🌞 Rewire Your Brain

Daily Upsider - Tuesday, July 2nd, 2024

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Good Morning! 🌞

Let’s do a quick meditation:

1. Acknowledge 5 Things You Can See:

• Look around and identify five different objects. This helps ground you in your immediate surroundings.

2. Acknowledge 4 Things You Can Touch:

• Focus on four things you can physically touch. Notice the textures and sensations under your fingertips.

3. Acknowledge 3 Things You Can Hear:

• Pay attention to three distinct sounds in your environment. This shifts your focus from internal thoughts to external stimuli.

4. Acknowledge 2 Things You Can Smell:

• Identify two things you can smell. If you can’t find two distinct smells, think of your favorite scents and imagine them.

5. Acknowledge 1 Thing You Can Taste:

• Focus on one thing you can taste. It could be the lingering taste of something you ate recently, or you can take a sip of water and notice the taste.

This simple technique helps to quickly bring you back to the present moment, reducing feelings of anxiety and improving focus. I do it a few times a day, whenever I get stressed and feel the need to re-center myself.

Today’s Upside

Innovation

A Device that Can Rewire Your Brain

credit Brian Fligor, released to NPR

Twenty million Americans with tinnitus might find relief with an over-the-counter device that has shown to improve symptoms in 84% of users.

This device, called Lenire, uses a combination of tongue stimulation with electricity and white noise played through headphones to help refocus the brain and reduce the perception of ringing in the ears.

Despite its $4,000 price tag and lack of insurance coverage, clinical trials support Lenire's effectiveness. The FDA has approved it, and clinicians are already using it. While there is limited data on its long-term effectiveness, early results are promising: 80% of users would recommend it, according to NPR.

"It's not a cure, but Lenire is a significant advancement in the standards of care," said Ross O'Neil, founder of Neuromode Devices, the company behind Lenire. "It's the first and only device approved by the FDA based on clinical data."

Audiologist Brian Fligor, a consultant during Lenire's development, explains that the device works by shifting the brain's focus away from the ringing, like moving a spotlight on a stage from one actor to another.

Culture

A Special Midair Ceremony

Frontier Airlines recently had a special guest on their flight from Florida to Puerto Rico—5-year-old Xavier Rivas who was preparing to ‘graduate’ from Kindergarten.

But because the graduation at his school was taking place whilst young Xavier was 35,000 feet above sea level, Frontier attendants stepped in to give him a special ceremony.

@alldayloveme

Kindergarten graduation on Frontier Airlines! Lets all congratulate him! #kindergarten #graduation #frontierairlines #fypage #flightattendant

Earth Sciences

A Never Before Seen Rock on Mars

Detail of image taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover shows boulder field on “Mount Washburn” Credit: NASA / Western Washington University / SWNS

Scientists are investigating a bright white rock on Mars, unlike any seen before.

NASA’s Perseverance rover discovered the 14-inch-high boulder in a dark rock field at Mount Washburn, inside Jezero crater. Named Atoko Point by researchers, the 18-inch-wide boulder has a speckled, light-colored surface. Analysis by Perseverance’s SuperCam and Mastcam-Z reveals that the rock contains pyroxene and feldspar minerals. “Atoko Point’s size, shape, and mineral composition make it unique,” NASA stated.

“The variety of textures and compositions at Mount Washburn is significant, as these rocks likely originated from the crater rim and beyond,” said Brad Garczynski of Western Washington University. “Among these rocks, Atoko Point stood out.” Perseverance, which landed on Mars in 2021 to explore the ancient crater, found the boulder while traversing a dried river delta. The rover altered its route to avoid rough terrain, passing through a dune field to reach the boulder-strewn hill.

Some scientists believe Atoko Point's minerals formed in a subsurface magma body now exposed at the crater rim. Others suggest the boulder originated beyond Jezero crater and was transported by ancient Martian water flows. “While Atoko is unique, the team expects to find more like it,” NASA added.

Do you need a website?

You might find some good reasons and some inspiration to make you own personal website. Also, don’t worry about it being too complicated, it is probably simpler than you fear it could be.

Mind Stretchers

❓️ 

I can be short and sometimes hot. When displayed, I rarely impress. What am I?


Answer to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:
What coat goes on wet? 
- A coat of paint!

Gerry Moore got the correct answer first!


Be the first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected]

From the Community

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