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Why do I feel more rested after I get up than when my alarm clock or another person wakes me up? – Calleigh H., age 11, Oklahoma

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We've all been there: You're in the course of a ravishing dream. Maybe you're flying. As you fly through the air, you come across an eagle. The eagle looks at you, opens its beak and – BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Your alarm goes off. Keep dreaming, it's time to rise up.

Many people – children and adults alike – notice that they feel more awake once they get up naturally from sleep than when an alarm or one other person, similar to a parent, wakes them up. Why is that?

I’m a neurologist Who studies the brain and specifically what happens within the brain once you sleep? I also care for kids and adults who do stay awake well and wish to sleep higher. In my research, I work with parents to assist them teach their children good sleep habits.

To understand how you can sleep higher and why waking up naturally from sleep helps you are feeling more alert, you first need to grasp sleep cycles.

The sleep cycle

The Sleep cycle consists of 4 stages. One of them is REM, which stands for rapid eye movement. The other three are non-REM stages. When you go to sleep, you first enter a state of sleepiness called non-REM stage 1.

This is followed by deeper sleep phases, the so-called non-REM stages 2 and three. Each non-REM phase is deeper than the previous one. Then, about 90 minutes after you first go to sleep, you enter the fourth stage, REM sleep. This is a phase of lighter sleep where you dream loads. After a number of minutes, you’ll return to non-REM sleep.

These cycles repeat throughout the night, with most individuals alternating 4 to 6 cycles of non-REM sleep and REM sleep each night. As the night progresses, cycles contain less non-REM sleep and more REM sleep. That's why it's necessary to get enough sleep in order that the body can sleep enough of each REM sleep and non-REM sleep.

REM vs. non-REM sleep

How do researchers like me know if an individual is in non-REM or REM sleep? In the sleep laboratory we will see this from their brain waves, eye movements and the strain of their muscles, for instance of their chin. These are measured by placing sensors called electrodes on the scalp, across the eyes and on the chin.

These electrodes detect brain activity starting from low-amplitude waves (the peak of the wave) and comparatively fast to high-amplitude waves (a bigger wave) and comparatively slow. When we’re awake, the wave height is low and the waves are relatively fast. When you sleep, nevertheless, the waves turn out to be higher and slower.

Non-REM stage 3 has the best and slowest waves of all sleep stages. During REM sleep, brain waves are low in amplitude and comparatively fast, and eye movements are also rapid. For a healthy brain, people need each non-REM and REM states to learn and remember.

Wake up naturally

When you get up on your personal within the morning, it normally happens at the top of your sleep period. Think of it like getting off the train once you stop on the station. But being woken up by an alarm or one other person is like jumping off the train between stops, which may feel jarring. That's why it's good to get up naturally at any time when possible.

People can actually train their brains to get up at a consistent time on daily basis, which is a natural stopping point. The brain has an internal 24-hour clock that dictates once you first feel sleepy and once you get up. This is said to ours circadian rhythms.

Train the brain to get up at a consistent time

First, it's necessary to go to bed at a consistent time so that you get enough sleep. Staying up too late doing homework or taking a look at your phone can affect your sleep and leave you counting on an alarm clock – or your parents – to wake you up.

Other things that may make it easier to go to sleep at a healthy time include physical activity through the day and avoiding coffee, soda, or other caffeinated drinks or foods. Physical activity increases the production of brain chemicals that make it easier to go to sleep, while caffeine does the other and keeps you awake.

Secondly, it’s worthwhile to concentrate to the sunshine around you. Too late within the evening light, including from screens, can affect the production of a in your brain Chemical called melatonin this promotes sleep. But within the morning once you get up, it’s worthwhile to be exposed to light.

Morning light helps you synchronize or harmonize your circadian rhythm with the surface world and makes it easier to go to sleep at night. The easiest technique to do that is to open the blinds or curtains in your room. In winter, some people use light boxes to simulate sunlight, which helps them adjust their rhythm.

