Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Scientists reveal how the brain uses objects to find direction
We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are.
How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
- "We're skewing our resources even more to the very poorest countries," said Peter Sands, CEO of the Global Fund, who added that leaving countries like Sudan to fend for themselves amid conflict, climate change, and disease 鈥渋s morally repugnant.鈥�
- But those gains now face the threat of erosion as contributions from donor governments falter.
- 100,000+ additional malaria deaths are anticipated this year, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and among children.
DRC towns affected by the latest Ebola outbreak have erected checkpoints to restrict population movements and placed the Kasai鈥檚 Bulape zone under confinement as cases ticked up this week; aid workers warn the response is underfunded. The risk of death from chronic illnesses including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes dropped in four out of five countries between 2010 and 2019, that drew from data in 185 countries. Unproven treatments for Lyme disease are on the rise, including lasers, herbal remedies, and electromagnets鈥攚hich researchers warn could be ineffective or dangerous. Incarcerated people who received medication for opioid use disorder were 鈥渟ignificantly鈥� more likely to continue treatment six months after release, finds a ; such treatment was also linked with a 52% lower risk of fatal overdose. RADAR Hantavirus Hits Russian Troops Hantavirus has sickened at least three soldiers from the Akhmat Battalion, a Chechen special forces unit fighting in southeastern Ukraine.
- The disease is spread by and cannot be transmitted person-to-person.
- It has a fatality rate of up to 38%; the most severe form typically begins with flu-like symptoms and can progress to fever and abdominal pain, bleeding from the eyes, and kidney failure.
- No antiviral treatments are available; two existing vaccines target specific strains and are only approved for use by South Korea and China.
- 鈥淎s funding landscapes shift, malaria control programmes and their implementing partners must diversify strategies to sustain progress against the disease,鈥� wrote the commentary authors, researchers at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
A New Malaria Drug Can Treat Infants鈥擨f Health Systems Support It 鈥� ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Looking For Love 鈥� at a Snail鈥檚 Pace Snails have a 1 in 40,000 chance of being anatomically at-odds with most of their species. Ned the snail is the 1鈥攕piraling left instead of the usual right.
Giselle Clarkson, a home gardener in New Zealand, encountered the rare left-coiled snail among some leaves, named him after the left-handed Simpsons character, and set out to find him a mate鈥�.
Left out of love: Ned just needs a snail he can connect with. Literally. Left-coiling and right-coiling snails can鈥檛 align their sex organs to procreate.
But as with many matchmaking missions, it鈥檚 unclear whether this matchee cares that he鈥檚 single or if he even wants kids. But that hasn鈥檛 stopped Clarkson.
鈥淚 have never felt this stressed about the welfare of a common garden snail before,鈥� . QUICK HITS When the Law Limits Choice: Nigeria鈥檚 Policies are Undermining Sexual Justice 鈥� Time to 'stop tolerating women's pain and suffering': Melinda Gates-backed research initiative raises $100M 鈥� After 17 Years, DNA Tied a Man to Her Rape. Under Massachusetts Law, It Was Too Late. 鈥� About 2,000 people may have been exposed to measles at Utah event 鈥� Kids with COVID had a 50% to 60% higher risk of depression, anxiety in 2021, researchers say 鈥� Marburg Virus Disease in Rwanda, 2024 鈥� Public Health and Clinical Responses 鈥� West Nile virus cases running higher than normal, prompting health warnings 鈥� Insomnia Raises Dementia Risk in Healthy Older Adults 鈥� EU to slash food and fast fashion waste 鈥� Dr. Peter Hotez takes the war against science very personally 鈥� Issue No. 2786
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on and follow us on Instagram and X .
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- Diet: The report warns about the impact of processed foods, calling for new dietary guidelines promoting whole foods. It also calls for limiting the inclusion of processed foods in government food programs, while increasing access to items like whole milk in schools.
- Inactivity: The commission also points to 鈥渦nprecedented鈥� inactivity among children, calling for more guidance around screen time and for more physical activity in schools鈥攊ncluding the return of the Presidential Fitness Test.
- Chemical exposure: The report warns that children are exposed to increasing levels of synthetic chemicals linked to disease鈥攂ut avoids any major pesticide regulations, which critics described as a big win for the food industry, .
- Overmedicalization: The report also points to 鈥渁 concerning trend of overprescribing medications to children鈥� and proposes a new vaccine framework focused on 鈥渕edical freedom.鈥�
Obesity has superseded hunger as the top malnutrition issue facing children globally, that highlights the widespread marketing of ultra processed foods as a key driver of the trend; 1 in 10 teenagers and school-age children live with obesity. 44% of people with diabetes worldwide are undiagnosed, , which looked at data from 204 countries and territories from 2000 to 2023. THC may disrupt human egg cells, leading to the wrong number of chromosomes and potentially to infertility or miscarriage, that analyzed the impact of chemicals in cannabis on female fertility. Long COVID is 鈥渉ighly prevalent鈥� worldwide, finds a ; meanwhile, a second study of long COVID in adolescents finds that most symptoms reported by teens in 2022 were resolved three months post-infection. TOBACCO Deploying Influencers in South Africa鈥檚 Cigarette Debate
As new tobacco legislation makes its way through South Africa鈥檚 Parliament, industry opponents are tapping social media influencers to carry their key talking points鈥攁nd cast a misleading picture about the bill. Background: The legislation, the , aims to prohibit the sale of loose cigarettes, among other restrictions.
- ~20 influencers have been posting that the bill will , a key industry message, and that the prohibition is part of a 鈥渟ecretive鈥� government conspiracy.
- Health advocates and scientists say the misinformation is a deliberate tactic to sway public opinion against the government鈥檚 efforts to curb tobacco usage.
- Death can occur within several hours.
- Severe dehydration from nausea and vomiting shuts down internal organs.
- Annually, there are between 1.3 and 4 million cases worldwide.
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on and follow us on Instagram and X .
Please send the Global Health NOW free sign-up link to friends and colleagues:
Want to change how you receive these emails? You can or . -->
Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.
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You can or .
Physiology professor Claire M. Brown appointed inaugural Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering
Claire M. Brown, Professor in the Department of Physiology, has been selected as in the province of Quebec. The newly established CISE program is jointly funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec 鈥� Nature et technologies (FRQNT).聽聽
Physiology professor Claire M. Brown appointed inaugural Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering
Claire M. Brown, Professor in the Department of Physiology, has been selected as in the province of Quebec. The newly established CISE program is jointly funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec 鈥� Nature et technologies (FRQNT).聽聽
Physiology professor Claire M. Brown appointed inaugural Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering
Claire M. Brown, Professor in the Department of Physiology, has been selected as in the province of Quebec. The newly established CISE program is jointly funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec 鈥� Nature et technologies (FRQNT).聽聽
Physiology professor Claire M. Brown appointed inaugural Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering
Claire M. Brown, Professor in the Department of Physiology, has been selected as in the province of Quebec. The newly established CISE program is jointly funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec 鈥� Nature et technologies (FRQNT).聽聽
Physiology professor Claire M. Brown appointed inaugural Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering
Claire M. Brown, Professor in the Department of Physiology, has been selected as in the province of Quebec. The newly established CISE program is jointly funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec 鈥� Nature et technologies (FRQNT).聽聽
Physiology professor Claire M. Brown appointed inaugural Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering
Claire M. Brown, Professor in the Department of Physiology, has been selected as in the province of Quebec. The newly established CISE program is jointly funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec 鈥� Nature et technologies (FRQNT).聽聽
