Yes, babies can’t speak, but they can, in fact, tell you how they feel or what they need with every small action they do. That’s why it’s essential for every parent to be able to understand their baby’s body language.

Following are 6 tips for understanding a baby’s body language.  

1. Incessant kicking.

If the baby is constantly kicking and she/he appears happy, chances are that it wants to play. But if the baby seems fussy, then this could be a sign that it is feeling bothered by something.

2. Clenched fist.

Babies tend to clench their fists when they are really hungry.

3. Pulling ears.

If you notice that your baby is grabbing its ears too often, do not immediately see this as a sign that it is nervous or that it is not feeling well. In most cases, babies do this because they’ve just realized they have ears.

4. Scrunched-up knees.

When babies scrunch up their knees, in most cases, this is a sign that they have constipation or gas or that they pass a bowel movement.

5. Head-banging.

Babies usually move back and forth because they find this soothing. But if your baby does this too much and prefers doing that than to play with toys, other kids, or you, then you should take him/her to their pediatrician to be checked.

6. Arm jerks.

When babies are scared by a loud noise, this sometimes causes their arms to jerk.

There is a great number of people who develop heart failure every year. Those who need a heart transplant have to wait for a compatible organ from another person’s body and the time they spend waiting for a transplant can be very long. Moreover, a patient’s body does not always accept the transplant.

But, apparently, there’s now hope for all those who are waiting for a heart transplant. Scientists from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital have grown a functional heart from human skin cells in a lab. Additionally, researchers from Tel Aviv University have successfully 3D-printed a heart which has blood vessels, cells, chambers, and ventricles.

This development, as well as the functional human heart, may someday put an end to the problem of shortage of hearts people from all over the world face today.

How Was The World’s First Functional Heart Grown?

Scientists from Harvard Medical school and Massachusetts General Hospital first took 73 donor hearts which were deemed unsuitable for transplantation.

Then they removed cells from the donor hearts and replaced them with skin cells which had been turned into pluripotent stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells are the types of cells which can be specialized to any part of the body by using messenger RNA. Next, the scientists caused the stem cells to develop into 2 kinds of cardiac cells.

Then they mimicked the environment a person’s heart would normally grow within and they infused the cardiac cells with a nutrient solution which encouraged growth. After some time, the hearts showed electrical conductivity.

You can find more information about this study here

How Did Researchers From Tel Aviv University 3D-Print A Heart?

First, they took a biopsy of patients’ fatty tissue. Then they separated the cellular components from the non-cellular components of the tissue. Next, they turned the cells into pluripotent stem cells and the extracellular matrix was processed into a personalized hydrogel which they used as ink for 3D printing.

After the researchers mixed the cells with the hydrogel, they directed them to develop into cardio or endothelial cells so as to form immune-compatible cardiac patches with blood vessels and, finally, an entire heart.

You can find more information about this experiment here

This is undoubtedly the first time anyone has successfully managed to engineer and print a human heart complete with blood vessels, chambers, cells, and ventricles. Although the printed heart is very small, this development is important as it shows the potential of the researchers’ approach for developing personalized tissue and replacement of organs in the future.

Additionally, the fact that this printed heart is made from human cells and a patient’s biological materials means that the biomaterial should have the same biochemical, topographical, and mechanical properties of the patient’s tissues. This biocompatibility is vital to eliminating the risk of implant rejection.

The researchers hope that they’ll soon teach the printed hearts to behave like real hearts, i.e. pump and that they’ll prove the efficacy of their method.

Does the idea of hugging a big animal on the farm sound scary to you? Well, in case it does, perhaps this article will make you change your mind.

Cow cuddling is the new trend now which can do wonders for your mental health. Yeah, you read it right. Cuddling a cow can lower your stress levels and help you relax.

Mountain Horse Farm in upstate New York offers a really pleasant and rewarding experience. It offers you the opportunity to try the “Horse & Cow Experience.” More precisely, it gives you the opportunity to spend some time playing with cows and horses, and you can brush them too.

These lovely animals are able to sense your feelings and energy. They can sense your happiness, anxiety, or sadness and respond to it appropriately.

Spending time with them can fill you with positive energy and help you reduce your stress levels and relax.

So, if you want to spend some time cuddling and playing with cows, know that this rewarding experience costs $300 for a 90-minute session. You can also get an hour-session for $75.

And guess what? You are welcome to bring along a friend too.

We’re sure you’ve heard that honeybees are dying in significant numbers. Scientists believe that there are various causes for this, from habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and herbicides to viruses that are provoking a group of symptoms known as “colony collapse disorder.”

For example, there’s one virus known as “deformed wing virus” that causes bees to develop disfigured wings. Until now, scientists have not developed any antiviral treatment that could protect the bees from this virus.

But, fortunately, one study published in the journal Scientific Reports has shown that a mushroom extract might help save honeybees and it could even boost up the population of bees globally. More precisely, it is mycelia—cobweb-like fungal membranes which can be found in and on soil from 2 species, Red Reishi and “tinder fungus” mushrooms.

Years ago, Paul Stamets, a Washington mycologist, noticed that bees appeared drawn to water droplets on mushrooms in his yard. But at the time, what he spotted remained only an observation.

However, later, one day he was reading about the antiviral properties of fungi for people. And this propelled him to wonder if the mushroom water actually benefited the bees in his garden.

So, in order to test his theory that mushrooms could save honeybees, Stamets conducted a study together with colleagues at Washington State University.

The team fed sugary mushroom broth to one group of bees and only sugar water to another group. What they found was that the “mycelial broth” helped the bees fight off two viruses associated with colony collapse disorder. On the other hand, the bees that drank just sugar water kept on struggling with both viruses.

Stamets thinks that nutrients in the mushrooms give the immune systems of the bees a boost – contrary to a vaccine, which immunizes the body against a particular disease.

Although there’s still much more work to be done and additional tests to be done, the results of this study have undoubtedly offered hope for the future of honeybees.

Women, if you want to live a longer and healthier life, move to the woods. One study has shown that living in or near nature may help you better your health and live longer.

Yes, you read it right. Living in areas surrounded by nature may extend your life and help you improve your overall health.

Researchers carried out a study in which they followed 108,630 women and analyzed 8,604 deaths between 2000 and 2008. They made a comparison between the risks of death and the amount of vegetation surrounding the women’s homes.

What they found was that women that lived in greener surroundings had a 34 percent lower rate of respiratory disease-related mortality, a 41 percent lower rate of kidney disease mortality, and a 13 percent lower rate of cancer mortality than the women living in areas with less vegetation.

According to the study, the reason why high levels of vegetation are associated with decreased mortality is that people who live in or near nature aren’t exposed to the dangerous effects of air pollution, heat, chemicals, and noise as people living in urban areas are.

Additionally, areas that have high levels of vegetation provide opportunities for physical activity, mitigate the effects of climate change, and improve mental health.

Researchers believe that results would be similar if the study included men.