Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Circadian Rhythm”
At any second, half of our planet is bathed in sunlight and the other half is soaked in darkness. And as Earth rotates, days and nights alternate, and this light-dark cycle has shaped Earth’s life for at least 3.7 billion years. Various organisms have evolved a system, a ‘biological clock,’ to predict the time of day and optimize their behaviors accordingly. In …
“Innocent sleep…that soothes away all our worries…that puts each day to rest…that relieves the weary laborer and heals hurt minds. Sleep, the main course in life’s feast, and the most nourishing.” ― William Shakespeare, Macbeth When I was a kid, I was crazily passionate about basketball. Four hours a day, seven days a week, I ended up dribbling and shooting on the …
For creatures on the Earth, anticipation is the name of the game in survival. When is the best time for foraging, resting, or hiding from predators? Abilities to sense the answers to these questions make the difference between life and death. During billions of years of evolution, various organisms have equipped themselves with internal, self-sustained, and resettable rhythms called circadian rhythms. Circadian …
Ever heard of the term “social rhythm” before? Read on to learn about this concept! Long before humans made the first clock, dwellers on Earth have come up with timekeepers to adapt to the continuously changing environment. Known as the biological clocks, they are ticking in most living creatures, ranging from tiny cyanobacteria to giant plants and from slimy fungi to brainy …
Have you ever wondered how astronauts can endure months living inside a confined spaceship as they undergo their space missions? Life in a spaceship means forgoing regular sunlight exposure, social events, and outdoor activities. Sound familiar? With the current COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are living a less intense version of space life as we live in quarantine and self-isolation. As schools, …
Habitualmente queixamo-nos da rigidez que as rotinas do dia-a-dia impõe à nossa vida. As obrigações diárias, os horários fixos, quer laborais quer escolares, e outros constrangimentos quotidianos implicam muitas vezes ausência de tempo para atividades pessoais, projetos criativos e momentos de qualidade com a família. No entanto, a verdade é que estas rotinas diárias, geradas em torno de obrigações e afazeres do …
As a doctor in training, night shifts are a consistent part of life. This gets especially difficult for someone who is into optimizing their health. The World Health Organization classifies night shift work as a ‘carcinogen’. Circadian rhythms dictate specific times at which we are physiologically optimized for performance in different domains. It’s hard to stay alert and productive at night as …
January 1st, in the middle of winter, is actually an arbitrary date to start a new year… The date has no astronomical association, and is an inherited way of dividing up time from the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Before then, you might’ve seen Western countries start the new year on religious holidays like Christmas or Easter. The …
