This Is Why You Cry More Easily on Planes

Are you an emotionally stable person? Someone who doesn’t cry easily?

But what about when you’re on a plane? Have you noticed that you tend to tear up over nothing?

Recent research shows that this is absolutely normal. There are scientific reasons why you might suddenly be overcome with emotion – and not just because flying can be scary.

Let’s break it down. The main reason is altitude. It’s not often you’ll find yourself at 30,000 feet in the air, so when you do fly, the altitude makes your body react differently to how it usually does. While cabin pressure make passengers a little more comfortable, it doesn’t fix everything – including the emotional aspect.

Kate Sullivan, MSc, Head of Experience at Secret Fares told Reader’s Digest, “It’s a bit like having climbed a pretty high mountain.”

Photo Credit: Unsplash, Angela Compagnone

Oxygen is thinner the higher the elevation. So for someone like a mountain climber (or airplane passenger), there is a lower amount of oxygen in the bloodstream.

“With less oxygen available, your body goes into conservation mode,” Sullivan explains. “It takes care of essential functions first, like your circulatory and respiratory system, and ramps down some of the less crucial functions…including emotional regulation.”

But that’s not all. The air is extremely dry while flying. This can cause dehydration. Send in the drink cart!

“Because the air circulated in the cabin is very dry…we get pretty darn dehydrated on a plane,” Sullivan says.

And yes, the stress of flying itself can cause emotional disruption. Maybe you almost missed your plan or you said good-bye to a loved one before boarding. Whatever the reason, your nervousness may heighten, leaving you tired. And once you’re in the air, the altitude strips your body of some of its normal capabilities for regulating emotions.

Photo Credit: Unsplash, Bambi Corro

“From a psychological perspective, the mere act of flying can make you more likely to cry,” Sullivan says. “Even if you’re not afraid of planes, it’s a stressful situation.”

There are ways to combat stress and emotions, though. Drinks lots of water before and during the flight. Staying hydrated may mean more trips to the teeny tiny flight bathroom, but – hey – at least you’re not crying in the aisle to get there. You can also break out a sudoku or crossword puzzle to keep your brain occupied. And, lastly, kick back with in-flight entertainment. Watch movies that are light-hearted and comedic (your emotional side will thank you).

So no matter the reason for pesky tears to surface, know it is okay! This totally normal.

Everything is under control.

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November 3, 2019

The Old Farmer’s Almanac Predicts a Wild Winter This Year

After you read this year’s weather forecast, you might not feel so prepared for winter….

The Old Farmer’s Almanac — a traditional source of weather predictions that was founded in 1792 — says that this winter is going to be a real mess.

The Almanac was first created to help farmers anticipate how the weather would impact the upcoming growing season. Today, it remains a remarkably reliable source of weather predictions for each season; last year’s predictions for winter were 80.5% accurate.

The publication recently released a press release with its winter 2019 predictions, and it’s slightly fear-inducing, to say the least.

Photo Credit: Pexels

The press release says that this winter, there will be “no escape from shivers, snowflakes, and slush.”

There will be “no fewer than seven” major snowstorms this year. The snowstorms are predicted to hit Washington state, plus other northern states all the way to Michigan. Other areas of the country, like the Deep South and New England, will have slush and sludge instead of snow.

Plus, “bone-chilling cold” is a major theme across the country. Even Hawaii is expected to have cooler temperatures and heavy rain.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

To make matters worse, the winter chill is expected to last well into March – even into the first days of spring.

“Is this the winter that never ends?” the Almanac asks.

By the end of winter, we’ll probably be aching for warmer temps…

But the Almanac says that summer 2020 is going to be hell, too, with “scorching” temperatures. Sigh. I’ll just stay inside until further notice, thanks!

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November 3, 2019

Ten Tons of Trash Have Been Brought down from the Slopes of Mount Everest

The “highest dumpster in the world” recently had a big clean out.

More good news: the trash is getting upcycled into goods for homes and hotels all over Kathmandu.

Everest had a serious trash problem – thousands of climbers were bringing stuff up that they weren’t taking down with them. Nepal recently forbid single-use plastic in the area to try and prevent the issue from recurring.

Nepal is banning single-use plastic on and around Mount Everest in a bid to cut down on the region's trash problem. https://t.co/0iRv8E0P1D

— CNN (@CNN) August 22, 2019

Now, empty cans, bottles, canisters and abandoned camping materials are finding new life as drinking glasses, pots, lamps and other housewares. This approach represents the latest innovation in dealing with the environmental damage caused by the climbing industry.

