Multiple Stresses Killed Snail Memory
Stress sucks. It can affect your body and mind.
Previous research has shown that stress can even hinder our ability to remember.
But these studies have typically focused on one stress at a time.
What happens when we face multiple stresses?
Researchers looked at pond snails, often used in memory research.
They trained the snails to reduce how frequently they breathe out of water.
They then tracked whether the snails remembered their training after being stressed.
The snails' memory was considered intact if they reduced their attempts to breathe when removed from water.
Two common stressors—low levels of calcium, necessary for strong shells, and overcrowding by other snails—can happen in combination in the wild.
Individually, these stressors only blocked the formation of new long-term memories in the snails.
But combined, they caused the snails to forget their training, that is, they prevented any new memories from being formed.
The study is in the journal PLOS ONE.
It's thought that these snails and mammals have similar responses to stress.
Of course, when stressed out, we should remember to breathe more, not less.
In Emergency, Smartphone Might Not Know Your Location
Touch your smart phone screen and you get local weather or a street map.
So you might assume that mobile phones know exactly where you are.
But get into trouble and you might find your phone isn't watching you as closely as you thought.
Emergency responders recently told the Wall Street Journal that their 911 dispatchers have trouble getting help to the location of cell phone callers.
And a report this summer showed more than half of all California wireless 911 calls in certain areas didn't have location information.
One way to locate a cell phone is through GPS, assuming the phone has one and it's outdoors.
Another is through location-based services.
These follow the signals sent between your phone and your wireless network's radio towers.
But towers can be miles apart, making it hard to pinpoint locations and adding minutes to response times.
Responders want wireless companies to include location data with each call, something privacy advocates oppose.
It's a matter of perspective.
Sometimes you want to be off the grid.
But in a crisis, the grid could be your best friend.