Learn about why you eat more when you’re tired; a legendary submerged Egyptian city; and a trick for keeping the peace. Lack Of Sleep Really Does Make You Eat More by Ashley Hamer Sleep Munchies: Why It’s Harder To Resist Snacks When We’re Tired. (2016, March 2). NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/02/468933610/sleep-munchies-why-its-harder-to-resist-snacks-when-were-tired Circadian Surprise: How Our Body Clocks Help Shape Our Waistlines. (2015, March 10). NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/10/389596946/circadian-surprise-how-our-body-clocks-help-shape-our-waistlines Brief Communication: Sleep Curtailment in Healthy Young Men Is Associated with Decreased Leptin Levels, Elevated Ghrelin Levels, and Increased Hunger and Appetite | Annals of Internal Medicine. (2021). Annals of Internal Medicine. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/abs/10.7326/0003-4819-141-11-200412070-00008 Hanlon, E. C., Tasali, E., Leproult, R., Stuhr, K. L., Doncheck, E., de Wit, H., Hillard, C. J., & Van Cauter, E. (2016). Sleep Restriction Enhances the Daily Rhythm of Circulating Levels of Endocannabinoid 2-Arachidonoylglycerol. Sleep, 39(3), 653–664. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.5546 Insufficient Sleep Undermines Dietary Efforts to Reduce Adiposity | Annals of Internal Medicine. (2021). Annals of Internal Medicine. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-153-7-201010050-00006?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3Dpubmed& We just found an ancient Greek military ship in the legendary SUBMERGED Egyptian city Thônis-Heracleion by Steffie Drucker Berman, R. (2021, July 28). Ancient Greek military ship found in legendary, submerged Egyptian city. Big Think; Big Think. https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/thonis-heracleion Sharpe, E. (2016, May 16). British Museum dips its toes into world of underwater archaeology. Theartnewspaper.com; The Art Newspaper. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/british-museum-dips-its-toes-into-world-of-underwater-archaeology Reuters. (2021, August 10). Egypt finds ancient military vessel, Greek graves in sunken city. Reuters; Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/egypt-finds-ancient-military-vessel-greek-graves-sunken-city-2021-07-19/ In Photos: The sunken city of Thônis-Heracleion in Alexandria reveals new archaeological treasures - Heritage. (2020). Ahram Online; Ahram Online. https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/9/417416/Heritage/In-Photos-The-sunken-city-of-Th%C3%83%C2%B4nisHeracleion-in-A.aspx Writing about relationship conflicts from a third-person perspective can keep the peace by Steffie Drucker Expressive writing reduces relationship conflict and aggression during pandemic. (2021, August 10). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/924973 Rodriguez, L. M., Stewart, S. H., & Neighbors, C. (2021). Effects of a brief web-based interpersonal conflict cognitive reappraisal expressive-writing intervention on changes in romantic conflict during COVID-19 quarantine. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000173 Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day withCody Gough andAshley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.
Learn about why you eat more when you’re tired; a legendary submerged Egyptian city; and a trick for keeping the peace.
Lack Of Sleep Really Does Make You Eat More by Ashley Hamer
We just found an ancient Greek military ship in the legendary SUBMERGED Egyptian city Thônis-Heracleion by Steffie Drucker
Writing about relationship conflicts from a third-person perspective can keep the peace by Steffie Drucker
Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/sleep-munchies-ancient-greek-ship-found-relationship-trick
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why a lack of sleep makes you eat more; how we just found an ancient Greek military ship in a SUBMERGED Egyptian city; and how you can keep the peace in your relationship with a writing exercise.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Late nights and early mornings can make even those with the strongest willpower give into temptation and head for the drive-thru. But being short on time might not be the only reason you eat badly during busy weeks. According to research, lack of sleep actually makes your body want to eat more.
Scientists have uncovered a lot of reasons this might happen — for example, lack of sleep disrupts your circadian rhythm, which tells you when you should eat and when you should sleep. But a big one comes down to the so-called “hunger hormones” leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is a hormone released by fat cells that reduces your appetite, and ghrelin is a hormone released by the stomach that makes you hungry. Studies have found that sleep deprivation is linked to a decrease in appetite-suppressing leptin levels and an increase in hunger-causing ghrelin levels.
But that’s not all. A study in the journal Sleep found that sleep deprivation can increase the peaks of a chemical known as an endocannabinoid. If that word looks familiar, it’s because it’s related to the word cannabis. Endocannabinoids act on the same parts of the brain that marijuana does — munchies, anyone? The study found that lack of sleep affects the daily rhythm of the endocannabinoid called 2-AG, which may make eating more pleasurable. That may be great news for your mouth, but bad news for your waistline.
