All posts by She Seeks Serene

My Journey of Reimagining Life, Love and Education

PBS Politics Monday: Amy Walter, O. Kay Henderson & John Yang – Iowa Caucus

PBS Newshour LogoAmy Walter of the Cook Political Report and Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson join John Yang in Iowa to discuss the latest political news, including what voters in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation 2020 Democratic caucuses are considering as they make their selections, polling updates on a “fluid” and “volatile” race and the ongoing pace of campaigning in Iowa.

Sleep Studies: Even Low-Levels Of Light At Night Causes Diabetes In Elderly

From a Sleep Medicine online release (January 2020):

Sleep Medicine January 2020Our findings suggest that LAN (low-level light at night) exposure increases the incidence of diabetes in a general elderly population. Further research involving a large cohort with new-onset diabetes is warranted to elucidate these findings.

Highlights

  • Humans are commonly exposed to light at night.
  • Higher light exposure at night was significantly associated with higher incidence rate of diabetes.
  • The association was consistent in the analysis using the cut-off values of LAN as 3 and 5 lux.
  • Strengths include large samples adjusting a number of confounders.

The circadian timing system, located within the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, controls fundamental energy homeostasis. Clock gene mutations induce obesity in mice, and the disruption of internal circadian rhythms decreases daily energy expenditures and leptin levels in humans. Light information received by the brain influences human circadian timing and metabolism; low-level light at night (LAN) significantly increased body mass and led to prediabetes in mice. In humans, bedroom LAN affected obesity parameters; however, the association between LAN and the incidence of diabetes in humans has not been studied.

Read more

Health Infographics: The Most Common Types Of Cancer In U.S. By Gender

The Most Common Types of Cancer in the U.S. American Cancer Socieaty 2020

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide among middle-aged adults. However, deaths from cancer are catching up in high-income countries according to a study recently published in the medical journal The Lancet. Researchers calculated that cancer kills about twice as many people as cardiovascular disease in more developed countries. Globally, cancer could become the leading cause of death in just a few decades, the study said.

Trends: “2020 Jeep E-Bike” Unveiled – 40 Mile Range For Off-Road Terrain

Jeep E-Bike Powered by QuietKat Off Road Suspension 2020The first ever Jeep® e-Bike powered by QuietKat. It’s the most capable off-road electric mountain bike there is. When the road ends, your adventure continues with the all-new Jeep e-Bike. Kick it into high gear. Available June 2020.

Get up to 40 miles on a single charge with the power and efficiency of the 750 Watt electric motor. The 4.8” fat tires can tackle the most extreme terrain. The Fire-Link™ suspension has all the tractive capability you’ve come to expect from the Jeep® brand.

Website

Profiles: The “Wild Paradise” Of 82-Year Old English Garden Designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd

Multicolored herbaceous borders of Asters, Dahlias and Helianthus heighten the

Arabella Lennox-Boyd English Garden Designer
Arabella Lennox-Boyd English Garden Designer

dramatic vision of a Gothic fourteenth-century house protruding from the depths of an English valley. Welcome to Gresgarth Hall, the impressive Lancashire country home of Arabella Lennox-Boyd since 1978.

The extraordinary gardens that surround the 11-acre estate are a product of Lennox-Boyd’s lifetime commitment to creating a wild and richly textured paradise for the senses. The Italian-born horticultural aesthete is an internationally renowned landscape designer who has completed both public and private commissions for the likes of musician Sting and the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Hyde Park.

“The 11-acre estate is a product of Lennox-Boyd’s lifetime commitment to the gardens”

Continue reading on NOWNESS.com or the app: https://o6g7.app.link/qbMvUTAbM3

Top 2020 Super Bowl Ad: “Jeep – Groundhog Day” Featuring 69-Year Old Actor Bill Murray (Video)

It’s “Groundhog Day” all over again as Jeep brand debuts a Big Game spot starring Bill Murray (in his first-ever national television commercial). But this time reliving the same day over and over again is always a new adventure when you’re driving the 2020 Jeep Gladiator. Jeep. There’s only one.

From AdWeek:

It is fortuitous that the Super Bowl falls on Groundhog Day. Yet it seems as though only one brand, Jeep, has taken advantage of that fact so far, with Bill Murray reprising his role as Phil Connors, the Pittsburgh weather reporter who relives the same day over and over in Punxsutawney, Pa.

The 60-second Super Bowl ad, done by Chicago-based agency Highdive, reprises the classic 1993 film Groundhog Day. And while a younger generation may not necessarily know the movie, it’s an easy gag to understand. Of course, Murray is an outsized cultural icon, and the fact that the brand is using real characters from the film (Brian Doyle-Murray and Stephen Tobolowsky also appear in their original roles) makes the spot very strong.

Read article

New Books On Ageing: “The Changing Mind” By Daniel Levitin (February 2020)

The Changing Mind A Neuroscientist's Guide To Ageing Well Daniel Levitin Feb 2020Challenging widely held assumptions about the diminishing abilities of an ageing brain, leading neuroscientist Daniel Levitin argues that we should view getting older as a beneficial experience rather than a form of cognitive entropy. Persuasively argued and consistently surprising, The Changing Mind will alter your perception of the relationship between age and intellect.

We have long been encouraged to think of old age as synonymous with deterioration. Yet, recent studies show that our decision-making skills improve as we age and our happiness levels peak in our eighties. What really happens to our brains as we get older?

More of us are living into our eighties than ever before. In The Changing Mind, neuroscientist, psychologist and internationally-bestselling author Daniel Levitin invites us to dramatically shift our understanding of growing older, demonstrating its many cognitive benefits. He draws on cutting-edge research to challenge common and flawed beliefs, including assumptions around memory loss and the focus on lifespan instead of ‘healthspan’.

Levitin reveals the evolving power of the human brain from infancy to late adulthood. Distilling the findings from over 4000 papers, he explains the importance of personality traits, lifestyle, memory and community on ageing, offering actionable tips that we can all start now, at any age.

Featuring compelling insights from individuals who have thrived far beyond the conventional age of retirement, this book offers realistic guidelines and practical cognition-enhancing tricks for everyone to follow during every decade of their life. This is a radical exploration of what we all can learn from those who age joyously.

Read more or purchase

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious