Humans

An aerial view of the circular pier at Blankenberge on the Belgian North Sea coast

A survey of 60,939 Belgians found the clearest health advantage within 5 kilometers of the coast, yet mental health, activity, social contact and cleaner air still failed to explain why the shoreline stood apart

The clearest gap appeared close to the shoreline A large Belgian health study found that the strongest self-reported health advantage appeared among people living very near the coast. Researchers analyzed data from the published study record and the underlying Belgian Health Interview Survey system, then compared general health across several distance bands rather than treating…

Creative glowing polygonal brain on blurry city background. AI and future concept. Double exposure

Humans Explainer

Seventeen astronauts returned from about six months aboard the ISS, and MRI scans found a 1.5 percent decline in the left hippocampus, suggesting a memory center may respond to spaceflight stress faster than it changes during healthy aging

An aerial shot of icebergs in Antarctica under cloudy sky

Humans Explainer

Twelve people wore proximity sensors through 10 months at Concordia Station and the closer they stayed inside Antarctica’s confined winter habitat the more conflict and suspiciousness rose, while daily contacts narrowed within national groups instead of spreading across the whole crew

A scuba diver wearing a mask and preparing to enter the water

Humans Explainer

Twenty-seven scuba divers cleared masks and solved a Stroop task at 5 meters and those with higher trait anxiety needed 3.7 more seconds for the mask skill while their underwater responses slowed by about 8 seconds

A bird watcher using binoculars beside Lake Balaton

Humans Explainer

Beside a suburban lake, 132 students spent two hours spotting up to 43 bird species and the people who felt most restored were the ones whose curiosity and enjoyment stayed engaged throughout the guided walk

Scuba divers exploring underwater near a wreck

Humans Explainer

Thirty-seven adults took a one-week scuba course while 30 chose a multisport course and only the divers still showed lower perceived stress one month later in a small exploratory trial

Forest stream flowing over moss-covered rocks

Humans News

Thirty-eight students heard spring water and traffic noise at 5 sound levels and the 50 dBA water recording produced the clearest heart and brain comfort pattern

A person sitting quietly on a rocky coast beside the sea

Humans Explainer

8 Belgian coastal residents described the shore as a safe haven where awe and nostalgia helped them regulate emotion and recover from daily strain

A preregistered interview study put the coast at the center of a question about emotion, familiarity and well-being. Writing in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers from the Flanders Marine Institute, KU Leuven and Ghent University asked how young people who live near the Belgian coast make sense of what they feel there. Their paper followed eight…

Person enjoying a virtual reality gaming session with a VR headset and controllers

Humans Explainer

38 people took the same virtual dive on land and underwater, but floating in the pool made the imagined journey feel much longer

Thirty-eight people ended this experiment with two different internal maps of the same virtual trip. Everyone watched the same underwater VR dive, yet the group floating in a pool judged that they had traveled farther than the group who stood on solid ground. A Scientific Reports study published on January 13, 2021, treated that gap…

A tired-looking space traveler holding a helmet inside a dim spacecraft

Humans Explainer

12 men spent 72 hours either sleepless or isolated, and missed sleep did more damage to mood, heart regulation and response control

A 72-hour comparison between sleep loss and isolation produced a clear split: the men kept awake for three days showed a sharper decline in mood, heart regulation and brain responses tied to response control. The isolation group spent the same length of time cut off from normal social contact, yet the heavier physiological and emotional…

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