WEIRD STUFF: A lack of sleep could ruin a person’s sex life

A lack of sleep could ruin a person's sex life

Researchers have found that a lack of shut-eye can make people seem less attractive. Experts used eye-tracking technology that is able to detect what a person is looking at in real-time, to study 45 young men and women.

Participants spent one night with no sleep at all and one night with the chance to sleep for eight hours before their eye movements were measured in the morning.

Study author Christian Benedict, from Uppsala University in Sweden, said: "The finding that sleep-deprived subjects in our experiment rated healthy-looking, neutral and fearful faces as less attractive indicates that sleep loss is associated with more negative social impressions of others.

"This could result in reduced motivation to interact socially."

Co-author Lieve van Egmond said: "When sleep-deprived, our research subjects spend less time fixating on faces."

-------------------

Blueberry magic awaits seniors

Blueberries could protect the middle-aged from developing dementia. According to a new study, patients ages between 50 and 65 with memory problems who took a blueberry powder supplement for 12 weeks performed better in mental tests.

The fruit contains high levels of micronutrients and antioxidants called anthocyanins. These give blueberries their colour and also protect against radiation exposure and infections.

Professor Robert Krikorian, from Cincinnati University in the US, said: "We had observed cognitive benefits in prior studies with older adults and thought they might be effective in younger individuals with insulin resistance.

"Alzheimer's disease, like all chronic diseases of ageing, develops over a period of many years, beginning in midlife.

"These same properties that help blueberries survive also provide benefits such as reducing inflammation, improving metabolic function and enhancing energy production."

---------------

Human poo could fuel trains

Scientists have worked out how to turn human waste into synthetic coal to replace fossil fuels on locomotives.

The "biocoal" is produced by pressuring sewage underwater at 250 degrees Celsius before condensing it into solid lumps.

The method has been successfully tested on a line in West Yorkshire and could be adopted across the UK by the Heritage Railways Association (HRA).

Attempts are being made to help steam trains go carbon neutral in a bid to combat supply problems linked to the war in Ukraine.

HRA chief executive Steve Oates described the biocoal test as a "significant milestone in the history of steam locomotives in the UK".

Train fireman Noel Hartley explained that shovelling the biocoal involved a completely different technique than usual.

He said: "You've got to make sure you get it really hot to start with."