Exercise: Key to good sex, good sleep

"Obviously, exercise helps with weight loss, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure and reducing risk for such things as osteoporosis and diabetes," says Fabio Comana, exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise. "Those are the mainstream benefits, but there's a lot more people may not be aware of."

As summer begins -- and many contemplate a trip to the gym -- take a look at a few of the other benefits of exercise.

Good night's sleep

An active lifestyle might also mean a more restful sleep. The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise in the afternoon can help deepen shut-eye and cut the time it takes for you to fall into dreamland. But, they caution, vigorous exercise leading up to bedtime can actually have the reverse effects.

A 2003 study, however, found that a morning fitness regime was key to a better snooze. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center concluded that postmenopausal women who exercised 30 minutes every morning had less trouble falling asleep than those who were less active. The women who worked out in the evening hours saw little or no improvement in their sleep patterns.

No studies have proven conclusively the best time to exercise, says Comana, but the benefits of "a better ability to fall asleep and a more restful sleep when you do -- there's unanimous agreement on that."

A stop to smoking

The adrenaline rush and stress relief from a brief workout can replace similar feelings smokers get from tobacco and help reduce the urge for a cigarette for those trying to quit, according to smoking cessation programs.

Interested in the effect of exercise on someone trying to kick the habit, one study in the Archives of Internal Medicine followed 281 sedentary female smokers, who were otherwise healthy, in their efforts to quit. The group assigned exercise sessions was twice as likely to quit and stay smoke-free over the nonexercise group, both at 12 weeks and a year later.

Brain boost

Regular exercisers may have to work less to jog their memory in the long run, as well as experience short-term benefits in creativity and reaction time.

One study in the journal Nature reports that sedentary senior citizens who took up walking for 45 minutes, three days a week, were able to significantly improve mental skills that decline with age. Meanwhile, Middlesex University researchers in London discovered that 25 minutes of aerobic exercise boosted scores on creativity tests that followed.

And one study "found physically fit workers were 12.5 percent more efficient at the end of the day than their nonphysically fit counterparts," Comana says.

Better sex

If a well-rested, smarter and nonsmoking self is not enough, exercise has also been linked to a better sex life. Poor general health can lead to poor sexual function, so keeping fit only helps maintain or revitalize performance and satisfaction in the bedroom.

After studying more than 31,000 men, the Harvard School of Public Health researchers reported that those who were physically active had a 30 percent lower risk for erectile dysfunction than the men with little or no physical activity.

Women reap the exercise benefits, too. One study by the University of British Columbia found that 20 minutes of exercise spurred greater sexual response in the women participants compared with no exercise at all.

And overall, people who exercise regularly feel better about themselves, feel more sexually desirable and report higher levels of satisfaction, according to a study in the Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality.

Along with these lesser-known benefits, exercise also promotes health in a myriad of tiny detailed ways, says Comana, with increased "coordination, flexibility and greater efficiency in daily activities."

Exercise: Key to good sex, good sleep

Orchid Has "Active" Sex With Itself -- A Flower First?

An agile Chinese orchid performs a floral version of sexual intercourse—with itself. Researchers say an extension of the male flower part, or anther, turns an upside-down loop to deliver spermlike pollen spores directly into the female cavity.The anther bends to enter the female chamber from below and is secured in place by a ring structure on its stalk to ensure fertilization.

The flower is the first known plant in which pollination is entirely self-directed, with no outside agents or forces—such as bees or breezes—playing a role.

Biologists observed the elaborate style of reproduction in the bisexual orchid Holcoglossum amesianum, a tree-dwelling plant found in the dry forests of China's southern Yunnan Province (map of China).

LaiQiang Huang of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen and colleagues studied the unusual flower. The team's findings will appear in tomorrow's issue of the journal Nature.

Pollinating Alone

In more conventional plant sex, creatures such as insects or birds transport pollen from one plant to another, resulting in a fertilized embryo or seed.