Benefits of a superb night's sleep

A superb sleep routine features a consistent bedtime and wake-up time in addition to getting enough sleep frequently. That is, normally Sept. 11 hours for school-age children who will not be yet teenagers and 8-10 hours for teenagers.

This will make it easier to learn optimally at school, improve your mood, maintain a healthy weight, and promote many other features of health.

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Earlier this month, Governor Gavin Newsom proposed recent emergency restrictions on California's cannabis industry, citing an urgent must protect children, a category of flippantly regulated products that contain intoxicating amounts of THC, the compound known for the cannabis high.

While many agree that some changes are obligatory, many business owners and consumers fear that the governor's recent regulations are too strict and will kill a fledgling industry just because it is about to hit the mainstream.

Critics say the proposed regulations would effectively ban a big selection of popular tinctures, capsules, beverages and other products comprised of industrial hemp, including those who primarily contain CBD, a non-intoxicating relative of THC.

Such offerings – which range from mild CBD sleep gummies to potent THC-infused drinks – are growing in popularity. While they’ll have similar effects, these hemp products are different from those containing the cannabis-derived THC sold in lots of licensed dispensaries.

Hemp products are widely available in liquor stores, gas stations and tobacco shops, which the governor cited as one among the principal reasons for his motion.

Newsom announced the state's proposed emergency rules on 6 Septemberafter a bill to control the hemp industry failed within the state legislature. The regulations are still being reviewed by the administration. If they arrive into force, it could be illegal for hemp products to contain “detectable” amounts of THC.

The proposed rules also ban a listing of about 30 “comparable” compounds referred to as cannabinoids, that are some naturally occurring and other synthetic chemicals that mimic the consequences of THC (short for tetrahydrocannabinol).

Most hemp industry advocates acknowledge that regulations should be adjusted to make sure products are protected and available to adults only, but they are saying Newsom has gone too far together with his zero-tolerance approach.

Among those affected are Jacob and Lindsey Dunn, owners of Sow Eden Organics, which operates out of a small store in La Verne. They produce, package and ship a line of business hemp-infused gummies and tinctures that buyers take to sleep higher or find relief from pain, anxiety and other ailments.

When the Dunns, who’ve a two-year-old son and expect a baby soon, met 10 years ago, Jacob was working from his kitchen table selling CBD capsules to medical dispensaries. Today they make around $500,000 in annual gross sales, but Jacob says the brand new rules could halve that quantity overnight because so a lot of their products contain low doses of THC.

Each of Sow Eden's popular sleep gummies, for instance, incorporates 2.5 milligrams of this compound. Many recreational cannabis products contain 5 to 10 milligrams or more per piece.

“This is a full-fledged, family-run small business,” Lindsey Dunn said Monday. “It's hard to say whether we can bring new products to market now … It's a huge deal. It's a huge effort.”

Newsom's office and the state Cannabis Control Board referred inquiries to the California Department of Public Health, which said the emergency measures were in response to “the increasing number of health incidents related to intoxicating cannabis products that state regulators have determined are being sold throughout the state.”

The agency said it had received “a growing number of complaints about illegal, intoxicating industrial hemp products in retail stores.”

If the state Board of Administrative Law approves the emergency order, it is going to remain in effect for at the very least 180 days. The governor has said that products that violate the order have to be faraway from store shelves immediately after the changes take effect.

Cannabis and THC remain subject to strict controls under federal law, but hemp—a lower-THC number of the cannabis plant that has long been used for business products like paper and twine—got a lift from the 2018 Farm Bill, which loosened federal restrictions.

Across the country, states are grappling with how best to handle the growing interest in consumer products infused with hemp-derived THC.

Some states have picked up on the trend. In Minnesota, one forecast estimates that hemp beverages could eventually generate sales of $200 million a yr. The state has enacted registration and testing requirements. Hemp Drinks Festival in Minneapolis In June, the general public was allowed to check dozens of brands. “No smoking,” read the flyer.

Proponents say this approach limits access for adults but allows the industry to proceed to grow and thrive.

