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How light helped shape the color of our skin, eyes and curly hair

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For most of our evolutionary history, human activity has been linked to sunlight. Technology has liberated us from these ancient sleep-wake cycles, but there’s evidence that sunlight has left and continues to go away its traces.

Not only are we still awake during the day, but we sleep at night, we will thank light for a lot of other facets of our biology.

Light could have made our ancestors walk upright on two legs. Light helps explain the evolution of our skin color, why some of us have curly hair, and even the size of our eyes.

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As we’ll learn in future articles on this series, light helps shape our mood, our immune system, our gut function, and way more. Light could make us sick, tell us why we’re sick, and then heal us.

Millions of years of evolutionary history mean that humans are still largely creatures of light.

We got up and left Africa

The first modern humans evolved in the warm African climate. And reducing exposure to brilliant sunlight Is one explanation why people began walking upright, on two legs. When we stand up and the Sun is directly above us, much less sunlight reaches our body.

They also can have curly hair he protected us from the hot sun. The idea is that it provides a thicker layer of insulation than straight hair to guard the scalp.

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Early had additional sun protection in the form of highly pigmented skin. Sunlight breaks down folic acid (vitamin B9), accelerates aging and damages DNA. In our light ancestral climates, dark skin was protected against this. But this dark skin still confessed enough UV light to stimulate the obligatory production of vitamin D.

However, as humans colonized temperate zones with lower light, this occurred lighter skin has evolved again and againthrough different genes in several populations. This happened quickly, probably inside the last 40,000 years.

With reduced UV radiation closer to the poles, less pigmentation was needed to guard sunlight from breaking down folic acid. Lighter skin also let in additional thin light, allowing the body to provide vitamin D. But there was one big drawback: less pigmentation meant less protection against sun damage.

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How our skin’s pigmentation adapts to migration patterns and changing light.

This evolutionary background is why Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.

Our colonial history signifies that over 50% of Australians are of Anglo-Celtic descent, have fair skin and are transplanted to an environment with high levels of UV radiation. No wonder we’re described as “a rustic scorched by the sun“.

Sunlight has also contributed to changes in human eyes. People living in high latitudes have less protective pigment of their irises. They have too larger eye sockets (and probably eyeballs), perhaps let in the more precious light.

Again, these characteristics make Australians of European descent particularly liable to our harsh light. So it’s no surprise that Australia has this unusual thing high rate of eye cancer.

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We cannot move our biological clock

Our circadian rhythm – the wake-sleep cycle driven by our brains and hormones – is one other piece of heavy evolutionary baggage triggered by light.

Humans are adapted to sunlight. In the brilliant light people can see well and improved it color vision. But we see poorly in dim light, and we lack senses like acute hearing or acute smell to make up for it.

Our closest relatives (chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans) are also lively during the day and sleep at night, supporting the concept that early humans exhibited similar daytime behaviors.

This lifestyle probably goes back further in our evolutionary history, before the appearance of great apes, to the origins of primates.

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The earliest mammals were generally nocturnal, using their small size and cover of darkness to cover from dinosaurs. However, the meteorite impact that worn out these fearsome reptiles allowed some surviving mammals, especially primates, to largely evolve each day lifestyle.

If we inherited our daylight activity pattern directly from these early primates, then this rhythm would have been part of the evolutionary history of our lineage for nearly 66 million years.

This explains why it is vitally difficult to maneuver our 24-hour clock; it’s so deeply rooted in our evolutionary history.

Next improvements in lighting technology they freed us more and more from our dependence on daylight: fire, candles, kerosene and gas lamps, and finally electric lighting. So theoretically we will work and play at any time.

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However, our cognitive and physical performance deteriorates when our internal circadian cycles are disruptedfor instance, because of lack of sleep, shift work or jet lag.

Futurists have already considered the required circadian rhythms life on Mars. Fortunately, a day on Mars lasts about 24.7 hours, which is analogous to ours. This slight difference must have been the least of the worries of the first intrepid Martian colonists.

How would humans cope on Mars? At least they would not should worry an excessive amount of about their biological clock.
NikoNomada/NASA/Shutterstock

The light continues to alter us

Over the last 200 years, artificial lighting has helped (partially) disconnect us from the circadian rhythms of our ancestors. However, in recent many years this has come at the expense of our eyesight.

Many genes are related to myopia (nearsightedness). develop into more common in only 25 years, a striking example of rapid evolutionary change in the human gene pool.

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And if you’ve a genetic predisposition to myopia, reduced exposure to natural light (and spending more time in artificial light) increases your likelihood of developing myopia. These noticeable changes have occurred over the course of many individuals’s lives.

