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Have you ever woken up to bright morning skies feeling energized? A big reason for your mood is the high-intensity blue light coming from the sun. Among the visible light spectrum, blue wavelengths have the most powerful effect on your sleep-wake internal body clock.

Both natural and artificial blue light can boost your alertness and mental sharpness. But too much of it may keep you awake when your body needs to wind down.

How Blue Light Hurts Sleep

Your eyes aren't good at blocking blue light. So almost all of it passes straight through to the back of your retina, which helps your brain translate light into images.

Exposure to all colors of light helps control your natural sleep-and-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm. More so than any other color, blue light messes with your body's ability to prepare for sleep because it blocks a hormone called melatonin that makes you sleepy.

Bottom line: You're less drowsy than usual at night, and it takes you longer to fall asleep.

Blue Light Sources

Americans spend an average of 7 hours a day on electronic devices. That's a lot of time staring at blue light. Worse yet, nine out of 10 Americans admit to reaching for an electronic device at least several nights each week shortly before bedtime. That could be an invitation for insomnia.

The light from your devices often appears white. But they can give off wavelengths in the range of 400 to 490 nanometers, which is blue light.

Indoor sources of blue light include:

Televisions

Smartphones

Tablets

Gaming systems

Fluorescent light bulbs

LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs

Computer monitors

Ways to Manage Blue Light

The simplest way to lower your exposure to artificial blue light is to turn off your smartphone, TV, and other gadgets well before bedtime. Other ways include:

Blue light-blocking glasses. They're widely sold online. Amber or brown-tinted lenses may help best.

Cut back on screen time starting 2-3 hours before bed.

Dim the brightness on your devices. This is often called night mode or dark mode. It changes the background from white to black.

Install blue light-filtering apps on smartphone, tablet, and computer screens. They filter a lot of blue light from reaching your eyes without making it harder to see the display.

Swap light bulbs. LEDs give off more blue light than fluorescent bulbs. And both emit more blue light than energy-hungry incandescent bulbs, which are being phased out.

Use a dim red lightbulb as a nightlight. Red is the color that least affects your circadian rhythm.

Set an alarm for 1 hour before bed to remind yourself to quit using devices.

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Have you ever woken up to bright morning skies feeling energized? A big reason for your mood is the high-intensity blue light coming from the sun. Among the visible light spectrum, blue wavelengths have the most powerful effect on your sleep-wake internal body clock.

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More than one billion people - or approximately 15 percent of the world's population - live with some form of disability and have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities, the United Nations highlighted today on its International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Observing the Day, marked annually on 3 December, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that persons with disabilities face limitations and hardships largely due to the lack of services available to them.

"Through adaptive, assistive and inclusive technology, persons with disabilities can make the most of their potential in their communities and in the workplace," said Mr. Ban.

The UN Chief also emphasized how employers can harness technology to create environments for persons with disabilities to find productive work and fully use their skills and capacities.

"Technology can also help persons with disabilities caught up in natural disasters by making sure that critical information reaches them," Mr. Ban added.

This year's International Day, on the theme Sustainable Development: The Promise of Technology will look at this issue in the context of the post-2015 development agenda.

"Let us spare no effort to ensure that policies, programmes, guidelines and 21st century technologies are accessible to persons with disabilities, and sensitive to their perspectives and experiences," Mr. Ban said.

The UN defines disability as a condition or function judged to be significantly impaired relative to the usual standard of an individual of their group. The term is often used to refer to individual functioning, including physical impairment, sensory impairment, cognitive impairment, intellectual impairment, mental illness, and various types of chronic disease.

As it stands now, 80 per cent of all people with disabilities live in a developing country and 50 per cent of them cannot afford health care. More than 100 million disabled persons are children and children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children.

People with disabilities are also at higher risk of violence include stigma, discrimination, and ignorance about disability, as well as a lack of social support for those who care for them.

Let us spare no effort to ensure that policies, programmes, guidelines and 21st century technologies are accessible to persons with disabilities.

