time since the Ice Age. This means the first baby mammoths could roam the tundra by 2027 or earlier. Woolly mammoth resurrection project receives $15 million boost https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/18/world/woolly-mammoth-science-newsletter-wt-scn/index.html This bold plan is fraught with ethical issues. Some scientists question if we know enough to make such an attempt -- and the larger point of such an undertaking. But the thought of being up close with a once-extinct creature is a tantalizing one. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/14/1036884561/dna-resurrection-jurassic-park-woolly-mammoth Scientists Say They Could Bring Back Woolly Mammoths. But Maybe They Shouldn't "If you can create a mammoth or at least an elephant that looks like a good copy of a mammoth that could survive in Siberia, you could do quite a bit for the white rhino or the giant panda," he tells NPR. ____________________ Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science that's happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond. Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe. Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker Seeker on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerMedia/ Seeker http://www.seeker.com/

Suspended animation has the potential to transform everything from surgical medicine to deep space travel. So how close are researchers to making this a reality? » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com » Sign Up for Seeker's Newsletter! https://www.seeker.com/newsletters So, what would it take for humans to actually hibernate? To answer this, we first need to know why some animals hibernate in the first place. For warm-blooded animals, it can take a lot of energy to maintain a constant body temperature. That can be a really big challenge when their source of energy — food — is scarce. Hibernation is a survival mechanism that conserves energy by lowering the body’s core temperature, slowing the heart rate, and shifting into a lower metabolic state, known as torpor. For example, when arctic ground squirrels enter hibernation their temperature plummets from 37°C to -3°C and their metabolic rate drops by about 99%. Humans, however, are stuck with a relatively fixed body temperature of 37°C. Aside from minute variations, like when we sleep, our temperature only changes as a way to signal danger. Like when we’re sick, we get a fever. Just a few degrees off either way can mean death. But this isn’t a hard and fast rule. In 1999, a woman fell while skiing, crashing head first into a frozen stream. When medics arrived 80 minutes later, her body temperature had dropped to 13.7°C, rendering her clinically dead. But she miraculously survived! The extreme cold lowered her metabolism so her brain wasn’t oxygen starved. This can lead to permanent brain damage in a matter of minutes… usually not enough time to make it to the operating table. #seeker #science #elements #hibernation #humanbody Read More: You Could Probably Hibernate https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/01/human-hibernation-real-possibility/605071/ "'It's very possible that humans could hibernate,' says Kelly Drew, a professor at the University of Alaska's Institute of Arctic Biology. Drew studies arctic ground squirrels, chunky little creatures that disappear into burrows for eight months of the year." How hibernating animals are helping doctors treat diabetes and Alzheimer's https://www.wired.co.uk/article/animals-hibernating-treat-diabetes-alzheimers "During hibernation, connections between neurons in the brain deteriorate, just as they do in Alzheimer's, but what happens as the animals start waking up? You guessed it; synapses are restored." This scientist is searching for secrets of life in close brushes with death https://www.geekwire.com/2021/scientist-searching-secrets-life-close-brushes-death/ "Roth sees a thread connecting these catastrophes with something seemingly quite different: immortality. Both conditions “press pause” on life, he said. It’s playing dead without being dead." ____________________ Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science that's happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond. Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe. Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker Seeker on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerMedia/ Seeker http://www.seeker.com/