A lawsuit in Missouri helped the state, Governor Mike Parsons' order regulating hemp products lower than two months after its announcement. New Jersey also has recent restrictions. face legal challenges.

Companies that produce hemp products imagine strict bans are fallacious.

“For a lot of people, this is a disaster,” said Christopher Lackner, president of the Hemp Beverage Alliance, a Colorado-based trade group.

“Why does it have to be so controversial?” he said. “Regulate it, put it on the shelves next to beer, wine or bottled water, tax it like a soft drink, regulate it like a soft drink. And everyone wins.”

Ajay Narain, chief executive of Beacon Beverages, based in Campbell, near San Jose, said his company switched from alcoholic beverages to mocktails infused with hemp-derived THC and CBD in February.

Business began slowly at first, but picked up speed when Beacon's non-alcoholic Key Lime Margaritas and Gin Tonics hit the shelves of major retailers like BevMo and Total Wine & More.

Now Narain fears that Newsom's “absurd” recent regulations will effectively “kill” the industry across the state.

“A lot of businesses are going to have to close,” Narain said. “He's just pulled the rug out from under them. And again, it's completely unnecessary. Regulate, don't eliminate.”

In 2021, Newsom passed a state law capping the entire concentration of THC in foods, beverages and cosmetics containing hemp to 0.3 percent and specifying how such products have to be tested and labeled.

But Newsom and members of his administration claim that many corporations are exploiting “loopholes” that allow them to sell products with intoxicating THC levels in places where minors should buy them.

On a recent Tuesday night, one end of the shelf outside a BevMo location in Torrance featured a number of cans in flavors like lemon lavender and a mock old-fashioned cocktail, with signs reading “THC INFUSED” in daring letters beneath each row of drinks.

A study released this month by BDSA, a Colorado-based company that analyzes cannabis and hemp industry data, found that the products have “created a lucrative niche that circumvents many of the challenges facing the regulated cannabis industry.”

“Unlike their cannabis counterparts, these products … can be produced, distributed and sold with minimal legal hurdles, making them a sought-after commodity,” the report said.

Some stakeholders, reminiscent of the California chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (Cal NORML), imagine Newsom was right in his decision to limit retail sales.

However, they complain that the proposed regulations could harm individuals with health and mental health problems who profit from non-intoxicating products that may even be banned.

“We fully support keeping intoxicating hemp products out of the retail market … but they're overdoing it. They're targeting these non-intoxicating hemp medications that have been widely available for years,” said Dale Gieringer, director of Cal NORML.

Ted Whitney, chief beverage officer at Danville-based Cheech & Chong Global Holding Co. – which sells each recreational cannabis products and products containing intoxicating hemp – said without the looming changes, the hemp industry might be in triple-digit sales in a decade.

It stays to be seen whether the state can fulfill this optimistic forecast. The recreational market, which is undercut by illegal traders and stifled by high taxes and bureaucracy, is struggling in comparison with some states.

Whitney argued that intoxicating cannabis is safer than other common products like tobacco and alcohol. The best option to protect children and boost the state's economy is to take a more moderate approach, he said.

“We can improve safety, we can improve regulation, we can increase revenue,” he said. “Let's make this a win-win situation instead of a lose-lose situation.”

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit www.latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Originally published: September 23, 2024 at 11:47 am

SAN JOSE – Firefighters battled a hearth at a metal recycling and scrap yard in San Jose on Saturday that sent a dark plume of smoke visible for miles into the sky.

The fire broke out before 8 a.m. at Mega Metals & Iron, a scrap metal, recycling and junk yard, but San Jose Fire Department had the blaze under control shortly after 9 a.m.

The fire broke out near the intersection of State Route 87 and Curtner Avenue, not removed from The Plant restaurant and shopping mall.

Firefighters also cleared a homeless camp that had formed along the railroad tracks next to the metal storage yard, said San Jose Fire Department Battalion Chief Dan Vega.