Evidence shows that when barriers to their inclusion are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in societal life, their entire community benefits.

Barriers faced by persons with disabilities are, therefore, a detriment to society as a whole, and accessibility is necessary to achieve progress and development for all.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) - signed by 159 Member States and adopted by the General Assembly in 2006 - recognizes that the existence of barriers constitutes a central component of disability.

Under the Convention, disability is an evolving concept that "results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others."

At UN Headquarters, the Day will be marked with several panel discussions on disability-inclusive sustainable development goals, inclusive disaster risk reduction and emergency response, and enabling work environments as well as film screenings and a musical performance.

Organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), the events will be attended by representatives from Member States, civil society, as well as the private sector.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was established following an adoption of a General Assembly resolution in October 1992, to promote awareness and mobilize support for critical issues pertaining to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society and development.

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How Technology Can Improve Life for 1 Billion Persons with Disabilities - Our World

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More than one billion people - or approximately 15 percent of the world's population - live with some form of disability and have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities, the United Nations highlighted today on its International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

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Despite the challenges of 2020, Dexcom was able to close the year out with financial growth for both the fourth quarter and the full year, according to its earnings report released Thursday.

In the earnings call, Dexcom's chairman, president and CEO Kevin Sayer voiced his gratitude to the company for surpassing its goals even under the extreme circumstances last year.

"In any given year, these are accomplishments that we would be proud of," Sayer said. "But in 2020, our teams accomplished these goals during a global pandemic. I want to use this forum again to say how proud I am of the Dexcom employees who have embraced our mission to empower people to take control of diabetes in a year of very unique challenges. It is a privilege to both lead and learn from such a talented team."
TOP-LINE DATA
In Q4, Dexcom's revenue was $568.9 million, a 23% increase from the same quarter last year. For the full year, revenue increased 31% from 2019 to a total of $1.93 billion.

The company attributes volume growth, new patient additions and increasing awareness of real-time continuous glucose monitoring to its revenue growth.

Gross profits totaled $399.1 million, or 70.2% of sales, for Q4, compared to $309.3 million or 66.8% of sales in Q4 2019. Still, Dexcom's operating expenses increased in Q4 to $295.1 million, up from $207.8 million the year before.

The adjusted EBITDA was $159.2 million and had a margin of 28%. GAAP net income was $355.2 million, or $3.48 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2020. Dexcom also had its highest quarterly gross margin (70.2%) since 2017.

Operationally, the company had additional growth with more than 900,000 global customers, up more than 38% over the end of 2019.
LOOKING BACK
Back in July, Dexcom shared its second-quarter results along with its goals for the remainder of 2020. It hoped to reach $1.85 billion in revenue, meet non-GAAP gross and operating margins of 65% and 14%, respectively, and have an adjusted EBITDA of at least 24%.

Other highlights from 2020 include an agreement to reimburse Dexcom's G6 CGM system for people with Type 1 diabetes in France and a deal with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to offer the G6 at no cost for qualifying veterans.

While the pandemic was a road bump for Dexcom in terms of releasing the G7 on time, it was able to complete a trial that produced "outstanding" results and feedback, Sayer said during the earnings call.
LOOKING AHEAD
On the topic of the G7, Dexcom is on the regulatory path to launch in the second half of 2021, according to Sayer.

Along with its 2020 earnings, the company released its goals for the new year. It hopes to achieve revenue growth between 15% and 20% for approximately $2.21 billion to $2.31 billion. Additionally, it hopes to have a non-GAAP gross profit margin of 65%, a non-GAAP operating margin of 13% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23%.

The company also announced the creation of Dexcom Ventures to support independent initiatives in glucose sensing technologies and in adjacent fields of metabolic monitoring. The fund marks Dexcom's first foray into the venture capital space. It will be led by Dexcom's EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development Steve Pacelli.
ON THE RECORD
"2020 proved to be another strong year for Dexcom, culminating with record annual new patient additions and absolute dollar revenue growth, and our highest gross margin quarter in the past five years," Sayer said in a statement.

