Forgetful? Sleep on it
Study says sleep boosts ability to remember recent events

CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, July 31, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Sleep benefits an individual's ability to recall recently learned memories, say researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania.

This finding is particularly important for individuals with mentally demanding lifestyles, such as doctors, medical residents and college students, who often do not get adequate amounts of sleep. The study appears in Current Biology.

Sixty participants (33 women and 27 men) between the ages of 18 and 39, who did not use prescription or illicit drugs and did not have known sleep disorders or abnormal sleep patterns, were chosen for the study. Forty-eight individuals were assigned to one of four groups: sleep before testing, wake before testing, sleep before testing with interference, or wake before testing with interference.

All groups learned 20 paired words, which had no obvious semantic relationships. Twelve hours later, everyone was tested for recall by completing a cued-recall task; however, individuals within the interference groups learned a second list of 20 word pairs before testing. Participants were prevented from rehearsing the new words after learning the list. Read more

Crack me up

Crack Me Up

Humor in relationships is touchy: Laughter can bring you closer, or it can pack a cruel punch. How to avoid the pitfalls and use humor to strengthen your bond. By :Polly Schulman

"The first time I ever slept with Jen, I said afterwards, 'So, do I get the job?' " says Steve Bartoo, 37, an information technology specialist. Rather than throw him out, she laughed. "I never thought I'd be comfortable enough with anybody to be funny about that—where it's part of the magic," he says.

"For years my friend Justin kept telling me, 'You've got to meet Steve, he's hilarious,' " says Jennifer Pinkowski, 33, a writer. "Turns out he was right. Steve is the funniest person I know. That's a big reason why I married him."

Steve and Jen fell in love by cracking each other up—an experience we all seem to be searching for. When people list the qualities they desire in a partner, sense of humor consistently shows up near the top. Whether dating or married, the more a person likes his or her partner's sense of humor, the more satisfied he or she will be with the relationship. As the sultry cartoon character Jessica Rabbit said when asked what she saw in her husband, funny-bunny Roger: "He makes me laugh."

But a sense of humor hardly solves all problems of the heart, cautions Rod Martin, a psychologist at the University of Western Ontario. On the contrary, humor in relationships can cut both ways. Funny people, like babes and hunks, seem more attractive at first. Over time, though, the thrill wears off. Besides, relying on jokes to work through deep relationship dynamics can be dangerous: Humor can pack a nasty punch... read more...

Humor As A Tool

Life After Death

"Life after death" is a very interesting topic as many of us can imagine. No body knows the certain answer to this concept. That is why; it interests each and every one of us. We all are curious about what happens after death. If we know that the life after death is not painful, or the life after death is pleasurable with no pain, no body would want to live now and struggle.

Since we don't know that answer, we are scared of death. But what if the death is not scary as you think? What if life after death is much like living in a paradise? What if each of you is like Jesus Christ, who came to earth to carry the pain? But when you cease from earth, what if you go back to your real YOU? What if you are a god? No body knows the truth.

We are just living because that is what our ancestors did. We are just following other people. When someone gets a bigger house and get rich. We wanted to be that person. We all are trying to find happiness from the materials we own. Is it evil? I don't think it's evil to desire money, since we don't know which way to go. We all are lost in the earth without direct guidance. We are fighting for survival. We all are trying to duplicate our genes by having kids; trying to promote our characteristics via our genes. It is easy for us to accept simple facts that we see in daily life than thinking our real purpose of the existence.

Materials you possess bring you immediate happiness than looking within yourself. Everyone wants to be rich, so you are following the mainstream. What others need is what you need as well. But once in a while you have to stop your rabbit race and look back your trace. Your purpose of life.

Let’s look at life after death concept logically. When you look at a dead person, his bodily functions are ceased, and there is no heart beat or lung function. No breathing sign; no blood circulation. When someone dies, that person is leaving every physical belonging he has, and also his own body as well. So what do they take when they leave their body or to after life? The best word to illustrate this is "consciousness”. Knowledge and skills will also be vanished with the physical body.

Therefore, there is only 2 possibilities:

1/ When we die our memory, skills, knowledge will also be ceased with the physical body. We don’t take anything with us. Just disappears with no trace. Nothing exists after death.

OR

2/ Only our consciousness will follow us.

Goal Acheivement

What is the secret behind someone's success? Is it hard working or luck or miracle or faith? Whatever the reason is, becoming the successful person is not an easy task. Otherwise everyone will be reaching their goals with no doubt and setbacks. No one will take risk. Life won't be interesting as you can imagine, so how to become successful.

Let's look at few things that we can take do to achieve our short and long term goals, few things that we can control.

Firstly, don't blame others for your failures. "Because of her I didn't pass that course, she hates me. She failed me on purpose". If you study hard enough, and if you are a number one student, no one can fail you, and can bring down "A" Grade in to "F". If you are a "D" student, Yes. There is a possibility for you to fail the course, if your teacher doesn't like you.

Sometimes it is frustrating to see someone who is not talented as you are, get a better job or get promoted. But you shouldn't blame others for that. Keep doing what you are doing. Focus on what you want, not on what you don't want.

Secondly, have faith. Believe you can achieve whatever you wised for. Have faith in yourself. If you don't have the courage to believe in your own dream, who else is going to do it for you? Trust your intuition.

Finally, take action. Work hard. Set a clear goal. Work everyday with having that dream in your mind. You will achieve it with no doubt.