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People wading through dangerous moving water

Water Explainer

Seventy-six adults stood in six moving-water conditions and deeper flows felt faster than they were, while past storms changed how people judged the danger

People placed in moving water consistently judged it as faster than it really was and the gap grew as the flow became deeper. Their estimates also influenced how much danger they felt, according to an experiment involving 76 adults. Prior experience added another layer. Participants who had encountered rip currents or tropical cyclones responded differently…

By ARGO.net Editorial Team 2 minutes ago 7 min read

Diver underwater during a deep-ocean dive

Humans Explainer

Four divers descended to a simulated 480 meters in helium-oxygen conditions and pressure slowed mental rotation while weakening hand-eye coordination

View of a submarine's bunk room with torpedo tubes and metal bunks

Space Explainer

Six men spent 520 days inside a simulated Mars mission and slowly rated unpleasant images more positively as shifting moods and hormones revealed a difficult third quarter

From above of clear turquoise water with sharp border with water with algal bloom near sandy coastline in sunny day

Water Explainer

One hundred seventy-two students viewed identical lake photographs with clean water or harmful algal blooms and although they felt disgust worry and panic their cortisol did not rise

Competitive swimmer wearing goggles after training

Health Explainer

Nineteen elite swimmers received 10 sessions of dual-site brain stimulation across 25 days and finished with faster reactions stronger mental toughness and better 100-meter performances

Young woman using a virtual reality headset in a field

Health Explainer

Two hundred thirty-six students with anxiety spent 30 minutes planting rowing and reflecting inside a virtual nature world and several benefits remained two weeks later

Swimmer in the pool raises his hands up. Water Sports Victory Concept. Arena with flashes. Mixed media

Humans Explainer

Elite swimmers cut training distance by 57 percent before a major competition, while hormones, sleep and motivation barely changed during 12 weeks and stress fell only among women

Swimmer training on the open sea / ocean

Humans Explainer

Forty-eight adolescent swimmers completed 10 sessions pairing psyching-up with cognitive challenges and sharpened attention reaction time and mood without adding physical strain

Ten training sessions that mixed mental preparation with thinking tasks helped young swimmers respond faster, make fewer attention errors and enjoy practice more. Heart rate, blood lactate and reported effort stayed broadly similar across the training groups, suggesting that the mental work added little extra physical strain. The findings come from a randomized controlled trial…

Concept of human intelligence with human brain on black background

Oceans Explainer

Eighteen expert saturation divers descended to a simulated 440 meters and became slower plus less accurate when conflicting numbers tested their attention at 45 atmospheres

Expert divers working under pressure equal to 440 meters of seawater took longer to judge conflicting numbers and made more mistakes, according to a chamber experiment in Japan. The results suggest that extreme pressure can weaken parts of mental performance even when divers are highly trained and breathe a helium-based gas designed for deep operations.…

Concept of human intelligence with human brain on blue background

Health Explainer

Forty-eight divers worked underwater for 30 minutes, one hour or three hours and only the longest exposure raised anxiety while rat experiments linked cognitive decline to CCR3-driven brain inflammation

Three hours of underwater work left a small group of professional divers with lower memory and processing-speed scores, while shorter sessions produced different results. Follow-up experiments in rats linked the decline to inflammation in a memory center of the brain. Researchers then reduced the activity of one gene, CCR3 and the animals performed better in…

Teen girl pink hair wear vr headset goggles hold controllers play active shooter vr video game futuristic immersive simulator virtual reality 3D 360 cyber game stand at home in liv

Health Explainer

Fifty young patients used an underwater virtual world or guided imagery during two unsedated procedures and virtual reality helped most when fears about pain were already high

By filling a patient’s sight and hearing with an interactive underwater world, virtual reality can draw attention away from a needle or dressing change. A clinical trial involving children and young adults found that this immersive approach eased procedure pain about as well as guided imagery, while producing a clearer reduction in short-term anxiety. The…

Isolated_astronaut_resting_inside_a_spacecraft

Space Explainer

Five analog astronauts spent seven days inside a Moon-like habitat and finished with higher cortisol plus rising oxidative stress as sleep and circadian rhythms came under strain

The hidden strain of a simulated lunar mission appeared in saliva, urine and sleep records within a single week. Five young crew members living in a sealed Moon-like habitat developed higher levels of cell-damaging chemicals and the stress hormone cortisol as their sleep became shorter and less restful. The findings come from a peer-reviewed study…

Tourists viewing snow covered landscape and high waterfall, Iceland, Europe. Iceland nature 2017 winter cold

Health Explainer

Thirty-two adults faced carbon dioxide panic challenges and 30 seconds of cold facial immersion slowed heart rates while reducing induced panic and anxiety

Cold water placed across the face may activate an ancient survival reflex that slows the heart and eases some symptoms of panic. In a small human experiment, people with panic disorder reported less anxiety after holding their breath and immersing their faces in cold water for 30 seconds. The study, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry,…

A stunning digital rendering of Earth from space, featuring a satellite and the vast universe

Humans Explainer

Across 66 astronauts and cosmonauts, a study found longer missions drew more coping humor, while self-defeating jokes rose later in a space career

A study of 66 spacefarers found that humor in spaceflight memoirs, interviews, debriefs and oral histories followed clear social patterns rather than appearing as random comic relief. The most striking result was simple: longer missions brought more coping humor, the kind of joking people use when pressure rises and emotions need a safe release. The…

Astronaut crew cooperating in an isolated habitat

Humans Explainer

NASA data from 83 astronauts and analog crewmates found that tidy, considerate behavior explained roughly 40 percentage points more of whether a crew would work together again, giving mission planners a measure of the daily habits that help isolated teams stay workable

A survey linked daily habits with future crew trust A Frontiers in Psychology study followed 83 astronauts and analog crewmates across 24 teams and asked a simple question with large consequences for long missions: which small habits make people easier to live with when there is no easy escape? The teams lived and worked in…

Majestic night sky full of stars behind dark tree silhouette in a rural setting

Humans Explainer

Five women watched nine planetarium scenes three times and a 0.001-lux new moon sky gave the strongest healing scores while the blackest dome first raised stress before dark adaptation gradually eased it

The kind of darkness many city residents rarely see may also be the kind that feels best under a planetarium dome. In a small experiment, the most soothing condition was not a bright field of easy-to-see stars. It was a sky background set to 0.001 lux, close to a new moon night in a place…

Person floating during zero gravity training

Humans Explainer

Parabolic flights showed why men who could not stand routine often handled weightlessness better, as a study of 24 volunteers found boredom scores and motion sickness history helped classify poor adaptation with 93.33 percent accuracy

Parabolic flights are famous for creating short bursts of weightlessness, but the most striking result in this study was psychological. Among 24 novice male participants, the men who adapted best to the violent sequence of climbs, drops and changing gravity were more likely to score high on boredom susceptibility, a trait tied to impatience with…

Chemical Engineer and Editorial Contributor

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Eighteen expert saturation divers descended to a simulated 440 meters and became slower plus less accurate when conflicting numbers tested their attention at 45 atmospheres

Seventy-six adults stood in six moving-water conditions and deeper flows felt faster than they were, while past storms changed how people judged the danger

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