"We are making excellent progress on our strategic objectives as we press forward to bring Dexcom CGM to the many people around the world who stand to benefit from better glycemic control."

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Dexcom comes out on top of its 2020 financial goals

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Despite the challenges of 2020, Dexcom was able to close the year out with financial growth for both the fourth quarter and the full year, according to its earnings report released Thursday. In the earnings call, Dexcom's chairman, president and CEO Kevin Sayer voiced his gratitude to the company for surpassing its goals even under the extreme circumstances last year.

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Exposure to nature has been linked to a host of benefits, including improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and even upticks in empathy and cooperation.

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Abstract

This paper reviews previous research on the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing), and presents new results from field experiments conducted in 24 forests across Japan. The term Shinrin-yoku was coined by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 1982, and can be defined as making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest. In order to clarify the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku, we conducted field experiments in 24 forests across Japan. In each experiment, 12 subjects (280 total; ages 21.7 ± 1.5 year) walked in and viewed a forest or city area. On the first day, six subjects were sent to a forest area, and the others to a city area. On the second day, each group was sent to the other area as a cross-check. Salivary cortisol, blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate variability were used as indices. These indices were measured in the morning at the accommodation facility before breakfast and also both before and after the walking (for 16 ± 5 min) and viewing (for 14 ± 2 min). The R-R interval was also measured during the walking and viewing periods. The results show that forest environments promote lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, greater parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic nerve activity than do city environments. These results will contribute to the development of a research field dedicated to forest medicine, which may be used as a strategy for preventive medicine.

Keywords: Therapeutic effects of forest, Heart rate variability, Salivary cortisol, Blood pressure, Pulse rate

Introduction

The growing interest in environmental stress has been accompanied by a rapid accumulation of evidence indicating that environment can elicit substantial stress in people living in urban environments [ 1]. Furthermore, it is broadly conceived that the natural environment can enhance human health [ 2]. There have been several questionnaire studies on the psychological effects of forest environments. A previous study found an enhancement of positive emotions among subjects who were shown pictures of natural environments [ 3- 6]. Moreover, other studies have also found that forest environments improve the psychological wellbeing of people [ 7- 12].

The term Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing) was coined by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 1982. It can be defined as making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest: a process intended to improve an individual's state of mental and physical relaxation [ 13]. Shinrin-yoku is considered to be the most widespread activity associated with forest and human health.

Nowadays, there is considerable interest in stress control and relaxation. Further, the field of medical science has always favored evidence-based medicine (EBM); this emphasizes the importance of scientific evidence in medical practice. With improved measurement techniques, the relaxation effect induced by forest settings can be clarified in a field test by measuring the changes induced in physiological parameters such as salivary cortisol, pulse rate, blood pressure, and heart rate variability (HRV).

With this social background, the Association of Therapeutic Effects of Forests was established in Japan in 2004, with the purpose of conducting a Therapeutic Effects of Forests project in Japan. At the European level, similar efforts were made through COST Action E39 on forest and human health from 2004 to 2008 [ 14], and on the global level, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) launched a new taskforce on forests and human health in Finland in 2007 with the purpose of fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue between the different researchers in this field, especially forestry and health professionals.

As part of this effort, the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine was established in 2007 under the Japanese Society for Hygiene, with the purpose of promoting research in the field of forest medicine, including the effects of forest bathing trips and the therapeutic effects of forests on human health. At the same time, several field studies on the physiological effects of the natural environment were carried out [ 13, 15- 19].

In this paper, we review selected field studies performed on the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku and a study dealing with the relationship between its psychological effects and physical environmental factors. In addition, we report new results from field experiments conducted in 24 forests across Japan.