Nabin Bikash Maharjan of local recycling organization Blue Waste to Value (BW2V) told AFP, “We received a mix of materials from Everest — aluminium, glass, plastic, iron — much of which could be recycled. We need to up-cycle and add value to them.”

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

The government of Nepal and some of the mountaineering outfits coordinated on a massive, six-week long clean-up after getting hit with heavy criticism about the conditions of the magnificent mountain.

A team of 14 scaled over 26,000 feet – from base to the camp closest to the summit – to remove ten tons of garbage. That’s the trash that ended up in recycling centers in Kathmandu.

Workers sorted through the pile by hand. Iron was transferred to rod manufacturers, aluminum cans went to utensil manufacturers, and bottles were turned into products for homes, hotels and restaurants. There is even global consumer interest in buying upcycled goods made from Everest waste.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

There is also some bad news, though: the trash collected is only a fraction of what’s on the mountain. The slopes are littered with decades of garbage and abandoned campsites that still need removal.

Agencies involved in cleaning Mount Everest are imposing rubbish deposits and requiring climbers to carry a kilometer (2.2 pounds) of trash with them on their descent. The challenge here is that when climbers are paying tens of thousands of dollars to ascend, another few thousand as a deposit isn’t a guaranteed motivator to bring their trash down.

Perhaps the only real long-term solution to Mount Everest’s garbage problem is to reduce the amount the climbing polluters take up with them.

Or reduce the number of climbers altogether.

Photo Credit: did you know?

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10. Please don’t tell me this.

Photo Credit: did you know?

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Nothing like a good fact set. NOTHING.

Please feel free to share with your family and friends…it might do them some good.

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November 2, 2019

The Roaming Charges on Eagles’ GPS Trackers Bankrupt Russian Researcher Team

Now, this is certainly interesting.

Some steppe eagles got into trouble with their researchers for sending text messages that resulted in huge cell phone bills.

Bad, bad birds!

Researchers at the Russian Raptors Research and Conservation Network were studying the steppe eagles to learn more about their summer migratory patterns. To track the eagles, researchers tagged the birds with GPS monitors that would send their locations via text.

Photo Credit: Needpix

The idea was that the eagles would fly around all summer in a virtually cell tower-less region of Kazakhstan, banking up texts of their GPS coordinates that would eventually get sent when they returned to cell service.

So, yes, the plan worked…almost.

The birds spent the majority of their time in the area researchers assumed they would. And the researchers received texts whenever the eagles hit a network in other parts of Kazakhstan and Russia.

What the researchers didn’t anticipate were the odd trips into Iran, where there is oodles of cell phone coverage. Unfortunately, the researchers’ cell phone plan didn’t cover that service.

The eagles weren’t only soaring, they were roaming.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Everyone knows– except steppe eagles, evidently – that sending text messages without an international calling plan is like throwing money out the window.

What do birds think? That money grows on trees?

The researchers were charged about $0.77 per text, at four per bird per day.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

In the eagles’ defense, they may have decided to vacay in Iran due to the loss of some of their traditional Kazakh breeding grounds to farmland. At any rate, they literally bankrupted the scientists, who had to turn to social media for fundraising.

Friends and fans of steppe eagles stepped up and covered the birds’ bills (and more) so the research could continue.

Cell phone roaming charges are…for the birds.

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November 2, 2019

10 Simple Ways You Can Help out the Environment

There are always little things you can do to help out the environment. Even if they seem inconsequential to you, taking small steps adds up – especially when countless other people are out there doing the same thing.

So try to implement these habits into your daily lives, and we’ll all be better for it in the long run.

Cause we’ve got a crisis on our hands, and every little bit helps.

1. Turn down the brightness on your monitor.

You can save up to 20% of your monitor’s energy just by adjusting your brightness from 100% to 70%. Go on and do it now…I’ll wait.

2. Think about your music streaming.

A study says that today’s music streaming might produce up to double the greenhouse gas emissions as compared to music streaming in the early part of this century. Consider downloading music instead of streaming and do a little research about which streaming companies use cleaner energy.

3. Streaming devices are important, too.

A gaming console might use 30 to 45 times as much power to stream a movie than a regular media player.

4. Order more.

If you buy things online, order more than one item at a time. This cuts down on delivery and packaging in the long run.

5. Search engines matter.

Different search engines give back to the environment in different ways. For instance, Ecosia donates ad revenue to plant trees and, according to their website, they run net carbon negative. Do some research and see which ones are doing green work.

