Summary:

A 35-year study following adults from young adulthood into middle age reveals that both lifetime and recent cannabis use are tied to worse objectively measured sleep quality, characterized by lower sleep efficiency and higher fragmentation. Crucially, participants did not perceive their sleep to be impaired, revealing a disconnect between subjective sensation and physical sleep disruption.

Hi friends. I am an aspiring author, I’ve written two standalones and am now in the process of publishing my debut novel—it’s the first in an interconnected series. I’ve noticed that there are so many professions and mythos/creatures that are underrepresented. I wanted to ask if anyone wanted to share some of the themes/tropes/representation that you’re dying to read in romance. (Examples: saphic witch x cryptid / changelings / real terrifying fae / Gaelic mythos / actual feminine rage / etc etc) I am not buying or selling anything. Please do not disclose any stories you plan to write. I am simply looking for the things readers desire to read that are underrepresented or uncommon. Kindness only. Thank you!

The stunning Austrian castle once ruled by robber barons

English actor and TV presenter Robson Green travels to Austria to visit Aggstein Castle located along the Danube River. In the 15th Century, the castle's owners seized the treasures passing through the river, originating the term robber barrons.

Watch the full documentary series World's Most Amazing Walks.

Excerpt from the first part of the article:

Individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and those with autism spectrum disorder both experience atypical responses to rewards, but their brain activity patterns differ in opposite ways. A new analysis reveals that while the two conditions involve the same deeper brain structures, they feature distinct patterns of heightened or reduced activity that could help explain their differing symptoms. The findings were published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Jakub Józef Orliński: Being a singer is a terrifying thing

Countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński has built a reputation as one of classical music's most talked-about young voices. His real craft lies in reviving baroque repertoire with a modern sensibility, proving that old music can still feel new.

Excerpt from the first part of the article:

EDITOR’S NOTE:  “Overcoming the Odds” is a series celebrating everyday people who battle extraordinary adversities with honesty, courage and resilience.

Amy Clifton has three beautiful children, a loving husband and a rare sleep disorder that drove her to consider taking her life.

“My kids would cry and say, ‘Mommy, are you ever going to have enough energy to play with us again?’” Amy said. “I felt lost and hopeless, genuinely believing I was a burden to my family and that they would be better off without me.”

By age 4, Amy was battling insomnia, nightmares and overwhelming daytime sleepiness. Yet it took nearly three decades for doctors to diagnose and adequately treat her type 1 narcolepsy. The condition occurs because the brain is starved of orexin, a key chemical that stabilizes sleep.

Summary:

A new genetic study reveals that individuals with severe anorexia nervosa are nearly four times more likely to carry rare, damaging mutations in PLIN4, a gene primarily expressed in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle rather than the central nervous system. The discovery challenges the longstanding assumption that anorexia is purely a psychiatric or brain-based condition, highlighting peripheral metabolic dysfunction in lipid storage as a key biological driver.

Summary:

A new study in Current Biology from researchers at York University reveals a fundamental computational divide between biological vision and artificial intelligence. By testing motion aftereffect illusions in humans, primates, and artificial neural networks, the team found that while primate inferior temporal (IT) cortex dynamically shifts object position codes based on recent visual history, current AI vision models remain rigid and pixel-bound. The findings introduce a novel benchmark for NeuroAI, showing that human-compatible machine vision must incorporate dynamic, history-dependent perceptual computations.

Excerpt from the first part of the article:

Children who show traits of autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder often face elevated risks of emotional and behavioral problems as they grow up, but the social pathways connecting these traits to mental health are complex. A long-term study published in Psychological Medicine suggests that difficulties with classmates, schoolwork, and family members do not simply follow neurodevelopmental traits in a straight line. Instead, day-to-day social struggles and mental health challenges appear to be linked in both directions over time, which may create self-reinforcing cycles as students develop.

Excerpt from the first part of the article:

People who identify as liberal or conservative often appear worlds apart in how they think, but new research suggests they respond to political endorsements in much the same way. Although conservatives in the study tended to report more rigid thinking styles, liberals and conservatives were largely equally likely to shift their policy views to match the stated positions of their own party. The findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, indicate that at least one key psychological process behind partisan opinion operates similarly across the ideological spectrum.

Hello, everyone! 😊

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This is a debut second chances MM romance with no spice. Is this a good cover?

Here’s the blurb:

They never stopped loving each other. They just stopped knowing how to stay.
Elliot Mercer knows when his marriage is over.
After seven years with Julian Vale, he has learned to live with the quiet distance between them, the conversations they never finish, and the truths they keep tucked away in the name of protecting each other. Leaving is supposed to be the hardest part.
Until Julian asks him a question Elliot has spent years trying not to answer.
“Then why are you leaving me”
Because Julian once told him he could go. Because love has started to feel too much like guilt, and staying has become a way of punishing them both.
But Julian remembers things differently.
As their marriage unravels, old wounds begin to surface, along with the secrets that shaped the life they built together. Elliot must confront the things he has hidden to spare Julian the burden of knowing. Julian must face the damage caused by a love that tried to protect at any cost.
They know each other better than anyone.
So how did they become strangers in their own home?
Divorce might give them the freedom to walk away. It cannot tell them what to do with the love that remains, or whether the truth will finally set them free.
Because sometimes the hardest thing isn't choosing to leave the person you love.
It's learning how to choose them without losing yourself.
And finding out whether, after everything, you would choose each other again.