Field methods

Subjects and study sites

We conducted physiological experiments in 24 areas from 2005 to 2006 in Japan. In each experiment, 12 normal male university students (280 in total; ages 21.7 ± 1.5 years) participated as subjects; none reported a history of physical or psychiatric disorders. The study was performed under the regulations of the Institutional Ethical Committee of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Japan. On the day before the experiments, subjects were fully informed of the aims and procedures of the experiment and their informed consent was obtained.

Physiological measurements

Seven physiological parameters were analyzed in the present study (Table ). For the measurement of salivary cortisol concentration, saliva was collected by holding two pieces of absorbent cotton in the mouth for 2 min and using a saliva collection tube (no. 51.1534, Sarstedt, Numbrecht, Germany). On collection, the tube was sealed with tape and immediately stored, refrigerated, and frozen; it was later analyzed for cortisol concentration (SRL, Inc., Japan). Heart rate variability (HRV) was analyzed for the periods between consecutive R waves in the electrocardiogram (R-R intervals) measured by a portable electrocardiograph (AC-301A, GMS Corporation). The power levels of the high-frequency (HF; 0.15-0.4 Hz) and low-frequency components (LF; 0.04-0.15 Hz) were calculated [ 20] every minute by the maximum-entropy method (Mem-Calc, GMS Ltd. [ 21]). The HF power is considered to reflect parasympathetic nervous activity [ 22]. Furthermore, the power ratios HF/LF and LF/(LF + HF) were determined to reflect the sympathetic nervous activity [ 23]. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and pulse rate were measured by a digital blood pressure monitor using oscillometric methods (HEM1000, Omron, Japan) on the right upper arm.

Psychological measurements

The Profile of Mood States (POMS) was used to gauge the psychological response [ 24]. The POMS consists of 30 adjectives rated on a 0-4 scale that can be consolidated into the following six effective dimensions: T-A (tension and anxiety), D (depression and dejection), A-H (anger and hostility), F (fatigue), C (confusion), and V (vigor). Because of its responsiveness, the POMS have been widely used in the assessment of mood changes resulting from a variety of interventions. For the Japanese subjects, the Japanese edition of the POMS was used.

Physical environmental factors

In the physical experiment, the temperature and relative humidity, radiant heat, wind speed, predicted mean vote (PMV), and predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD) were measured using a portable amenity meter (AM-101, Kyoto Electronics Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Japan) at each study site. In addition, atmospheric pressure (Kestrel 4000, Nielsen-Kellerman, Japan) was also measured at some locations. Relative illumination was calculated from photos of the sky captured by a digital camera (Coolpix 4500, Nikon, Japan) equipped with a fisheye lens (FC-E8, Nikon, Japan).

Experimental design

After being given an orientation to the experiment on the day before the first day of experimentation, the subjects visited and previewed the forest and city study sites. Next, test measurements of all the physiological indexes and subjective feelings were conducted at the accommodation facility. In order to control the background environmental conditions, identical, separate rooms were prepared as lodgings for each subject and identical meals were served during the experiments.

The subjects were randomly divided into two groups. On the first day of the experiments, six subjects were sent to a forest site, and the other six subjects to a city site. On the second day, the subjects were sent to the other type of site as a cross-check. The first measurement was taken in the early morning at the accommodations before breakfast. After the first measurement, subjects were sent to either a forest or city site. It took almost the same amount of time to reach both the forest and city sites from the accommodations. As shown in Fig. , upon arrival at the given site, the subjects were seated on chairs and viewed the landscape (for 14 ± 2 min). They also walked around the given site (for 16 ± 5 min). The second and third measurements were taken before and after this walking. The fourth and fifth measurements were taken before and after the viewing. These measurements were taken for one person at a time. In addition to these five measurements, the R-R interval was measured continuously during the walking and viewing exercises at the given site. The HRV was calculated once a minute using the R-R interval data. The exercise loads during the walking exercise in the forest and city sites were estimated with an activity monitor (AC-301A, GMS, Japan); there was no difference in exercise load between walking in a forest site and walking in a city site.

The consumption of alcohol and tobacco was prohibited and caffeine consumption was controlled.

