Teens who sleep earlier show better brain function, study finds
Researchers discovered that even small differences in sleep schedules could have a big effect on a young person's mental abilities.
The study looked at over 3,000 teens and found that those who went to bed the earliest and had the longest sleep scored higher in reading, vocabulary, and problem-solving tests. These teens also had lower resting heart rates while they slept, which is often a sign of better health.
'We think that it's the sleep driving the better cognitive abilities, in part because we consolidate our memories during sleep,' said Barbara Sahakian, a professor at the University of Cambridge.
The research was done by Sahakian's team and experts from Fudan University in Shanghai. It used data from the U.S.-based Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, where teens had brain scans, took cognitive tests, and wore Fitbits to track their sleep.
The study grouped the teens into three sleep patterns. Those who slept the earliest and longest had an average of seven hours and 25 minutes of sleep. Even then, none of the groups reached the recommended 8 to 10 hours of sleep advised by sleep experts.
Experts suggest avoiding phone or computer use in the evening and staying active during the day to help improve sleep. Good sleep habits may support better memory, focus, and thinking skills, which can help teens in their studies and daily life.
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The National
18-07-2025
- The National
Plant-based foods were all the rage in the ancient eastern Gulf, researchers reveal
Diets thousands of years ago were more varied than the archaeological record suggests, with new research finding people consumed numerous plant-based foods. Chemical analysis of pottery from south-east Arabia in the Bronze Age used cutting-edge techniques to cast new light on an ancient peoples previously thought to have had a diet based almost entirely on meat and dairy. Investigations had found animal-based products on such pottery, leading to the previous conclusion about diet, but a new inquiry has changed that perspective after it found evidence of plant-based products. In the study published in PLOS One, researchers analysed the lipid fat, oil and wax content of 179 pottery items from eight inland and coastal sites in the UAE and Oman. Among these were Hili 8 and Hili North Tomb A, part of a complex of Bronze Age sites in Al Ain. What does the study show? The first author of the new study, Dr Akshyeta Suryanarayan of the University of Cambridge, said one the most widely accepted components of Middle East culture 4,000 years ago was the growth of oasis agriculture and more sedentary lifestyles. 'Lipid residue analysis of early locally made pottery consistently shows fats derived from animal-based products, such as the meat of goats, sheep, cattle or wild deer and camels – and dairy products,' she told The National. 'This indicates that animal husbandry and pastoral practices formed a major part of everyday subsistence, even while agriculture was being adopted in the region.' The study indicates that the consumption of animal products was far from the full story, however, as it suggests communities relied on a wide range of plants, too. Plant-derived residues were found in fewer vessels but their presence is significant, according to Dr Suryanarayan. 'Due to their lower lipid content and the inherent difficulty in detecting such compounds using current analytical techniques, the recovery of plant markers – alongside those from cereals and date palm products – suggests a broader spectrum of plant use than previously assumed,' she said. 'This hints at more varied and complex dietary practices than are typically visible in the archaeological record.' Changing perspectives In the paper, the researchers suggested their lipid analysis indicates Bronze Age communities in the region were using types of plants that did not show up in the 'macrobotanical record', meaning they left no visible trace. As a result, the work highlights the use of a wider range of plants than archaeologists would otherwise detect. 'It is plausible that the gathering of fruits, seeds, shoots, leaves and tubers from numerous wild species along with cereal consumption would have been a part of food practices,' the researchers wrote. Previous work has shown that cereals, legumes and date palms were consumed in Middle Eastern settlements in the early Bronze Age. Fats from cereals are rarely preserved and the researchers said they could not be confident of either their presence or absence from the vessels looked at in the current study. The researchers said it was difficult to know if the pottery vessels were used as containers for substances traded with other societies, but their work does suggest the pottery may have been reused over extended periods. Dr Suryanarayan said the study reaffirmed that pottery vessels 'were fundamentally culinary tools and containers' used to store, transport, alter and prolong the life of perishable produce. She added that archaeologists had been analysing lipid residues since the 1990s but this approach became more widely used in the past decade. 'Recent methodological advancements have significantly enhanced the ability to extract and identify highly degraded biomolecules from archaeological ceramics,' she said. 'These innovations now permit the successful analysis of residues even in regions with poor organic preservation due to harsh environmental conditions.' Pottery production is first documented in the UAE and Oman from the early third millennium BCE. The latest study looked at locally made and imported pottery, including fine red Omani vessels and black-slipped jars – tall, pear-shaped vessels with a black coating – from the Indus Civilisation. Titled Identifying pastoral and plant products in local and imported pottery in Early Bronze Age south-eastern Arabia, the paper was published last month and was co-written by researchers in the UAE, Oman, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France and Poland. Thanks to funding from the Zayed National Museum, the research will continue, with the next phase set to look at material on pottery from coastal sites.