Most orchids reproduce in this way, and many are known for their elaborate floral structures (photo: South African Disa uniflora orchid) designed to attract specialized insect pollinators.

But pollen may also be transferred from male to female flowers on a single plant, or from male to female parts on a single blossom. In such cases, plants can fertilize themselves.

While less common in orchids, many flowering plants are known to self-fertilize either some or all of the time. Most rely on wind or fluid secretions to move pollen around.

Orchid Has "Active" Sex With Itself

Blue Whale--the largest mammal on the earth

Blue whales are the largest mammals, and possibly the largest animal of any kind to have lived on Earth. A 33-metre long, 190-tonne whale has been seen, but most examples are much smaller. There are three subspecies divided between the northern and southern hemispheres. Blue whales were hunted to the brink of extinction during the 20th Century. The most recent abundance estimate for the southern hemisphere is 1,700 and there is evidence they are increasing annually by about 7%. There are no good estimates for numbers in other areas.

Key species of endangered whale

How to save our Amazon

Along with the tropical forests of the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia, the Amazon rainforest forms a green belt that encircles the Earth - a belt that is constantly reducing in size.The region's rainforest is spread across the Amazon River Basin (approx. 6.9 million km2), a vast natural tropical area more than half of which is located in Brazil. The basin also covers parts of Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

An exceptional biodiversity
A considerable number of the world's plants and animals live in the Amazon, most of which remain undiscovered by scientists. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 427 mammals, 1,294 birds, 378 reptiles, 427 amphibians, and at least 3,000 fishes have been scientifically classified in the region.

But smaller life forms win hands down in terms of their numbers: just in Brazil, between 96,660 and 128,840 invertebrate species have been described by scientists.

Indigenous cultural richness rivals the Amazon wildlife
Amazon wildlife shares this huge space with some 30 million people, including more than 220 indigenous groups in the Brazilian Amazon4, 40 in Peru and 10 in Ecuador. In Venezuela, some 17 indigenous languages are spoken in the Amazon part of the country. This number is dwarfed by the Bolivian and Colombian Amazon, where 33 and 52 indigenous languages respectively are in use.*

Behind this incredible cultural diversity lies a stark picture. Despite living in an area with a bewildering array of natural products and services, many local people remain in relative poverty.

The Amazon River, lifeline of the Amazon River Basin
At 6,400 km, the Amazon River is the world's second longest river, after the Nile in Africa. This massive body of water feeds the basin as it meanders from the high Andes Mountains, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean in the east, discharging approximately one-fifth of all fresh water that drains into the world's oceans.

Now, forests burn, soils dwindle and people suffer...

Market forces, population pressure and infrastructure advances are continuing to pry open the Amazon rainforest.

As the pressures afflicting the region grow in intensity, it is becoming increasingly clear that the price to be paid is not only loss of biodiversity and habitat – but also of a decreasing life quality for people.

Among the threats behind environmental destruction and degradation in the Amazon are the lack of policy frameworks to support sustainable development and natural resource protection, political instability, the inability of some institutional and governmental entities to establish and enforce legislation for nature conservation, and poverty and inequality.

The price of development at all costs
Today, regional government programmes and initiatives are pushing for constant development, often encouraging blind clearance of forests for cattle ranching, oil drilling or soybean production. Such efforts seek to secure much-needed foreign exchange and generally develop economies.

As the countries of the Amazon become increasingly integrated into the global economy and there is increased demand for ever-limited natural resources, efforts to protect the region continue to be threatened by unsustainable economic demands.

Trade, the fuel of deforestation
Development activities in the Amazon are responding in part to the insatiable international demand for raw goods.
For example, Brazil’s beef exports are closely linked to financial markets and the strength of the Real, the Brazilian currency.

When the real devaluated, the price of beef in real approximately doubled, creating a huge incentive for ranchers to expand their
pasture area.

At the same time, the price of Brazilian beef in dollars fell, which made Brazil’s exports more competitive on international markets. Conversely, when the real strengthens, exporters struggle to keep their slice of the market.