Light will undoubtedly proceed to shape our biology for millennia to return, but the long-term effects could also be difficult to predict.

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This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Can psychedelics help you drink less alcohol? Our new study aims to find out

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Psychhedels reminiscent of LSD and psilocybina (Active ingredient in magical mushrooms) is gaining increasingly more attention in psychiatry. Research suggests They can offer therapeutic advantages in conditions reminiscent of depression, anxiety, obsessive and compulsive disorders, dietary disorders and addiction.

Our research team Study whether N, N-Dimetytryptamine (DMT)Quickly acting psychedelic, can help people reduce alcohol consumption.

Alcohol is most frequently Incorrectly used substance in Great Britainpartly since it is legal, widely available and deeply rooted in social culture. While many individuals can enjoy alcohol sparselyIN significant number Fight to control their drinking. For these people, Excessive alcohol consumption It can lead to serious physical, mental and social consequences.

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Traditional treatments don’t work for everybody, which is why we examine alternatives reminiscent of psychedelics, which may allow people to change their behavior in a single transformational experience.



DMT is Metabolized quickly within the body. When administered intravenousThe effects start almost immediately, often in a single to two minutes. However, these effects are short -lived, lasting only ten to 20 minutes.

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Despite the short duration of many users, they describe this experience as very deep. They often report live visions, complex patterns and feeling in one other reality. In some cases, experience leads to a whole change in how they think, feel and perceive the world. For many, this experience is deeply significant and transformational.

But what happens within the brain presently and the way can it affect long -term behavior, reminiscent of a discount in alcohol consumption?



Neuroplasticity and addiction

Our team He is especially all for how psychedelics reminiscent of DMT can help within the context of addiction. One theory is that psychedelics can temporarily increase neuroplasticityBrain ability to create new neural connections. This temporary reinforcement can open a window of flexibility, enabling some people more open to change.

For someone who got stuck in a heavy drinking cycle, this increased plasticity can help them break the old habits and develop healthier behavior. Basically, it might probably offer the brain Opportunity for “again” Sam and disturbing unhealthy patterns underlying addiction.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys9fbb19ws0

We also deal with reward and brain motivation systems, which play a key role in addiction. These systems affect the behavior related to pleasure, including food, sex and alcohol.

In individuals with Alcohol consumption disorderThese systems turn out to be hypersensitive to alcohol guidelines, often on the expense of other satisfying experiences. Some early studies He suggests that psychedelics can help “reset” these paths. We test this theory to see if DMT can reduce alcohol consumption by re -calibrating the brain prize system.

To examine these possibilities, we designed a study with drinking heavy, who’re motivated to reduce alcohol consumption. Each participant undergoes a radical screening test to be sure that they’re suitable for testing, and all sessions are conducted in a highly controlled, clinical environment with doctors and experienced researchers supervising this process.

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The study includes three visits to our UCL laboratory. We use through the first and third visit Functional imaging of magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) to measure brain activity and observe how different areas of the brain interact.

During scans, participants watch emotionally engaging movies that provide a more natural way of testing brain response compared to abstract tasks. This helps us assess how DMT can affect the brain function in real, emotionally charged situations.

During the second visit, the participants are randomly assigned to receive DMT, placebo or non -pryshedel medicine (D-CykLoserina Or Lisers). It is believed that these subszymical substances are believed Promote neuroplasticity Without inducing full psychedelic effects of DMT.

. The test is double blind – Neither participants nor scientists know which substance is run. This helps to eliminate bias and ensures that the outcomes are as reliable as possible.

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In addition, we measure changes in brain activity during infusion of the drug with electroencephalography (EEG). EEG tracks the brain electrical signals and may help us predict which participants will almost certainly use DMT.

Participants also perform various psychological assessments, including questionnaires and tasks that measure memory, attention, mood and decision making. These data will help us understand how changes in brain function can relate to changes in behavior related to drinking.

What can we hope to discover

We are still within the technique of collecting data, but we’re excited whether DMT can lead to a major reduction in alcohol consumption. As scientists, it’s crucial for us to remain objective and permit the evidence to conduct our conclusions. By maintaining a “blind” test, until all results can be found, we be sure that our arrangements are objective and reliable.

If DMT proves to be effective in helping people to reduce alcohol consumption, especially for many who struggled with other treatments, it might probably pave the best way to a new approach to addiction therapy. Even if the outcomes are ambiguous, they may proceed to provide precious insight into the potential role of psychedels within the treatment of addiction and open new possibilities of future research.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkr-jvglkng

It is very important to emphasize that these research takes place in a protected, controlled environment. Psychhedels are strong substances, and their effects could be unpredictable, especially outside the clinical settings. They usually are not a “magic ball” and usually are not suitable for everybody. The controlled setting allows us to examine our effects, while minimizing the chance for participants.

