August 15, 2023: How lack of sleep makes you more emotional, weight-loss drugs could be a breakthrough for heart health and a new quantum "superchemistry" has been observed. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | In healthy individuals, good-quality sleep is linked with a more positive mood—and it takes just one night of sleep deprivation to trigger a robust spike in anxiety and depression the following morning. Moreover people who suffer from chronic sleep disruption tend to experience daily events as more negative, making it hard to escape a gloomy mindset.
How it works: Studies using MRI revealed that activity in the prefrontal cortex drops drastically with lack of sleep, as does the link between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. Neural impairment can occur after people experience just one night of sleep deprivation or routinely get less than six hours of sleep—or when participants' sleep is restricted to only four hours a night for five nights. As a result, the threshold for what the brain deems emotional becomes significantly lower when the amygdala can not act in concert with the prefrontal cortex.
What the experts say: "Our societies should critically examine structures—such as work norms, school cultures and the lack of support for parents or other caregivers—that prevent people from getting enough rest," writes Eti Ben Simon, a research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. (I say, 10 p.m. bedtimes, everyone!) | | | A weekly dose of Wegovy—a trade name for the drug semaglutide– slashed the risk of severe cardiovascular events by 20 percent in adults with heart disease and either overweight or obesity, according to trial data released by Novo Nordisk. The results are the first to suggest that semaglutide protects against serious episodes of cardiovascular disease in people who do not have type 2 diabetes.
How it works: Semaglutide acts by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), which is associated with appetite regulation. Evidence shows that drugs that mimic GLP-1 can improve fatty-acid metabolism and reduce inflammation; they act on the brain, the pancreas, the cardiovascular system and the gastrointestinal tract, so there's more to them than simply weight loss.
What the experts say: "This is probably the most important study in my field in the last ten years," says Michael Blaha, director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Baltimore, Maryland. "It gets to that cardiometabolic risk that's been difficult to treat in practice." | | | • Scientists have observed quantum "superchemistry" for the first time in a lab. They show that atoms or molecules in the same quantum state chemically react more rapidly than do atoms or molecules that are in different quantum states. | 2 min read | | | • Sixteen kids sued the state of Montana for infringing on their constitutional right for a clean and healthy climate. The court ruled in their favor. | 7 min read | | | • After searching for 32 years, mathematicians have found the ninth "Dedekind number," part of a series of numbers that was first discovered in the 19th century. | 6 min read | | | Credit: Amanda Montañez; Source: Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab (ECHOLab), Stanford University
| | | • In recent months 14 states have introduced or passed laws weakening labor protections for minors, even in notoriously dangerous industries, such as meatpacking. "The defense of child labor is historically linked to social Darwinist beliefs that people are not equal and do not deserve an equal chance in life," writes Naomi Oreskes, professor of the history of science at Harvard University. | 5 min read | | | A child laborer works at a cotton mill in South Carolina in 1908. Credit: Gado/Getty Images
| | | If you've been reading Today in Science for a while, you'll recall that I wrote about the extreme distress many New Yorkers felt back in June when the skies were orange with wildfire smoke--a reality that some places in this country experience every year. With today's concerning news that, on average, Americans have breathed more wildfire smoke so far this year than in entire years before this, I'll be looking into an indoor air purifier more seriously. Let me know if you have a good one you'd recommend! | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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