Review of field studies performed on the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku in Japan

We searched the major journals on medical science, physiological anthropology, and environmental science for reports on field studies on the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku in Japan. Only articles presenting evidence of the relaxing effects related to Shinrin-yoku have been reviewed in this paper. Table presents a summary of the reviewed papers.

Table 2

An early study by Ohtsuka et al. [ 25] showed that blood glucose levels in diabetic patients decrease when they walk in a forest for 3 or 6 km, depending on their individual physical ability. By the middle of the decade in which the above-mentioned study was performed, research on the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku began in earnest, using improved technologies for measuring physiological indicators. These studies used a wide range of physiological indices such as salivary cortisol, pulse rate, blood pressure, and HRV. Moreover, the experiments were designed with full consideration for cross-checks and control stimuli. The studies showed that viewing forest landscapes and walking in forest settings leads to lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, enhanced HF component of the HRV, and lower LF/HF [or LF/(LF + HF)]. In particular, Park et al. [ 13] showed that forest environments can lower the absolute value of the total hemoglobin concentration (t-Hb), an index of cerebral activity, in the left prefrontal area of the brain. The absolute value of hemoglobin concentration had never previously been measured in the field.

Though these studies focused on short-span exposures to stimuli (approximately 15 min of viewing and approximately 15 min of walking), the results strongly supported that participating in Shinrin-yoku activity could effectively relax the human body.

Results of a physiological experiment in 24 forests across Japan

Figure shows the average cortisol concentration in the saliva. Salivary cortisol was significantly lower in the forest area (13.4% decrease after the viewing; 15.8% decrease after the walking). Moreover, the average pulse rate was significantly lower (Fig. ) in the forest area (6.0% decrease after viewing; 3.9% decrease after walking). Figure shows that the average systolic blood pressure was significantly lower in the forest setting (1.7% decrease after viewing; 1.9% decrease after walking). Figure shows similar results for the average diastolic blood pressure (1.6% decrease after viewing; 2.1% decrease after walking). The average power of the HF components of the HRV, which is related to parasympathetic nervous activity, increases when we feel relaxed. This value was significantly enhanced in the forest settings (56.1% enhancement after viewing; 102.0% enhancement after walking; Fig. ). The average LF/HF ratio of the HRV, which is related to sympathetic nervous activity, increases when we feel stress. This value decreased when the subjects were walking in or viewing a forest (18.0% decrease after viewing; 19.4% decrease after walking; Fig. ).

Overall, the results show that viewing forest landscapes leads to lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, enhanced HF components of HRV, and lower LF/HF. These results strongly support the findings of indoor research using heart rate and blood pressure on the effects of viewing a forest scene on recovery from stress [ 1, 26- 28]. The effect of walking in a forest setting is the same as that of viewing a forest setting. This result corroborates Hartig et al.'s finding [ 27] that walking in a nature reserve initially fosters blood pressure changes that indicate greater stress reduction than that afforded by walking in city surroundings.

From the perspective of physiological anthropology, human beings have lived in the natural environment for most of the 5 million years of their existence. Therefore, their physiological functions are most suited to natural settings [ 29]. This is the reason why the natural environment can enhance relaxation. The results of the physiological experiments conducted in this study yield convincing answers explaining the relationship between the natural environment and the relaxation effects in a human being (e.g., decrease in blood pressure and pulse rates, inhibition of sympathetic nervous activity, enhancement of parasympathetic nervous activity, and decrease in cortisol concentration levels in human beings).

The endocrine stress system comprises two broad components with considerable central anatomic interconnection, namely, the sympathetic adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis [ 30]. The SAM axis is involved in immediate sympathetic activation preparing an individual to deal with a stressor, resulting in changes such as increased heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) [ 31]. Cortisol is released by the HPA axis in response to stress [ 32]. While subjects viewed forest landscapes or walked around forest environments, their pulse rate, blood pressure, and cortisol concentration decreased. This suggests that both the main components of the endocrine stress system reacted in response to Shinrin-yoku.

