Humans

A tranquil coastal path under a blue sky, perfect for peaceful walks and nature appreciation

Twenty-six healthy adults took three 6-minute walks at the same pace and the real seaside route delivered higher enjoyment than both a treadmill and its virtual coastal copy while the VR version came closer on mindfulness and peak heart rate

Twenty-six adults walked for only six minutes at a time, yet the setting changed the experience sharply. In a crossover study published in late 2023 and carried in a 2024 journal issue, the same people completed an outdoor coastal walk, a standard indoor treadmill walk and a treadmill walk paired with a recorded virtual reality…

Side view of unrecognizable person in virtual reality helmet sitting on sofa and playing with gamepad in dark room

Humans Explainer

Sixty-five volunteers trained in a virtual reality stress program built for astronauts and the version that adjusted pressure every 30 seconds lowered heart rate while keeping people more engaged than fixed training

Two dockworkers securing a container on a ship, emphasizing teamwork and safety

Humans Statistics

Across 18 container-ship voyages, 198 seafarers slept too little whether they worked days or rotating watches and 22 percent of 396 eye-based alertness tests rated crew members unfit for duty

Virtual reality session during deployment

Humans Explainer

Twenty-nine sailors tried beach and forest virtual reality during a 2-week voyage aboard a U.S. Navy warship and the scent-linked version cut negative affect right after each session even as longer-run gains in stress relief, presence and cognitive performance stayed limited

Close-up view of cargo ship with crew at the helm, navigating open blue waters

Humans Statistics

Across 51 tanker vessels, 575 merchant seafarers filled out stress and work surveys that showed personal resilience did the most to reduce strain, while practical onboard help explained most of the gap in job satisfaction across a global fleet

A serene close-up of a hand gently touching a sparkling water surface under daylight

Humans Explainer

Ten healthy men were lowered to the neck into 18-degree-Celsius seawater and during the first two minutes their code-substitution scores fell by about 11 percent while oxygen demand rose 149 percent in a small crossover study about survival decisions at sea

Image of the International Space Station floating above Earth with visible solar panels

Humans Explainer

Five astronauts tested nine times around half-year ISS missions stayed slower and more error-prone near day 8 and day 50 in orbit, suggesting that some forms of space fog in visuospatial tasks can persist instead of easing as crews adapt to weightlessness

Black and white photo of a boat crew onboard a fishing vessel titled 'El Principe Azul.'

Humans Statistics

One hundred fifty-seven Faroese fishers wore sleep trackers at sea and on land and life offshore split sleep into shorter fragments, pushed end-of-trip sleepiness higher and left more major reaction-time lapses before the voyage was over

Why can a crew finish a trip feeling worn down even when a simple median reaction-time number barely moves? A 2022 study in Nature and Science of Sleep followed 157 Faroese fishers across real voyages and found a clearer answer in the pattern around the average: sleep at sea became shorter, more broken and less…

Two scuba divers capturing the vibrant marine life near an underwater wreck in crystal clear waters

Humans Explainer

Twenty certified recreational divers completed executive-function tests on land, at 5 meters and at 20 meters and only the deeper dive weakened inhibitory control on the Stroop task, pointing to a specific mental blind spot that can interfere with self-control and fast judgment below the surface

Twenty trained divers, tested in the same indoor water facility at three different depths, stayed steady on most of their mental tasks until the dive reached 20 meters. At that point, one ability slipped while the others held: the divers became worse at inhibiting an automatic response on a Stroop test, a classic measure of…

Humans Explainer

Sixty beginner university swimmers completed 3 months of training with kickboards, fins, pull buoys and flotation aids in a single-group study and self-confidence rose sharply while mental focus improved even though cognitive and somatic anxiety barely changed

Sixty beginner swimmers spent one academic term working through a structured course that used supportive equipment throughout practice and the clearest gains were psychological rather than purely technical. By the end of the three-month program, self-confidence had climbed strongly and mental focus had improved, while both forms of measured anxiety moved only slightly. The result…

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