BBC Knowledge Asia Edition 3

Dogs are highly social animals and certainly sense

when we are unhappy or in pain. A 2004 study also

found that they can be trained to detect bladder

cancer from the smell of the patient’s urine. So it’s

certainly possible that dogs may be able to tell when

someone is seriously ill. But there’s no evidence that

they have any sixth sense that can tell you’ll be hit by

a bus tomorrow. LV

Too much stimulation of

your brain cells can lead to

neurotoxicity, which is

dangerous, and so one

tentative theory holds that

sleep is a chance for the

brain to enter a detox

mode in which overall

levels of neural excitability

are reduced. Sleep also

helps the brain to learn,

although the precise

physiological processes

that underlie this benefit

are still being worked out.

This means that after

you’ve spent time revising

or learning a new skill, it’s

very important that you get

a good night’s sleep. Doing

so will help your brain to

consolidate the neural

connections that underlie

new memories. CJ

What does sleep do

for the brain?

Are offices making us more sick?

It’s hard to be sure. Several studies have found that

workers in open-plan offices take more sick days than

those who work in small groups or have their own

private office. But this is mostly short absences of just

one or two days. If cold viruses were spreading more

effectively in offices, you would also expect the spread

of flu as well, which would knock you out for at least a

week. So maybe open-plan offices are just more

stressful and unpleasant to work in, and their

employees are more inclined to ‘pull a sickie’. Or it may

be that open-plan employees are less likely to be

missed. A 2005 study found that ‘presenteeism’ (where

employees come to work, even when they are sick) is

more common in small offices. LV

“But if you don’t

feed me steak right

now, you

mysteriously might

not wake up

tomorrow...”

Extreme measures

are put in place when

Barry eats curry for

lunch

Can dogs sense when

someone is about to die?

&

is the record for

non-stop TV watching,

set by five Austrians in

early 2016

92

hours

hamburgers are sold

by McDonald’s around

the world every

second

IN NUMBERS

75