Five things that stop a good night’s sleep

Tossing, turning, can't get to sleep? It's a familiar feeling for many. Here are five things that could be preventing us from getting the restful night we need. An uncomfortable or noisy environment As we start to fall asleep, our muscle tone reduces and our limbs begin to relax. We may feel drowsy but our brain is still active, and...

Read More

Lack of sleep blights pupils' education

Sleep deprivation is a significant hidden factor in lowering the achievement of school pupils, according to researchers carrying out international education tests. Continue reading the main story It is a particular problem in more affluent countries, with sleep experts linking it to the use of mobile phones and computers in bedrooms...

Read More

RTLS: The technology tracking cows to make them happy

I see you: Could technology that lets farmers track their cow's every movement safeguard livelihoods? When Asger Christensen started farming there were 40,000 dairy farmers in Denmark. Continue reading the main story Now there are only 3000. This is a family farm, where they grow maize and wheat, as well as raising cattle. The Christensens...

Read More

Bad sleep 'dramatically' alters body

Continue reading the main story A run of poor sleep can have a potentially profound effect on the internal workings of the human body, say UK researchers. The activity of hundreds of genes was altered when people's sleep was cut to less than six hours a day for a week. Writing in the journal PNAS, the researchers said the results...

Read More

Can you train yourself to get by on less sleep?

(Copyright: Thinkstock) Margaret Thatcher did it. So did Salvador Dali. They survived the day with only a few hours of sleep. The question is whether you can force yourself to do the same. We waste a third of our lives sleeping – or that’s how some people see it. When there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day, you...

Read More

Apple: An end to skeuomorphic design?

(Copyright: Getty Images) The tech giant looks like it is ditching its fondness for apps and programs that look like real-world products. Is this a good thing? Why do most smartphones make a clicking noise, like a camera shutter closing, when you take a picture with them? Why do the virtual pages of a book on a tablet appear...

Read More

Yen dips below 100 threshold against US dollar

The Japanese currency has dipped below 100 yen to the US dollar for the first time since April 2009. Japanese Yen v US Dollar LAST UPDATED AT 09 MAY 2013, 17:16 GMT*CHART SHOWS LOCAL TIME ¥1 buyschange% 0.0100 0.00 -0.33 It broke the threshold in New York on Thursday and was trading close to 100.8 yen to a US dollar in Asia on...

Read More