Having said that, we imagine in psychhedels offer a special opportunity To higher understand the brain and its ability to change. By examining how transformational experiences can affect behavior, we hope to contribute to the event of simpler treatment of addiction and other mental health conditions.

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This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Tina Knowles reveals the diagnosis of breast cancer and reminds people not to “bend over mammograms”

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Tina Knowles reveals the diagnosis of breast cancer and reminds people not to

Ghettos

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Tina Knowles revealed that she was fighting breast cancer. The 71-year-old learned that she had cancer in stage 1 in July 2024. She learned about her diagnosis at a time when she launched the Cécred hair care line along with her daughter Beyoncé.

“It is important not to slow down to your mammograms,” she said during an interview with people. The creator also revealed that she missed mammography. Task group of American preventive services recommended That women aged 40 to 74, who’re exposed to the average risk of breast cancer, receive mammography every 2 years, but you may also get one yr.

“I forgot that I did not go to the test for two years before I thought I did it,” she said – “Because Covid came, they called me and canceled and said, we would call you when we started testing again. I just thought that I did it. So you can’t play with it.”

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Tina revealed a message about her meeting with breast cancer in her diary, which he published on April 22.

“I fought with whether I would share this journey [in the book] Because I’m very private. But I decided to share it because I think these are many lessons for other women – he says. “And I believe that as women sometimes we’re so busy and we’re so wrapped and running, but you’ve got to go to the test. Because if I did not get the test early, I mean, fascinated with what could occur to me.”

While the news of a loved one could be devastating, Knowles said that her daughters had a realistic response to listening to her diagnosis.

She said that Beyoncé “took it well, remaining positive, and I already felt her mind racing, focusing on this as a task with precision.” Tiny’s second child, Solange said: “Mom, we’ll deal with it.” Additionally, Kelly Rowland who’s close to the matriarch, and her niece Angie Beyinka was also at her side. “My girls have become my team,” she wrote in a newly published book.

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Fortunately, the dressmaker underwent surgery last yr to remove the tumor, and also obtained breast reduction.

“I’m great,” she said. “Without cancer and incredibly blessed that God let me find him early.”

Knowles wants women to remember about regular research – key detection is essential.

“I didn’t know that there was stage 0. I could catch it at stage 0 if I didn’t miss my mammogram,” she said.

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Mama Super Gwiazda also wants people to know you can undergo the difficult terror of health and proceed to go to the top: “I want to show people that you can go and continue to fly.”

Nowadays, the 71-year-old is doing and feels good.

“I’m healthier, I eat better, I lost weight,” she told people.

“I want to give people hope,” Knowles added. “What scares me now is not the best to use every day that I left in this life.”

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This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

President of HBCU will submit a request for a donor of organs in graduation

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Livingstone College, organ Donation, kidney


President HBCU prays that a member of his school community may also help him find an organ donor.

Dr. Anthony J. Davis, president of Livingstone College, has been fighting kidney failure for almost two years. Since the diagnosis, Davis has undergone almost 10 hours of dialysis treatment at night, and was also juggling the duties of institutions. During the last ceremony of starting Livingstone, May 3 revealed his tragic request for a donor of organs.

“When the Lord is a blessing, the enemy begins to play”, he shared Graduate class, on.

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Davis stays involved in lifting the college and her body, despite his medical failures. He remains to be working on increasing registration and recruitment, remaining at the highest of his goals to lift Livingstone. His term also recorded a donation of two anonymous gifts price $ 10 million per school.

Describing his health journey, he also noticed that none of his members of the family was entitled to a match because of their different blood groups.

“I said, my children, what is happiness? They have a good mother’s appearance and her blood group,” he shared the group’s laughter.

His emotional speech also inspired graduates to beat obstacles that they might encounter in their lives. Davis also began the “Be my match” campaign to assist search. The “Be My Match” initiative encourages those in the HBCU Livcustone community and out of doors of it to get to know a living donor. Davis expressed the hope and faith that his public declaration concerning the need for a donor would cause his community to seek out a match.

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Blacks are disproportionately affected by kidney disease. According to the National Institute of Health, the 2023 annual report showed that this demographic group Accounts 30% of all individuals with final kidney disease (ESKD). Black are also 4 times more exposed to death because of their ECOD than their white counterparts, because of which their ability to seek out a match is more essential than ever.

Bearing in mind these numbers, Davis hopes that his network will strengthen this campaign to the masses to assist the educator and supporter of HBCu save his life. When he finished his powerful and key message, the category of 2025 and Davis hope that in the subsequent era of their lives with latest prosperity.

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This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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