The other day this topic came up while talking with my roommates. I personally have never have never experienced lucidity. Apparently, there are different techniques to help you get there. One of my roommates tried listening to special music as he dozed off and he claims it worked. How does science explain lucid dreams? Or can science even explain lucidity?

A lucid dream is basically the ability to recognize the facts that your dreaming inside a dream. I am told that once you realize you are dreaming you can, from that point on, control the chain of events. Rebecca Turner shares her insight on lucid dreaming since she has experienced hundreds of them first hand. The article states that self-awareness within dreams has occurred in history among many cultures and been documented. British parapsychologist Keith Hearne was the first scientist to pioneer lucid dreams by documenting pre-determined eye movements signals from a volunteer. Once the patient maintained self awareness he was able to match the pattern agreed upon with Hearne.

Want to find out how you can lucid dream too? Check this out.

Although weight gain has yet to be an issue for me, I have often times heard that eating right before bedtime is unhealthy and could cause weight gain. The theory behind the thought is that if you eat before going to sleep, there in no chance to burn off the calories allocated from the food. When you go to sleep your heart rate slows down meaning even less calories are burned; if they are used, they are stored as fat tissue. Seems plausible right? I would have to say yes but, is there any scientific reasoning to back this theory?

Fit Day titles the myth “debunked.” According to them the idea that late night eating has the tendency to pack on pounds is a common misconception. The article refers to The British Medical Journal who concluded after their study that there is no connection between weight gain and late night eating. The article then goes on to say, “Where some people do get into trouble with eating late at night is if they binge and take in more calories than they need in a day.” Basically, what they’re trying to say is that weather it is day or night, consuming more calories than your body needs is going to result in weight gain. However, I would also argue that late night eating may actually instigate the consumption of junk food resulting in a higher calorie count. You’ll find most people raiding cupboard for cookies not tossing a salad at 2am; this could very easily be a third variable they didn’t investigate.

Everyone has undoubtedly heard the expression,”you only get one chance to make a first impression” or “first impressions are the most important.” Now obviously first impressions mean a great deal in a setting such as a job interview or business setting, because if it isn’t a good one there will be no second chances. But in a casual setting, is the first impression really as important as everyone makes it out to be? How many friendships or serious relationships of yours started with a bad, awkward, or embarrassing first impression? And how many people made a good first impression and ended up being something you wanted no part of?

Personally, I do believe in making first impressions count; however, some people are better at them than others. Some are socially inapt while others are good at deceiving their audience. Some of my best friends had a tendency to rub me the wrong way when I first met them, and now we get a good laugh looking back on those events. But, if a second, third. or fourth interaction hadn’t occurred that were more desirable, would have those friendships had the chance to develop? Is it a question even possible to answer?

One study claims that how we perceive someone is determined within the first few minutes of meeting them. It is said to have a huge impact on the course of the relationship. The two college professors mentioned did a study on 164 college freshman over a 9 week period. They said that freshman are “social animals” making them perfect candidates for testing Michael Sunnafrank’s “predicted outcome value theory,” They reported that the first meeting had a “predictable impact” shown over the next 9 weeks. However, I would argue that process of their analysis may have affected their results. If they set up these meetings for students, they were most likely doomed from the start. How do you form a true first impression if you are being forced to sit and talk with a stranger? Not to mention forced interactions over a 9 week period.

I’ve always heard, and even experienced first hand, that elderly often pass away shortly after there spouses. And it has always wondered me, is it truly due to a broken heart? Can science explain this phenomena? Or is it just a result of pure chance? Well I went searching for the answer and here’s what I found.

Check out some of these first hand accounts where the deteriorated health of one long time lover led to similar set backs, and eventually the death of the other; ultimately resulting in their death only months or even days later. One story talks about a couple from Lubbock, Texas who perished only 12 hours apart from one another the day before their 64th wedding anniversary.

As I read over the accounts, I began to try and distinguish between science or pure chance. Were the spouses left behind truly facing a death due to a broken heart? Or could it just be coincidental considering all of the people who “died of a broken heart” were already of old age and soon going to pass away regardless.

It turns out the phenomena is very real medical condition, according to the Mayo Clinic. It is a condition originally named by the Japanese called takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Today it is referred to as stress cardiomyopathy and since nick named broken heart syndrome. But then another question arises, how come some elderly couples suffer from broken heart syndrome and others do not? I would argue that it all depends on the patient, the relationship with their spouse, and their current state of health at the time of their spouses death.

Here’s an imagine to help explain along with a video.

Sure, there is no denying that hybrid cars can get you further with less. For example the Toyota Prius earning an EPA estimated 50 mpg (highway/city combined). Toyota reports that in comparison to an average car, the Prius could have saved approximately 1,445,971,501.65 gallons of gas since 2000 in the U.S. alone. This is primarily because the vehicle runs off a massive electric battery until it reaches speeds suitable for the small gasoline engine. The Prius is more efficient in that it burns less gasoline, making it less dependent on non-renewable fossil fuels, meaning fewer emissions of greenhouse gases and therefore cheaper to keep on the road and more environmental friendly, right?

Some say its not that simple. According to an article posted in December of 2012, hybrids are not all they’re hyped up to be. As I mentioned earlier, hybrids such as the Prius do so well on gas because they primarily run on electric (speeds below 40 mph). However, over 45% of all electric produced in the U.S. come from coal powered plants. Lisa Tedder reports in the article that, “The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that if a plug-in hybrid vehicle is charged with coal-generated electricity it could emit up to 10% more greenhouse gases than a conventional vehicle and up to 60% more than a standard hybrid.” Concerns regarding the disposal of the large batteries have also surfaced as the toxic waste could accumulate quickly in landfills having detrimental effects on the environment. Also, hybrids might not be as easy on the wallet as you think, considering a battery replacement can cost thousands of dollars.

Given the increasing pressure to move away from non-renewable fossil fuels, I personally feel hybrids are a move in the right direction. Over the span of their lifetime they are still more efficient than the average car. And as the concepts are further developed over time, many of the issues pointed out will be minimized or even resolved entirely. According to this video, noticeable progress has already been made.