“There is a lot of scrap metal in there and we had to get to the bottom of the pile to put out the fire,” said Battalion Commander Vega.

San Jose Fire Department used excavation equipment to remove huge piles of scrap metal caught in the fireplace.

While the excavator moved the rubble, firefighters pumped water into the piles of metal to extinguish embers beneath the mountains of fabric.

San Jose police blocked off several intersections near the fireplace.

For a part of the morning, a cloud of smoke hovered over the fireplace and was visible for miles. Vega said a single alarm was all it took for firefighters to tackle and extinguish the fireplace.

The reason behind the fireplace will not be immediately known, said Vega. No injuries were reported. No buildings gave the impression to be affected.

The area where the fireplace broke out consists mainly of commercial and industrial properties and businesses, although there are also residential buildings nearby. The owner of the scrap metal complex arrived on the scene of the fireplace through the morning.

“Some homeless people on the other side near the railroad tracks had to be evacuated,” said Chief Vega.

Originally published: August 17, 2024 at 11:30 am

Most Americans will remember 2020 because the 12 months the pandemic modified every little thing. But for Lake Charles, Louisiana, and its neighbors along the Gulf Coast, it was also the 12 months of Record disasterswhen “unique” storms occurred in such rapid succession that their effects overlapped.

A recent National Academies consensus study, on which I participated, examined the increasing disasters facing the region – each physically and socioeconomically – because the pandemic brought storm after storm with little time for recovery.

The study concludes that Lake Charles' experience could also be a harbinger of what lies ahead in a warming world unless the country fundamentally rethinks its disaster preparedness, response and recovery strategies.

Disasters in Lake Charles are increasing

Hurricane Laura made landfall near Lake Charles on August 27, 2020. strong Category 4 stormwith wind speeds exceeding those local constructing codes were designed to guard against. The ongoing pandemic made it difficult to submit assistance applications and insurance claims to FEMA. Assessors could only view properties remotely, and on-site application assistance was suspended, forcing residents to depend on untested online systems.

While the community was still struggling to document its losses itself, Lake Charles was hit again five weeks later by Hurricane DeltaThe storm lashed already damaged buildings and sent debris flying, causing further damage and creating complex damage scenarios.

It was almost unattainable to differentiate latest damage from existing damage that had been made worse by the last storm. Delayed recovery assistance The municipalities lacked the resources to finance further debris removal.

Then February 2021 brought a deep freeze to homes that had not yet been repaired, causing pipes to burst and much more water damage from inside. Tarps protecting the damaged roofs frayed, allowing much more water to seep in from above. More and more debris piled up along the streets.

When Record rainfall In May 2021, stormwater systems clogged with debris were overwhelmed. Floodwaters inundated properties, triggering one other wave of harm in an already overstretched claims and relief system. Uninsured losses increased as flooding reached areas that weren’t expected to flood under “normal” circumstances and subsequently didn’t have to carry flood insurance.

This is what a deepening disaster looks like. The mounting economic damage left many homes unrepaired. Damaged rental properties were quickly taken over by buyout programs or suddenly sold. lucrative housing markets. Lake Charles housing market recovery lags behind til today.

The events in Lake Charles in 2020 and 2021 highlight a very important truth: The only solution to avoid worsening disasters is to shorten the recovery time after each storm.

This is a difficult prospect with Storms occur more continuously because of climate change. As lead engineer of the study team, I consider it should be needed to prioritize housing resilience, create more flexible support systems, and construct adaptive capability that may handle novel storm scenarios.

1. Build resilient homes

The best solution to shorten recovery time is to avoid the necessity for recovery altogether. That starts with constructing homes that may withstand extreme storms.

Unlike other critical infrastructures, that are strictly regulated, housing construction is subject to the private decisions of the owners, who little or no information concerning the vulnerability of their homes. It is subsequently not surprising that they not realize how break-ins through windows or garage doors could spread and destroy your property.

Worse, the old buildings usually are not required to fulfill the newest constructing codes, leaving the country's aging housing stock particularly vulnerable to worsening disasters.