6. Unplug it.

When you’re not using your charger, unplug it. Simple as that. Phone and laptop chargers draw electricity even if you’re not actively charging a device, so give those breakers…a break.

7. Or use a surge protector.

Surge protectors with an On/Off switch are a good option too for those hard-to-reach plugs.

8. Get on that bike.

Biking may actually be faster than driving a car in some American cities, so hop on that bicycle of yours to get to where you’re headed.

9. Spam is bad.

Roughly 62 TRILLION spam emails are sent each year. Something you may not think about often: sending email actually has a carbon footprint from servers working. Which means those spam emails equal about 20 tons of CO2 each year. So go ahead and hit the “Unsubscribe” button, please.

10. Buy used and vintage clothes.

According to The Economist, “From the pesticides poured on cotton fields to the washes in which denim is dunked, making 1kg of fabric generates 23kg of greenhouse gases on average.” Seems like kind of a waste, doesn’t it? So consider heading to the thrift store instead of grabbing a new flannel.

Give us some of your tips as well in the comments!

We’re in this together, so let’s all do our part, okay?

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November 2, 2019

NASA Wants to Send a Probe to Venus’ Infernal Surface

Even though we’ve had our eyes on the Mars prize for some time, a different team of researchers is actually working on getting to Venus.

Venus gets closer to Earth in its orbit than any other planet, yet we have precious little information about the surface – except that it’s close to a living hell.

In 1966, a Soviet space probe crash-landed on the surface, where it lasted a few hours before being destroyed. Now NASA’s Long-Lived In-situ Solar System Explorer, or LLISSE, is looking to last a full 60 days in the reactive atmosphere, crushing pressure and blasting heat found on Venus’ surface. In fact, each probe has to be specially designed to withstand the high temperatures and pressure.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Called Earth’s evil twin, Venus is roughly the same size and mass of our home planet. Scientists say it was once water-rich, potentially with the elements necessary for life. But it has since turned into a hell planet with scorching, lead-melting temperatures, pressure comparable to what’s found at the bottom of our deepest oceans and winds whipping like tornados. During the day, sulphuric acid blocks the sun’s rays. The nights each last one hundred Earth-days.

One theory about what happened to make Venus so inhospitable is that, over time, the once huge, shallow ocean evaporated, releasing the super-light hydrogen atoms into space. As hydrogen disappeared, all the carbon-dioxide left in the atmosphere created an out-of-control greenhouse effect. Basically, turbo-charged climate change run utterly amok.

But we really don’t know.

And we can’t know, until we put some equipment on the surface.

Small as a ten-inch cube, LLISSE will piggyback on other space-going craft and then get dropped onto Venus. The unit is made of super hard silicon carbide – also used in sandpaper and lab-made diamonds – to protect it against sulphuric crystals. Like a missile, it will be powered by a heat-activated thermal battery for its 60-day life.

Photo Credit: NASA

NASA engineers need the unit powered for that long to see the change from day to night on Venus. Each Venus day lasts almost four Earth-months. If the unit can get placed late in the day, and if it can stay powered long enough, we’ll be get critical data on the transition for the first time.

Eventually, LLISSE will be used as part of a joint Venus project with the Russian space agency, but, as of right now, it looks as if nothing is getting to the next planet over before 2026. Frankly, it’s not even sure if LLISSE will ever get a trip into space at that point.

But the technology is already here, and Venus isn’t going anywhere.

A visit next door is just a matter of a few more Venus days.

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November 2, 2019

Playgrounds for Elderly People Increase Activity and Decrease Loneliness

As people get older, they become more isolated. After all, it’s just harder to get out an about, and the people you know have the same trouble.

It’s also a face that often times aging people exercise less, if at all.

So how do we solve the problem? Playgrounds!

I have yet to see one of these in person, but I have to say, I think this is an amazing idea.

The phenomenon of playgrounds for adults is still kind of new in the United States, but the original concept dates back to 1995 in China.

For Sports & Exercise Med and Care of the Elderly students: "I took a walk to a park near my hotel in the city of Nanchang and noticed hundreds of elderly people exercising together"

By @BBCNews @bbchealth #health #elderly #sports https://t.co/aS7WlRZWhL

— Diploma MSc (@diplomamsc) October 29, 2019

They proved to be very popular in China, and soon spread across the globe to Europe, Canada, Japan, and the U.S. The trend has become especially popular in Spain, where the city of Barcelona alone has more than 300 adult playgrounds.

