December 14: Putin, Vaccine

HUMAN BRAINS CAN SOLVE HARD PROBLEMS MOMENTS BEFORE FALLING ASLEEP, STUDY FINDS HERE'S HOW YOU CAN TRY TO CREATE YOUR OWN "EUREKA" MOMENTS. ......... humans experience a “creative sweet spot” in the moments right before we fall asleep ........ More specifically, it occurs during a sleep phase called N1, or non-rapid-eye movement sleep stage 1. ....... This phase puts the mind in a liminal space between sleep and wakefulness called hypnagogia — and it could hold the key to helping us come up with good ideas. ........

“I was quite surprised that almost no scientists have studied this period in the last two decades.”

........ The authors of the study based their experiment on a technique famously used by inventor Thomas Edison who reportedly napped while holding a ball in each hand. As soon as he fell asleep, the balls fell to the floor and woke him up. It’s said that he was able to recall new, bright ideas using this method. ........ those who reached N1 sleep were three times as likely to solve the problems than those who had simply stayed awake. The N1 sleepers were also six times as likely to solve the problem as the participants who slipped into deeper N2 sleep. ......... Alexander the Great and [Albert] Einstein potentially used Edison’s technique