Auroras like the famous Northern Lights have captivated humans for millennia. But scientists haven't been able to prove exactly how they form—until now. » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker (then hit the little 🔔 icon and select "all.") » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com For decades, the exact science of how the northern lights form in our night sky has eluded experts. And we have finally proved just how these dazzling light shows happen. Auroras appear in the upper atmosphere near the poles and they first were mentioned in texts thousands of years ago. But it wasn’t until the late 1800’s that a Norweigian physicist first made the connection between electric currents in Earth’s magnetic field and auroras in the sky. And it’s only been since the beginning of the 20th century that scientists have known the basics of how auroras work. Today, we know that all auroras begin with solar activity. The sun puts out a continuous stream of charged particles called the solar wind. They’re responsible for producing the most intense auroras. They disrupt the magnetic field lines, creating ripples that rebound back toward Earth known as Alfven waves. And this is where the mystery starts. #auroras #northernlights #planetearth #science #seeker #elements Read More: Laboratory measurements of the physics of auroral electron acceleration by Alfvén waves https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23377-5 "While the aurora has attracted attention for millennia, important questions remain unanswered. Foremost is how auroral electrons are accelerated before colliding with the ionosphere and producing auroral light." Aurora sighted in northern U.S. as powerful geomagnetic storm continues https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/05/12/aurora-northern-lights-us-canada/ "Earth’s magnetosphere transforms the potentially hazardous electromagnetic energy into curtains of visible light that we see as the aurora. The more intense the disturbance, the farther away from the poles the lights will extend." Mystery of Jupiter's powerful X-ray auroras finally solved https://www.space.com/jupiter-x-ray-auroras-mystery-solved "Mysterious flares of X-rays from Jupiter's auroras suggest that the giant planet's "northern lights" may possess unexpected similarities with those of Earth, a new study finds." ____________________ Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in all the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond. Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe. Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker Seeker on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerMedia/ Seeker http://www.seeker.com/

Some of us sleep soundly without uttering a whisper; others deliver entire speeches while sawing their logs. But why is that...and how does sleep talking affect our health? » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com Many people think of sleep as the brain shutting off. Curtains. Lights out. But our brains are actually quite active during slumber. Throughout the night, we cycle through two types of sleep: Rapid Eye Movement, or REM, and non-REM, which has three stages. As we move through each stage, our brain waves progressively fall into lower frequencies and higher amplitudes until we reach deep, slow-wave sleep at stage 3. Sleep talk can happen at any point during what scientists call “transitory arousal”, which is when a sleeper becomes half awake while transitioning from one stage to the next. Interestingly, the quality of our speech here decreases as we move closer toward stage 3. After stage 3 we enter REM sleep. This is when our eyes rapidly move behind closed lids and our brain activity becomes closer to how it is when we're awake. There are two different structures in the brain that control when we’re awake and when we’re asleep, sort of like a light switch. One is the Reticular Activating System, or RAS, a complex network of neurons located in the brain stem. It releases chemical messengers called neurotransmitters that promote wakefulness and help regulate our sleep-wake cycles. The other system, the Ventrolateral Preoptic Nucleus, or VLPO, is located in the hypothalamus. It releases neurotransmitters that bring on sleep by suppressing neural activity to the RAS. During REM, the VLPO structure releases powerful neurotransmitters that work together to inhibit motor neurons and prevent you from acting out your dreams of flying. #science #seeker #REM #sleep #health Read More: Is There a Link Between Sleepwalking, Sleep Talking, and Mental Health? https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/is-there-a-link-between-sleepwalking-sleep-talking-and-mental-health-1103187 "Both sleepwalking and sleep talking can happen for many reasons. Sometimes they are symptoms of a mental health condition, and both may cause psychological distress and interfere with relationships, work, and even overall life satisfaction." Why Do People Talk in Their Sleep? https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-do-people-talk-in-their-sleep "The things people say depend heavily on what sleep stage they’re in. Barrett describes a gradual progression during the four stages of non-REM sleep that goes from primarily mumbling sounds and simple words in the deepest sleep of stage four, to simple phrases in stage three, and finally complete sentences that begin in stage two." Here's What You Say When You Talk in Your Sleep https://www.livescience.com/61324-what-you-say-sleep-talking.html "In the study, researchers found that sleep talkers said the word "no" four times more often in their sleep than when awake. And the F-word popped up during sleep talking at a rate of more than 800 times than what was spoken while awake." ____________________ Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science that's happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond. Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe. Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker Seeker on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerMedia/ Seeker http://www.seeker.com/