Why don't we dream sometimes?

It seems like we don't dream every time we sleep. We wake up and we don't remember anything, so we assume that we weren't dreaming at all. But is it true that we just don't have dreams sometimes? Why is that?

The answer is quite surprising as everyone dreams every night or even a couple of times during the sleep. The large part of the dreams comes from the fourth phase of sleep, the REM phase that repeats every 90 minutes. The problem is that some remember more than others. Certain people are able to describe their dreams with all the details while the others don't remember anything. The easiest way to explain it is to understand what one of the scientists has claimed: "the sleeping brain is not capable of memorizing new information; it needs to awaken to be able to do that". If you often wake up during your sleep, you probably remember a lot of your dreams. If not, there's nothing to be worry about. It just shows that you are a heavy sleeper, and that's not a bad thing at all.

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Why do we yawn?

Let's say it clear, there are two main reasons why do we yawn: we usually yawn when we are bored or when we are tired. When you have to read another essay that makes you almost fall asleep, but you force yourself to finish it so you keep reading, and reading... I'm sure that at some point you start yawning. Or after a long day at work, when you have no more energy to call a pizza delivery place so you just sit on a couch doing nothing... You yawn a few times or more. But when we see someone yawning, we yawn too. Actually, sometimes thinking about it, forces us to do it, even if we are not neither bored nor tired. So why do we yawn then? And, is yawning contagious? Well, it definitely is and I'm sure you already know about it. But do you know why? It's a one of the common forms of echophenomena which is an automatic imitation of somebody's actions. So, are you already yawning?

Why does bread usually fall buttered side down?

This morning, when I was preparing my breakfast, it happened again: my sandwich fell to the floor, buttered side down. Maybe it's just a coincidence, or I have a permanent bad luck, but it happens to me every single time when I accidentally drop my sandwich. In fact, there is a scientific explanation, why does bread usually fall buttered side down. There's even a site on Wikipedia dedicated to Buttered toast phenomenon . Let's just say, without mentioning unnecessary law of physics, that when you hold a toast or when you put it on the kitchen table, it is at the perfect level to rotate and land the buttered side on the floor. If you want to avoid it, there are some rules you can follow. You can cut the bread into smaller slices, or you can try to elevate the surface that you are working on , which will probably change the number of rotations and hopefully make the bread land on the desirable side. The shape of the slice is also important- if you make it a...

Why do we make New Year's resolutions?

Now, when Christmas is over and we start preparing ourselves for the New Year's Eve, we also start thinking about the promises for the New Year. The most common one regards changing a bad habit, like quitting smoking, starting a diet or more generally introducing a healthy lifestyle. But on the other hand, it may be also an excuse to start learning a new language or travel to a place when we have never been before. We may promise to spend more time with the family or dedicate our free time to a voluntary organization. But where did this tradition of New Year's resolutions come from? From what I've known, it is due to the Romans and their mythical god named Janus. He has two faces: one looking forward and one looking backward, what symbolically means that he can see the past and the future at the same time, that he is looking backward into the past year and forward into the new year and that is why Romans start reflecting about their resolutions. And th...

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