Aidan

Drink your coffee! Drinking two cups of coffee makes your brain better at hitting its own brake pedal, specifically, the mechanism that quiets motor signals when sensory input arrives. Researchers at Campus Bio-Medico in Rome gave people caffeine gum and then zapped their brains with TMS, and found the sensory "shush" effect on the motor cortex got stronger, peaking at a very narrow 19–21ms timing window. If you show up to a neurological exam caffeinated, your brain's inhibitory readouts look artificially healthy. That's a real problem for conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, where weakened sensory-motor inhibition is one of the key markers doctors look for. Caffeine essentially mimics the cholinergic signaling those diseases destroy, so it could literally mask early signs of cognitive decline on a test. Also interesting: the effect only showed up with one of the two measurement methods, which the authors think is because stronger magnetic pulses recruit deeper cortical circuits that caffeine specifically modulates. The weaker-pulse protocol missed it entirely. Says a lot about how methodology choices can make or break what you find in neuroscience.

I think about this meme daily

Someone is selling a flour mill in Normandy that sits on its own private island, with two waterfalls. It was first recorded in 1398. The mill was owned through the Middle Ages by the Le Veneur family, and rebuilt in the 19th century into the red-brick flour mill you see in the first image. It has been lived in ever since, which is probably the most remarkable thing about it. 4 bedrooms, 242m² (2,607 sq ft) of living space across multiple levels, with a 72m² living area on the top floor. It also includes an indoor swimming pool which tbh I did not expect. The original millstone is still sitting on the island by the way. So is a beehive. To get to the front door you cross a small stone bridge over one of the waterfalls. A short walk the other way takes you to a second narrow island of 220m², which leads directly into the forest. Asking price: €349k ($409k). The waterfalls are included. Presumably some form of hydroelectric power is possible, but I'll leave that to people smarter than me.