SCIENCE & MEDICINE

When you hold your breath the ongoing accumulation of carbon dioxide in your cells, in your blood and lungs will eventually irritate and trigger impulses from the respiratory center part of your brain. Rising levels of carbon dioxide signal the body to breathe and ensure our unconscious and autonomous respiration. The body has the ability to detect these C02 levels with great accuracy and relies on them to regulate our respiration, so that we don’t have to.

An examination of the reasons why modern commercial aviation, despite advances, is not much faster than planes flying 50 years ago. “Time is the enemy of the privileged few. Cost is the enemy of the masses.” 

PHIL SPECTOR—The contemporary cultural norm of three meals per day with snacks eliminates the possibility of this higher level of function. Humans have lived as hunter-gatherers for 99% of our existence. Our physiology is the result of millions of years of adaptation to periods of food scarcity during which superior cognitive and physical performance conferred survival. We now know that our feeding habits not only impair our fitness but fuel an epidemic of chronic disease.

GORDON WATS—“In 2020, science and technology relations will reach another critical point,” Li Zheng, of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, said earlier this month. “In recent years, the contradictions and differences between the two countries in this field have risen significantly. “The United States regards the rise of Chinese technology as a threat and is setting obstacles to the free flow of technology, data, capital, markets and talent between the two countries through legislation and executive orders [from US President Donald Trump],” he added.

MIKE MCRAE—Of the roughly 2,800 individuals who provided a decent bank of medical data, just over a third had passed away by the end of the trial from various causes. Matching the sample’s resting heart rates with the rate of mortality led the researchers to believe that higher pulses correlated with a greater chance of dying. Those with between 71 to 80 beats per minute had a 51 percent greater chance of kicking the bucket during that period than those with a resting rate of under 50 beats. At 81 to 90 beats per minute, that risk was double. Over 90, and it tripled.