China’s moon rover revealed what lies beneath the lunar farside

The farside of the moon is a lunar layer cake. New data from China’s Chang’e-4 lander and Yutu-2 rover reveal alternating layers of coarse rock and fine soil down to a depth of 40 meters, suggesting a history of violent impacts, scientists report February 26 in Science Advances.

Read more at Science News

There is an art to resting and it has nothing to do with your sleep habits

How rested are you? Fresher than an Alpine daisy, or dragging yourself through the day, propped up by caffeine and anxiety? Feeling rested isn't about how much sleep we get, despite our obsession with sleep quality, monitoring its length, depth, and hygiene via sleep trackers, sleep-journaling, sleep rituals or sleep clinics. Rest is different from sleep, yet we frequently confuse the two.

Resting can be active. It can be passive. It can be anything you want it to be, as long as you find it restful. Running, gardening, knitting, yoga, walking, swimming, cooking, listening to the radio, reading, doing the crossword, dancing, staring at your foot... it's all good. The only kind of rest which is counter-productive is enforced rest - ask anyone who has ever been confined to bed. That kind of rest drives us crazy. We are also wary of being seen to be doing nothing in a hive culture of manic activity.

In her new book, The Art of Rest, psychology broadcaster and author Claudia Hammond examines the pursuits we find restful, how we rest, and how rest works. It also looks at our attitudes to rest, and the cult of busyness.

Read more at the Independent 

There is a survey behind this book - the Rest Test, led by researchers from Durham University. It involved more than 18,000 people in 134 countries, who were asked to list what they found most restful - reading was number one

Five most restful activities

The survey asked people to choose the activities that they find the most restful. The results show that the top five most restful activities are those often done alone: 

• Reading (58 per cent)
• Being in the natural environment (53.1 per cent)
• Being on their own (52.1 per cent)
• Listening to music (40.6 per cent)
• Doing nothing in particular (40 per cent)

Dr Felicity Callard continued: “It’s intriguing that the top activities considered restful are frequently done on one’s own. Perhaps it’s not only the total hours resting or working that we need to consider, but the rhythms of our work, rest and time with and without others.

The Scientific and Medical Network

The Scientific and Medical Network (SMN) is a worldwide professional community and membership organisation for open-minded, rigorous and evidence-based enquiry into themes bridging science, spirituality and consciousness. It promotes a cultural shift in our understanding of reality and human experience beyond the limits imposed by exclusively materialist and reductionist approaches.

The Network brings together open-minded and discerning people who are inclined to a non-materialist interpretation of the universe and who have a sympathetic interest in parapsychological and spiritual matters.

Read more at the SMN website