The brightest take on this week’s science
Are you having trouble breathing at night?
A repurposed epilepsy drug provides the hope of a more peaceful sleep to millions.
Also in this issue:
💧 A simple drink choice that can help you focus
🤯 A mind-blowing fact about rain on Earth
🔬 A microscope mystery
Let’s see where the science takes us!
LOOK OUT
A Simple Drink Choice Helps Gamers Focus
(EvgeniyShkolenko/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
A tingle on the tongue may provide just the ‘zap’ that a gamer’s brain needs.
A new study has found that compared to plain water, sparkling water can help esports gamers concentrate and stay alert over long competitions.
The experiments involved 14 casual gamers who played virtual soccer for three hours. In one session, they drank plain water; in another, they drank sparkling water.
The sparkling water session maintained reaction times better and kept fatigue at bay.
This drink choice also improved the players’ sense of enjoyment while gaming.
Scientists have a few hypotheses about what is going on…
HEADLINES
What Else We're Watching
🏅This week’s most read: Popular Anti-Aging Supplement May Fuel Cancer Growth – Here's Why
LOW-KEY GENIUS
A Repurposed Drug For Sleep Apnea
(Tim Kitchen/Getty Images)
Millions of people around the world suffer from sleep apnea, where breathing stops and starts throughout the night.
But there are very few drug treatments that work.
A clinical drug trial reported in The Lancet reveals a hopeful new candidate: a repurposed anticonvulsive drug used to treat epilepsy.
In experiments, those participants who took the highest daily dose of the drug sultiame had nearly 50 percent fewer breathing interruptions while sleeping.
At virtually every dosage, results suggested it performed better than a placebo.
If newer meds like these stand up to scrutiny, breathing machines like CPAPs could become clunky treatments of the past.
ZOOM ZONE
Microscope Mystery: What Do You See?
(Gregory S. Paulson/Connect Images/Getty Images)
A) Human intestinal lining
B) Rose petal
C) Bird feather
D) Tastebuds
Answer at the bottom.
LOOK UP
Asteroid Holds 5 Key Life Ingredients
A close-up of the surface of asteroid Ryugu. (MASCOT/DLR/JAXA)
The asteroid Ryugu contains all five key ingredients needed for life.
It’s now the second asteroid, after Bennu, to be found with the right recipe of nucleobases to brew DNA and RNA.
Collecting samples from asteroids is no easy matter, and neither is analyzing them when they are returned to Earth.
It’s taken years of work to get here, but at last, scientists say they have found evidence of adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil in the Ryugu samples.
Perhaps the building blocks for life on Earth originally came from space…
WOW FACTOR
Science Fact of The Week
(Giphy)
It’s officially spring, and you know what that means… lots of rain.
But count your blessings, because this season is fleeting. Once upon a time, our planet entered a period of massive, global rainfall that lasted for nearly 2 million years.
Some parts of the world at this time received roughly four times the annual rainfall they do now.
DOPAMINE HIT
Before You Go…
Check out this stunning image of our galaxy’s heart, captured in detail like never before…
The largest image of the Milky Way's center, captured by the ESO's ALMA array. (ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore et al. Background: ESO/D. Minniti et al.)
Microscope answer: Rose petal
Rose petals are dotted by specialized scent-producing glands, called osmophores. When you stop and smell the roses, these are the little perfume factories you are whiffing. 🌹
That’s all for today… see you next week!
- Carly
