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Observer
3 days ago
- Health
- Observer
A surprising and easy way to boost your attention span
In 2008, 38 students at the University of Michigan set out on a walk. Half of them wound their way through the trees in Ann Arbor's Nichols Arboretum for 2.8 miles, while the other half navigated the same distance on the busy streets of downtown. A week later, the two groups swapped routes. Both times before they set out, the students took a test that challenged their attention and working memory, where they were given progressively longer sequences of numbers that they had to repeat back in reverse order. When they returned to campus, the students took the test again. Walking through town improved their performance slightly, but walking in nature boosted scores by nearly 20%. 'You didn't even need to like or enjoy the nature walk to get these cognitive benefits,' said Marc Berman, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, who conducted the study while he was a graduate student at Michigan. People who walked on a cold January day experienced just as much benefit as those who experimented in July. The effect that nature has on our minds has been studied many times before and since, and the research generally — though not always — finds that exposure to green spaces boosts our cognition and creativity, not to mention our mood. Many of us have experienced firsthand the natural world's ability to revitalize us — a moment of clarity after summiting a mountain, or renewed focus following a lunchtime stroll in the park. Scientists are trying to understand exactly why that happens. In his new book, 'Nature and the Mind,' Berman attributes the cognitive benefits of nature to 'attention restoration theory.' First proposed in the 1980s by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan (both of whom were psychology professors at the University of Michigan when Berman was a student there), the premise is that our ability to focus is a finite resource that gets easily used up, and being in nature is an effective way to replenish it. One of the most important things about nature, according to attention restoration researchers, is that it is 'softly fascinating,' meaning it tickles our attention in a gentle way without being too boring or stimulating. (Think about watching ocean waves roll in and out, or gazing at a field of wildflowers.) Urban environments, by contrast, are more harshly fascinating and demand our vigilance in a way that depletes us. Berman posits that one reason nature has this effect on us is because of its physical properties, particularly its curved lines and fractals. And the arc of a river or a rock formation, or the repeating patterns of a snowflake, may be easier for our brains to process than the straight edges of a skyscraper. 'That might give our brains a rest, and that's why we might see these benefits,' he said. Attention restoration theory has dominated the field of environmental neuroscience for decades, but not everyone is fully convinced. 'The evidence is accumulating that, yes, something about walking in nature is benefiting our attention,' said Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of the book 'Attention Span.' But, she added, attention restoration is 'a theory, and we don't know if that's the real explanation for what's going on.' It's a little 'hand-wavy,' agreed Amy McDonnell, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Utah. Much of the research relies on cognitive tests and people's subjective reports of how being in nature makes them feel, and there are a lot of open questions, like what's happening in the brain. McDonnell is one of the experts trying to fill in that gap. Last year, she ran a similar experiment to Berman's, in which people walked either through a local arboretum or on an urban medical campus. Walking in both settings improved people's cognitive abilities compared to their pre-walk scores. But when McDonnell looked at their brain waves using EEG, those who were in nature had less brain activity immediately after the walk, followed by bigger spikes while they were performing the attention task the second time. That suggests the brain rested 'and then came back online more efficient and stronger than ever after exposure to nature, compared to an urban environment,' McDonnell said. There is also some debate as to whether it's the physical properties of nature that confer restorative benefits, as Berman proposes, or something else. For example, McDonnell said, maybe the healthy effects come from other experiences that often accompany time in nature: Is it that you're alone? Is it that you are exercising, or that you're simply away from work? Does the air quality matter? Or it may be something the nose knows. In a paper published last year, experts from diverse fields suggested that nature's effects on our well-being may have something to do with the olfactory signals we encounter when we're outdoors, such as the chemicals that trees emit. It probably isn't just one thing that makes nature so good for our brains, said Ruth Garside, a professor at the University of Exeter Medical School in England, who published a review of attention restoration theory. 'There's a bit of me that thinks part of the magic, if you like, is that it is this combination of stuff that's working,' Garside said. 'And we might be losing something the more we try to pick apart the explanations.' This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New CA legislation looks to fight back proposed PG&E rate hikes
(KRON) — With utility companies constantly raising rates, two Bay Area state lawmakers are proposing legislation designed to restrict how that money is spent. The goal is to make sure the money you pay them is being spent to benefit customers and not on things like political campaigns and advertising. Proposed rate hike would give PG&E highest profit rate of any utility in the country When you're utility bill comes each month, keep a lookout on what you are paying for and what you should not be paying for. 'We don't want the utility companies, the investor-owned utility companies, to be using ratepayer money to do political advertising, to do lobbying,' said California State Senator Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton). Bay Area lawmakers in both the state senate and the state assembly are working on legislation to strengthen state law to do just that. 'Last year, PG&E, in their rate making process with the PUC, tried to get $6 million that was they spent on these PR campaigns, on these advertising campaigns. They initially tried to get it to be rate payers that paid for that,' said California State Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park). Berman says the bill would prevent ratepayer money being spent on political lobbying, public relations, or shareholder travel. Revel brings EV fast charging station to San Francisco: 'We are open for business' Similar prohibitions can be found in new legislation from McNerney. However, it would prevent utilities from shutting off power when air quality is unhealthy as well as require power be turned back on for those who have already been shut off. For its part, PG&E says it's committed to stabilizing customer bills but says the 'proposed legislation would not lead to any notable or immediate bill reductions. They point out that current state law already prohibits utilities from using customer funding for political contributions and certain advertising. If the CPUC determines that any safety communications do not meet the criteria for recovery, shareholders would cover those costs. Now, this is just the first step in the process for both of these bills. If they get the needed approval, it's likely they could get to the governor's desk sometime in the fall. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
