New Scientist

Cooling brain to prevent brain damage

cool-brain

Techniques that rapidly chill the brain could prevent damage and even aid resuscitation after a heart attack (Image: Argonne National Laboratory)

We all know that a cool cloth applied to the forehead can ease a headache, but now researchers are investigating whether technologies that cool the brain itself could prevent brain damage following a stroke or cardiac arrest. Similar techniques could also protect the heart and kidneys from damage during surgery.  Link to read full article 

Source: The New Scientist

Is it really bad to be sad?

Why be miserable? OK, so it’s January and you’re feeling fat and broke after the excesses of the holiday season, but there’s really no need. Misery is inconvenient, unpleasant, and in a society where personal happiness is prized above all else, there is little tolerance for wallowing in despair. Especially now we’ve got drugs for it. Jessica Marshall questions whether sadness is a crucial part of being human and whether we should embrace our miserable side.
Link to read this article
Source: New Scientist

Image Credit: Getty Images

If you live in the northern hemisphere, this is probably not your favourite month. January tends to dispirit people more than any other. We all know why: foul weather, post-Christmas debt, the long wait before your next holiday, quarterly bills, dark evenings and dark mornings. At least, that is the way it seems. For while all these things might contribute to the way you feel, there is one crucial factor you probably have not accounted for: the state of mind of your friends and relatives. Recent research shows that our moods are far more strongly influenced by those around us than we tend to think. Not only that, we are also beholden to the moods of friends of friends, and of friends of friends of friends – people three degrees of separation away from us who we have never met, but whose disposition can pass through our social network like a virus.
Read  the full New Scientist article

Source: New Scientist