Humans

Adult male swimmer in open water wearing an orange swim cap and goggles, swimming in the sea

Nine women lost hours of recent memory during or just after Irish sea swims in water as cold as 9.2 C and an Irish hospital series found clear acute scans, full recovery within a day and a repeated pattern suggesting cold-water immersion may trigger transient global amnesia

Nine women who went sea swimming on the south coast of Ireland between 2019 and 2024 reached hospital with a strikingly specific problem: their ability to form and hold new personal memories suddenly failed during or soon after the swim. A 2025 European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine series says the women were…

A tranquil coastal scene with seabirds perched on a rocky shoreline, surrounded by ocean waves and mist

Humans Explainer

When nearly 1,500 UK adults watched coastal scenes on screens, shorelines with more visible wildlife and active behavior such as flocking, diving and play felt more fascinating, more restorative and more worth visiting than the same coast without animals

A group of aquanauts diving together near an underwater structure

Humans Explainer

Aquanauts spent 9 to 10 days inside NASA’s Aquarius habitat at nearly three atmospheres, where fatigue rose during the undersea mission but mood and work satisfaction stayed unexpectedly steady, showing how trained crews can carry strain without the same drop in morale

Skylab in Earth orbit after its first crew deployed the parasol sunshade

Humans Explainer

Three Skylab 4 astronauts fell behind an overloaded 84-day mission plan, but after a 30-minute conference gave them more control over rest and setup time, productivity rose and conflict with Mission Control eased

The compact interior of a vintage space capsule simulator

Humans Explainer

Four men lived 90 days inside a space station simulator and a later NASA report said three showed personality changes, but its warning about crew psychology rested on Rorschach tests and a follow-up that effectively shrank to three cases

The Tektite II underwater habitat in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1970

Humans Explainer

NASA tracked 48 Tektite II aquanauts in five-person crews beneath the Caribbean for up to 30 days and found that private space, steady topside support and relief from isolation helped protect mood, work routines and life inside the habitat

Lock down and Self-quarantine with new fish and tank decoration. Recreation at green garden during the Corona virus crisis. Stay home for relax and Social distancing

Humans Explainer

Thirty office workers took 10-minute breaks with live fish, a fish video, or quiet rest and the clearest psychological benefit came from stepping away from work, while the live tank still felt more engaging to participants

Visitors watching marine life in a large public aquarium exhibit

Humans Explainer

Researchers watched a 550,000-liter aquarium grow from bare water to 22 species and 151 animals, and as marine life returned visitors stayed longer, felt better and showed larger drops in heart rate

An Environment and Behavior study used a rare chance at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth to watch a single 550,000-liter exhibit move from seawater and artificial rockwork to a tank filled with marine life. Because the setting stayed the same while the animals changed, the researchers could ask a simple question with unusual clarity:…

Peaceful scene of a large sailing ship with white sails on a tranquil sea during the day

Humans Explainer

Forty psychiatric outpatients in South Sardinia spent six months learning to sail and showed better symptoms and day-to-day functioning while the cruises lasted, but most of those rehabilitation gains had faded by the follow-up year

Severe mental illness can steal ordinary chances to practice confidence, teamwork and independence, so rehabilitation programs often search for experiences that feel worth showing up for week after week. A group in South Sardinia tested whether a demanding shared activity at sea could give psychiatric outpatients that kind of pull and the result looked encouraging…

A cargo ship carrying goods between ports

Humans Statistics

More than 13,000 seafarers from 154 nationalities reported high wellbeing and happiness at sea, yet the same global survey found about one in five felt lonely and two-thirds did not get enough sleep, revealing where shipboard life still wears people down

A broadly positive set of numbers can still hide a hard daily reality. In a large 2022 survey of people who were answering while onboard ships, most seafarers said they were doing well overall. Yet the same responses also pointed to two pressures that keep returning in maritime mental health research: loneliness and sleep deprivation.…

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