States could introduce and implement improved constructing standards, but There is a scarcity of political will in lots of Gulf Coast states. In addition to developers’ concerns about rising construction costs, the reform of constructing codes politicized.

One example is Alabama, where there isn’t any statewide constructing code. Mobile and Baldwin counties have chosen to implement constructing codes. Supplement to the Coastal Construction Actwhich was created after Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Katrina (2005) to strengthen houses beyond the same old minimum requirements. This, along with the Strengthening homes in Alabama grant program led to more homes being built along the Alabama coast with higher standards. Many of those homes were unscathed, as Hurricane Sally Hit in 2020.

These local programs provide a template that will be replicated in states like Louisianawhich also places value on reasonably priced and resilient housing as a part of its Build Back Better strategy.

2. Recognize that one size not suits all

The housing recovery in Lake Charles has been particularly hampered by the rigidity of the country's current disaster relief apparatus, which views each disaster as a single event handled through a standardized and sometimes restrictive process. This has led to significant delays and denial of assistance through the escalating disasters of 2020 and 2021.

In contrast, pandemic relief funds got here to those communities over the identical period and without major restrictions, giving communities the flexibleness to fulfill acute needs and even construct long-term resilience. Communities used the funds to supply emergency rental and utility assistance, reinforce vulnerable infrastructure, and improve flood management capability.

The Storm Series 2020-21 a dozen Louisianas bankrupted Insurer and left the National disaster fund exhaustedThe Federal Government now has the chance Redesign of national assistance systems to maneuver from a historically rigid, event-based view of disasters to a more flexible perspective that higher takes under consideration the varied and protracted impacts of escalating disasters, in keeping with the needs and capacities of individual communities.

Disasters have gotten more severe today in unimaginable ways when the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act was written 35 years ago. It established how the federal government, and FEMA particularly, helps states and localities prepare for and recuperate from disasters. A revision of the law could mark a very important latest starting for national disaster relief policy.

3. Learning from the pandemic

The pandemic has not only accelerated recovery through flexible financing, but has also forced communities to develop latest capacities for crisis adaptation, which should help them reply to the intensifying disasters that may follow.

The COVID-19 crisis has led to improved data collection and reporting capabilities. We have found that it has also improved coordination inside and between organizations.

And it forced the virtual delivery of services—schools developed online learning systems and doctors popularized telemedicine. These latest technologies were already in use in Lake Charles when storm damage forced schools to shut a day after the primary in-person classes for the reason that pandemic. It's unlikely that such a rapid adjustment would have happened without the months of pandemic constructing that adaptability.

Climate change will bring latest weather patterns that transcend the present policies of disaster management agencies, that are crammed with protocols refined from past experience. The ability to adapt can be critical when those policies cannot address disasters few have imagined.

Biden's allies raise the alarm

As a massive heatwave was preparing to settle within the Bay Area just in time for the vacation, and the prospect of polluted air was there too.

That threat was enough on Monday for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to issue a “Spare the Air” warning for a minimum of Tuesday.

The warning is the third in 2024; the opposite two occurred back to back in mid-June.

Whether it is a sign of a series of days with harmful air quality will likely depend upon developments off the coast, officials said.

“It really depends on the intensity of the winds off the ocean,” said air district spokeswoman Tina Landis. “It's very likely that this could be the case every day, but we can't say for sure. Some of those winds could blow some of the pollution away.”

According to the county, concentrations of ground-level ozone will likely be harmful to health. Young children, seniors and folks with respiratory and heart conditions could experience difficulty respiration in the event that they go outside, officials said.

“It’s getting worse as the day goes on,” Landis said.

A high pressure bubble is forming, causing a protracted heat wave that can affect the region until July 4th and into the weekend. Temperatures of as much as 42 degrees are expected inland. According to meteorologists, the high pressure is trapping pollutants.

The district urged people to make money working from home, use public transportation, or walk or bike to work to scale back smog.