Trade requires infrastructure
Responding to international demands in agricultural products requires infrastructure such as dams and roads. BR-163 and BR-319, two of the main roads to be laid down through the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, are examples of this situation.

But global demand is not limited to cattle and soy. To satisfy its industrial needs, China is involved in mining projects in the eastern Amazon, ranging from aluminium and steel to nickel and copper.

Our Solutions for the Amazon

Isaac Newton's Life

Newton, Sir Isaac (1642-1727), mathematician and physicist, one of the foremost scientific intellects of all time. Born at Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire, where he attended school, he entered Cambridge University in 1661; he was elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1667, and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 1669. He remained at the university, lecturing in most years, until 1696. Of these Cambridge years, in which Newton was at the height of his creative power, he singled out 1665-1666 (spent largely in Lincolnshire because of plague in Cambridge) as "the prime of my age for invention". During two to three years of intense mental effort he prepared Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) commonly known as the Principia, although this was not published until 1687.

As a firm opponent of the attempt by King James II to make the universities into Catholic institutions, Newton was elected Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge to the Convention Parliament of 1689, and sat again in 1701-1702. Meanwhile, in 1696 he had moved to London as Warden of the Royal Mint. He became Master of the Mint in 1699, an office he retained to his death. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1671, and in 1703 he became President, being annually re-elected for the rest of his life. His major work, Opticks, appeared the next year; he was knighted in Cambridge in 1705.

As Newtonian science became increasingly accepted on the Continent, and especially after a general peace was restored in 1714, following the War of the Spanish Succession, Newton became the most highly esteemed natural philosopher in Europe. His last decades were passed in revising his major works, polishing his studies of ancient history, and defending himself against critics, as well as carrying out his official duties. Newton was modest, diffident, and a man of simple tastes. He was angered by criticism or opposition, and harboured resentment; he was harsh towards enemies but generous to friends. In government, and at the Royal Society, he proved an able administrator. He never married and lived modestly, but was buried with great pomp in Westminster Abbey.

Newton has been regarded for almost 300 years as the founding examplar of modern physical science, his achievements in experimental investigation being as innovative as those in mathematical research. With equal, if not greater, energy and originality he also plunged into chemistry, the early history of Western civilization, and theology; among his special studies was an investigation of the form and dimensions, as described in the Bible, of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.

In 1664, while still a student, Newton read recent work on optics and light by the English physicists Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke; he also studied both the mathematics and the physics of the French philosopher and scientist René Descartes. He investigated the refraction of light by a glass prism; developing over a few years a series of increasingly elaborate, refined, and exact experiments, Newton discovered measurable, mathematical patterns in the phenomenon of colour. He found white light to be a mixture of infinitely varied coloured rays (manifest in the rainbow and the spectrum), each ray definable by the angle through which it is refracted on entering or leaving a given transparent medium. He correlated this notion with his study of the interference colours of thin films (for example, of oil on water, or soap bubbles), using a simple technique of extreme acuity to measure the thickness of such films. He held that light consisted of streams of minute particles. From his experiments he could infer the magnitudes of the transparent "corpuscles" forming the surfaces of bodies, which, according to their dimensions, so interacted with white light as to reflect, selectively, the different observed colours of those surfaces.

The roots of these unconventional ideas were with Newton by about 1668; when first expressed (tersely and partially) in public in 1672 and 1675, they provoked hostile criticism, mainly because colours were thought to be modified forms of homogeneous white light. Doubts, and Newton's rejoinders, were printed in the learned journals. Notably, the scepticism of Christiaan Huygens and the failure of the French physicist Edmé Mariotte to duplicate Newton's refraction experiments in 1681 set scientists on the Continent against him for a generation. The publication of Opticks, largely written by 1692, was delayed by Newton until the critics were dead. The book was still imperfect: the colours of diffraction defeated Newton. Nevertheless, Opticks established itself, from about 1715, as a model of the interweaving of theory with quantitative experimentation.

Read more stories of Isaac Newton from the linkpage.

Isaac Newton's Life