Campaign ME
17-07-2025
- Campaign ME
Edelman UAE makes key leadership appointments
Edelman has announced new leadership appointments across its UAE team in an effort to reinforce its specialist capabilities in Health, Crisis & Risk, and Brand. These internal moves promotions aim to reflect Edelman's ongoing investment in integrated, sector-led communications and the strength of its senior talent across the region. Lauren Brush has assumed the role of Head of Health, bringing a track record of advising high-profile global stakeholders, including the Saudi Ministry of Health and leading U.S.-based medical associations. Her work spans pandemic response, BRCA testing, and the launch of the UAE's first-ever telemedicine portal. Already a key advisor on Edelman's partnership with M42 and its expansive portfolio, Brush will now lead the development of the firm's health offer in the region, helping clients navigate an increasingly high-impact and rapidly shifting sector. Chase Burns has been appointed Head of Crisis & Risk, expanding his role within Edelman's Corporate Practice. He currently leads the work for the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), Hub71 and ATRC. With more than 15 years of experience both in-house and advising clients through high-stakes, reputationally sensitive situations across aviation, advanced technology and sovereign investment, Burns has overseen responses to aircraft groundings, geopolitical attacks, and pandemic-related disruptions. As scrutiny intensifies and exposure to misinformation and disinformation, operational disruption, and geopolitical risks grows, Burns will lead the development of Edelman's integrated crisis and risk advisory services in the region, helping clients anticipate, navigate and recover from complex situations, while also representing the region within Edelman's global crisis leadership team. Lastly, Deepanshi Tandon has been appointed Head of Brand for Edelman UAE. In her role, she will lead the Brand practice, building on Edelman's expertise in creating earned-first, trusted brands that drive influence and shape culture. She brings more than 15 years of experience and has led several global brands across markets and sectors, spearheading strategic, creative, and culturally resonant work. Tandon currently leads work for clients such as PepsiCo and Nissan Middle East and has played a central role in shaping brand reputation strategies and leading integrated, multi-channel campaigns that drive cultural relevance and impact. On the appointments, Omar Qirem, CEO, Edelman Middle East, said: 'These leadership updates reflect both our investment in specialist talent and our commitment to developing leadership from within. Lauren, Chase and Deepanshi bring a powerful combination of subject matter expertise, client trust, and integrated thinking that will be instrumental to our next chapter of growth in the region.' The global communications firm operates wholly owned offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Riyadh as part of Edelman's broader Middle East network.
The National
17-06-2025
- The National
How a 'soft' robot hand with a sense of touch could revolutionise prosthetics
In a laboratory in Cambridge in the UK, a 'soft' hand attached to a moving metal arm might just represent the future of robotics. While robots are sometimes thought of as rigid devices with jerky movements, the growing field of soft robotics - which embraces the use of more flexible materials such as silicone rubber or in this case a hydrogel - offers a different perspective. The hand in the Cambridge lab feels like a firm jelly – perhaps not unlike a slightly fleshy human hand – and, what is more, it has a remarkable ability to sense touch. But, unlike some other soft robots that are also sensitive to touch, it does not have countless electrode sensors embedded in the surface of the hand. Such soft robots can be expensive to produce and easily damaged, with electrodes at risk of being ripped out. Instead, the researcher who helped to develop the hand, Dr David Hardman, a junior research fellow in the University of Cambridge's department of engineering, has embedded the sensors, of which there are 32, in the wrist. Not only can the hand sense it has been touched, it can detect where and can differentiate between different stimuli. 'Was it a human touch, a piece of metal or a heat gun?' said Dr Hardman, who works in the university's bio-inspired robotics lab. 'We have a lot of redundancy and can extract what we want from the information.' Grasping the future Writing in Science Robotics, the researchers suggested their technology could be incorporated into new designs of soft robots. The most obvious potential real-world application, Dr Hardman said, is in prosthetics, as such an artificial hand could sense in a similar way to a real one. 'If you can interface with the human brain, that's very useful,' he said. 'That's the direction in which we want to go.' Another possible application is in high-tech mattresses that sense where the user is lying, although Dr Hardman warned this was 'still very much in the exploratory stage'. Soft robotics is a field that, tying in with the name of the laboratory in which Dr Hardman works, is 'much more biologically inspired'. Much of the inspiration for this area of research came from scientists looking at the octopus and marvelling at the vast range of things these creatures can do, Dr Hardman said. 'It's taking inspiration from nature, which has had million of years to get good at doing particular tasks,' he said. Another robotics researcher, Prof Liang He, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Oxford, is interested in 'bringing humanlike sensations to robotic agents'. 'We want our robots to be as sensitive as humans,' he said. 'We also want to design a human-like skin that can better interact with humans.' But it remains the case, scientists say, that human hands can achieve a much higher level of dexterity than even the most advanced robots. Prof Liang indicated that while artificial hands are becoming better able to achieve particular tasks, such as detecting temperature changes or physical stress, they are a long way from matching human hand in terms of overall capability. 'In five or 10 years, in the near future, it will be difficult or nearly impossible that [a robot hand] could have the general capability of a human hand,' he said. 'But we may have robot hands that in certain aspects outperform a human hand.' How does the technology work? The method the hand uses to sense touch is known as electrical impedance tomography and makes use of the way in which external cues, such as touch, change the electric field around the hand that is generated by electrodes. Pressing on the hand changes the way electricity is conducted across its surface, enabling the precise location of the stimulus to be worked out. 'We can use each of these [electrical] channels as a piece of the puzzle about what's happening over the entire surface,' Dr Hardman said. 'A lot of companies making humanoids put a lot of effort into sensations but at the fingertips … there are so many tasks we can do as humans because the rest of our hands are sensitised.' The hand itself is made from a hydrogel, a material that, containing gelatin, has some similarities with edible jelly. In a newly published paper, Dr Hardman and his co-authors, Prof Fumiya Iida, a professor of robotics at Cambridge, and Thomas George Thuruthel, a lecturer in robotics at University College London, describe the hand and its novel way of sensing touch. The researchers show the hand detects and localises even light human touch, and detects the bending of the fingers. It can also work out temperature and humidity levels, through changes in the electrical field around it.