California lawmakers propose banning sales from dog brokers in crackdown on puppy pipeline
California lawmakers are set to announce three bills Tuesday to crack down on the sale of puppies from out-of-state mass breeders, proposing to ban popular pet-selling websites and other middlemen from operating in the state, increase oversight of dog sellers and strengthen consumer protections. The move comes after a Times investigation last year found that truckloads of doodles, French bulldogs and other expensive dogs from profit-driven mass breeders pour into the state from the Midwest, feeding an underground market where they are resold by people claiming to be small, local home breeders. California had previously sought to end the puppy mill pipeline when it became the first state in the nation to ban pet stores from selling commercially bred dogs beginning in 2019. The law, however, did not apply to online pet sales, which grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) said his bill would close the loophole in California's pet retail ban by prohibiting brokers from selling or shipping dogs to consumers in the state. Assembly Bill 519 defines a broker as any person or business that sells or transports a dog bred by someone else. That would include major national pet retailers such as PuppySpot, and Premier Pups as well as California-based operations that market themselves as pet matchmakers. "The broker ban is the big swing, it's one of the final valves that we can shut off for the puppy mill pipeline into California," Brittany Benesi, senior legislative director at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is co-sponsoring the three bills with the San Diego Humane Society. The bill would not apply to police dogs and service animals. Consumers could still buy directly from breeders, including those out of state. "The Times' reporting last fall really uncovered this major underground market of middlemen and middlewomen who are giving the impression that these are animals they raised and they're selling them to Californians when in reality they're just importing these animals from out-of-state puppy mills," Berman said. Read more: Pets for profit: An in-depth investigation A bill by Assemblymember Steve Bennett (D-Ventura) would void pet purchase contracts involving California buyers if a broker requires a nonrefundable deposit or if they fail to provide the name of the breeder before payment. Sellers would be required to return the payment within 30 days under AB 506, with the bill authorizing the California attorney general to enforce that provision. Bennett said the measure would ensure consumers have the information they need before purchasing a family pet. "The bottom line is the contract is void if you don't accurately identify the source" of the dog, he said. Some pet sellers don't publicize dog breeders they use, instead offering general assurances to prospective buyers that they work with trusted partner breeders. The Times found some brokers using such language were actually buying in bulk from mass breeding facilities. Others who sell dogs on social media, online marketplaces or through their own websites claim to be small local breeders, but The Times traced microchip numbers for the dogs they sold to out-of-state puppy mills. In California, all dogs brought into the state for sale require a certificate issued by a federally accredited veterinarian listing where the animal came from, its destination and verification it is healthy to travel. The California Department of Food and Agriculture has long received those health certificates from other states by mistake — the records are supposed to go to county public health departments — and, in recent years, made it a practice to immediately destroy them. Dog importers who were supposed to submit the records to counties largely failed to do so. The Times investigation analyzed the movement of more than 71,000 dogs into California since 2019, when the pet retail ban went into effect. The travel certificates showed how a network of resellers — including ex-cons and schemers — replaced pet stores as middlemen. Dogs brought from out of state were often rebranded as California-bred and, in some cases, pet owners were left heartbroken or facing thousands of dollars in veterinary bills when their new puppies got sick or died. Reporters identified dozens of people — some using fake names and addresses — who each were listed as having imported more than 80 dogs into the state in the years after the retail ban. Some were listed on travel certificates as the destination for more than 500 puppies. After The Times' reporting, lawmakers and animal advocates called on the state agriculture department to stop 'destroying evidence' and preserve the travel certificates that could help establish which dogs are illegally being imported into the state. The department began preserving the records thereafter, but released them to The Times with significant redactions. State Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he is moving to ensure the records are available to the public. Under his bill, SB 312, pet sellers would be required to share the travel certificate with the state agriculture agency, which would then post them online for a yet-to-be-determined period of time. The bill would also ensure the records remain unredacted and available to the public beyond that time. The travel records list the name and address of buyers and sellers when a dog is coming into California from another state. The disclosure of buyers' personal information is likely to raise privacy concerns, but Umberg said he hopes lawmakers will conclude the societal benefit of ensuring that animals and consumers are protected from bad actors outweighs any reluctance. In many cases, a dog's microchip number is listed on the documents, which can help pet owners determine where their dog came from. "This transparency provides a level of accountability that does not exist in California right now," Umberg said. Read more: Did your dog come from the puppy pipeline? Julianna Tetlow, senior director of government relations for the San Diego Humane Society, said it's time the state utilizes pet travel certificates as an essential transparency tool. "The problem that we're really trying to get at right now is that folks are unintentionally propping up the puppy mill industry from the Midwest because they think they are getting locally sourced or locally bred puppies," Tetlow said. "The main goal with this [legislative package] is to prevent that deception." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