Sleep is important for everyone, but if you’re trying to lose weight you really need your shut-eye. For a 2011 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers had 10 overweight, middle-aged participants go on a diet. For two weeks, half of the participants slept for eight and a half hours per night. The other half only got to sleep for five and a half hours. Both groups lost the same amount of weight — three pounds or a kilogram and a half on average—but those who got more sleep lost more in the form of fat. Those who got less sleep also showed higher levels of our old friend ghrelin, which likely made them hungrier and reduced the number of calories they burned.
This is yet another reason to get a good night’s sleep. If you want to silence the snack cupboard’s siren song, try to go to bed on time.
No one’s sure if the lost city of Atlantis ever actually existed. But there’s another ancient city that really did sink to the ocean floor. And an international team of scientists made a surprising discovery there: They found a boat and funerary complex beneath this sunken city.
The ancient Egyptian city of Thônis-Heracleion [TAWN-iss her-ACK-lee-on] once sat where the seashore met the western mouth of the Nile River. It was a key port for Egypt until Alexandria was established to the east in 331 BCE.
This city’s waterfront location went from a perk to a disaster when the ground became oversaturated and liquefied. First, in 140 CE, a major temple called Amun collapsed. Next, a series of earthquakes around 800 CE sent the whole city to a watery grave. Rising sea levels only submerged the city further.
For a long time, scientists weren’t sure where this storied city could be. It was mentioned here and there in historical texts and inscriptions — though researchers believed the references were two different cities. But when they found the city in 2001 in present-day Abu Qir [AH-boo keer] Bay, they realized that Thônis and Heracleion were one and the same: “Thônis” was its Egyptian name and “Heracleion” was the Greek. Since then, researchers have recovered a trove of treasures from the ancient city, including coins and a giant statue of the Nile god Hapi [HAH-pee].
This latest expedition uncovered some even greater finds. Archaeologists used a cutting-edge type of sonar to detect a rare, 2,200-year-old boat called a fast galley. It was about the length of a tennis court and would have reached impressive speeds thanks to its large sail and the right team of oarsmen. Its flat bottom and keel suggest it was used to navigate the Nile where it met the Mediterranean. Scientists have only found one other ship like it at an Italian site in 1971.
Scientists also discovered a Greek cemetery dating back to 2,400 years ago. The space was decked out in funerary offerings and had evidence of ceremonial burning. There were even some untouched baskets of fruit inside some of the tombs. You probably wouldn’t want to eat that — unless you wanted to stay in the tomb permanently.
In any case, this ancient city’s disaster has been a boon for archaeological research. Who needs Atlantis when you’ve got a real city under the sea?
The pandemic has put lots of relationships to the test. All that together time during lockdown has led some couples towards bickering, break-ups, or worse. And as many countries re-impose lockdowns in response to the highly contagious Delta variant, lots of couples would welcome any way to keep the peace. Fortunately, a new study has delivered just that — and all it takes is a writing exercise.
Scientists at the University of South Florida set out to study an intervention that’s proven useful in the past. It’s called cognitive reappraisal, which is all about reconsidering your thoughts and feelings from a more objective point of view. This method of reinterpreting has been shown to reduce negative emotions and behaviors like anger, rumination, depression, and even alcohol and drug use. Reframing your feelings can help keep you in control — not your emotions.
To find out whether cognitive reappraisal might help couples during COVID, the team surveyed 716 people about arguments — specifically, how often, long, and intensely they argued with their significant other. All the participants had been in their relationships for at least six months and were living with their partner.
Once they got a sense of the couples’ quarrels, researchers gave the participants a writing assignment. Some were told to write about a recent fight with their partner from the perspective of a neutral observer who cares about them, like a mutual friend. Those participants were then asked to take that viewpoint during conversations with their partner over the next few weeks. Some others were simply asked to spill their deepest thoughts and feelings about the problems in their romantic relationship. And another group journaled about mundane chores like laundry or yard work.
Scientists checked in again two weeks later. The group that had written about their disagreements from an outsider’s perspective reported fewer arguments and less intense confrontations. The key was how shifting perspective helped them reframe their thoughts. Viewing the dispute from the outside forced people to get out of their defensive stance and view things more objectively. They were able to see that the conflict was really small in the scheme of their relationship.
So the next time things get heated in your relationship, take a break to write it out. When it comes to conflict resolution, stepping outside of yourself leaves room to have a discussion with greater empathy, understanding, and compromise.
Let’s recap what we learned today to wrap up. Starting with
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CODY: Today’s writers were Steffie Drucker and Ashley Hamer, who’s also our managing editor. ASHLEY: Our producer and audio editor is Cody Gough.
CODY: [AD LIB SOMETHING FUNNY] Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!