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.

Comments

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 cry when we chop onions?

The onion is the most basic vegetable to add while cooking. Think about scrambled eggs or even fried potatoes without it. Quite weird, at least for me. It's the sweetness and spiciness of onion, that make every meal so yummy. But have you ever asked yourself why almost everyone starts crying while chopping it ? Some people say that's because of its specific scent and somehow they are right, since the smell is connected to a compound , released at the moment we cut an onion. When it's mixed with the lacrimal fluid in our eyes, it irritates them and makes us cry, but even though, the onion is still one of the most popular vegetables in the world. Since I don't cry while cutting an onion, I'm the lucky one. Maybe it's because of the fact that I usually wear contacts but that's something we can consider some other time.

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...

Search This Blog