Playgrounds for older adults feature low-impact exercise equipment that’s designed to improve flexibility, balance, and core strength among users, all key attributes that undoubtedly lead to better overall well-being for elderly people who take advantage of these spaces. Some of the parks even feature group exercise classes so older folks don’t have to work up a sweat all by themselves – plus, they get the opportunity to meet people.

Cedric X. Bryant, president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, says, “[Playgrounds for elders] focus on promoting balance, flexibility, and range of motion, all of which can help with the functional capabilities of older people and allow them to do more of the things they want to do.”

Multigenerational Playgrounds Bring Health and Socialization to All Ages http://t.co/4SD7fbJgrr via @Wellness_Org pic.twitter.com/HHQWKUj1iF

— Susan Woolner, CPXP (@susanwoolner) July 20, 2015

Some park are strictly for adults, while some allow seniors to play along with their grandchildren. Right now, there are 53 “multigenerational” parks in the United States.

Here’s a video of some older folks taking advantage of such a park in Colorado.

I’d like to see these all over the country!

No, all over the world!

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November 2, 2019

People Who Wish for More Self-Control Actually Wind up with Less. Here’s Why.

I have some bad news for people who desperately need more self-control in their lives. Research shows that wishing for more self-control actually has the opposite effect.

In a 2017 study, psychologists measured participants’ desire to increase their self-control. Then the volunteers rated their current level of self-control. Lastly, they had to complete either an easy or a difficult assignment.

The volunteers who performed best on the challenging assignment were the least likely to say that they wanted to have more self-control. Those who did the worst were the most likely to wish for more self-control.

The desire for self-control had no effect on the volunteers’ performance on the easy assignment.

Photo Credit: iStock

These results could simply demonstrate that people with a lot of self-control perform better on hard tasks — they don’t wish for more self-control because they already have it.

But in a follow-up experiment, the psychologists managed to manipulate people’s desire for more self-control by asking them to write an essay about why self-control was a good thing OR how it could cause problems. This time, those who were prompted to see self-control as desirable performed worse on the difficult task. Those who were prompted to see self-control as problematic performed much better.

Consciously wishing for more self-control may seem like a positive thing — how are you supposed to become more disciplined unless you try? But in reality, this desire makes you focus on what you don’t already have, psyching you out in the process.

Photo Credit: iStock

So instead of just passively wishing for more self-control, try taking concrete steps to accomplish the specific things that you want to accomplish. For example, don’t just think to yourself, “I wish I had the self-control not to check Instagram every day” – actually install an app on your phone to limit your social media use.

The researchers also recommend reframing your thinking. Self-control isn’t something that people simply have or don’t have. It’s an unlimited resource, and you can tap into it at any time, regardless of what you’ve done before.

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October 31, 2019

A Public Service Announcement Compares the Dangers of Kids Playing Football to Smoking

When I was growing up, parents didn’t think twice about letting their kids play organized football. I played myself for several years, and I never thought about any of the possible repercussions that came along with getting hit over and over again on the field.

But parents with young kids today, including several of my friends who now have children of their own, are adamant that they will never, ever let their children play football. And maybe there’s a good reason for that…

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Earlier today, we unveiled a new PSA aimed at convincing parents to delay enrolling their children in tackle football until age 14 or later. The “#TackleCanWait” campaign, a collaboration with health and wellness marketing agency @fingerpainters , is inspired by a major study released earlier this week that shows the link between tackle football and the brain disease CTE may be stronger than the link between smoking and lung cancer. Learn more about the PSA and watch it at the link in our bio.

A post shared by Concussion Legacy Foundation (@concussionfoundation) on Oct 10, 2019 at 8:36am PDT

Letting kids play football has come under fire in recent years due to the knowledge about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the disease that many former football players and others have suffered from after receiving multiple head injuries. To make the point, the Concussion Legacy Foundation released a public service announcement comparing the long-term effects of kids playing football to children smoking cigarettes.

In the PSA, a young boy says, “Tackle football is like smoking. The younger I start, the longer I am exposed to danger. You wouldn’t let me smoke. When should I start tackling?”

A study reports that it’s the number of years spent playing football, not the number of head injuries a person suffers, that impacts the severity of CTE.

The PSA calls for parents to wait until their children are 14 years old to let them play tackle football. Take a look at the PSA below.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you let your kids play football or do you refuse?

Sound off in the comments.

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