In particular, high cortisol levels can correspond to a low value of natural killer (NK) activity [ 33]. Further, cortisol concentration also holds great significance in terms of human immunological activity. Furthermore, the study of Li et al. [ 34- 36] reported that forest surroundings could aid in the recovery of the human immune system, as determined from the perspective of NK activity.

For this reason, it can be suggested that not only forest environments but also other natural settings such as watersides or grasslands could promote relaxation in human beings. No evidence from field experiments conducted on other natural environments are available; however, Laumann et al. [ 28] have reported that, when subjects viewed natural environment through videos, including those of waterside scenes, they had a longer cardiac interbeat interval and lower heart rate, measured as the difference from the baseline, compared with subjects who viewed urban environment through videos.

All the indices were generally in excellent agreement with each other, implying that the forest environment possessed relaxing and stress-relieving effects. Our results also corroborate widely held beliefs that forest surroundings aid the physical relaxation of urban dwellers. In addition, these results suggest that physiological responses-pulse rate, blood pressure, salivary cortisol concentration, and HRV-can reflect the relaxing effects of forest environments.

Psychological effects and relationship between psychological effects and physical environmental factors in ten forests across Japan

The changes in the average POMS subscale scores after the viewing are presented in Fig. . Significant differences are seen between the changes resulting from viewing a forest landscape and those from viewing a city landscape. When subjects viewed a forest landscape, the POMS tension subscale score changed by -1.1 points, which is significantly lower than the change (3.5 points) after viewing a city landscape. The change in the POMS depression subscale score (-0.3 points) on viewing a forest landscape is also significantly lower than the score (0.1 points) on viewing a city landscape. There is a significant difference in the change in the POMS anger subscale score between viewing forest (-0.2 points) and city landscapes (1.0 points). The change in the POMS fatigue subscale score (-3.1 points) on viewing a forest landscape is significantly lower than the score (1.8 points) on viewing a city landscape. The change in the POMS confusion subscale score (-1.0 points) on viewing a forest landscape is also significantly lower than that (1.8 points) on viewing a city landscape. However, the change in the POMS vigor subscale score (1.9 points) on viewing a forest landscape is significantly higher than that (-1.9 points) on viewing a city landscape.

The changes in the average POMS subscale scores after walking are shown in Fig. . The results are the same as those for viewing. When walking, the changes in the average POMS subscales of tension (forest:-1.1 points, city: 3.2 points), depression (forest: -0.2 points, city: 0.8 points), anger (forest: -0.2 points, city: 0.8 points), fatigue (forest: -2.1 points, city: 1.3 points), and confusion (forest: -1.1 points, city: 1.1 points) are significantly different in the forest and city areas. And the change in the POMS vigor subscale score (4.2 points) on walking in forest settings is significantly higher than that (-0.2 points) on walking in city settings.

The POMS measurements show that forest environments can relieve human psychological tension, depression, anger, fatigue, and confusion, and moreover, that they can enhance human psychological vigor. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of attention restorative theory (ART) [ 37], these results strongly support that the forest is a good restorative environment for human beings.

Kasetani et al. [ 38] reported that a relationship exists between the POMS score and the physical environmental factors (Fig. ). The POMS anger subscale score and relative illumination had a significant correlation coefficient ( R = 0.66) in the forest areas. Moreover, the POMS fatigue subscale score and relative humidity had a significant correlation coefficient ( R = 0.70). Finally, the POMS depression subscale score and atmospheric pressure had a significant correlation coefficient ( R = 0.63).

When viewing a forest landscape, the low relative illumination reduces anger, and the low relative humidity lowers fatigue. Forests located at high elevations with low atmospheric pressure can reduce depression. We hope that these results can be used as basic guidelines in the design of therapeutic forest environments [ 39].

Conclusion

The results of studies performed on the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku show that forest environments could lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, increase parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic nerve activity compared with city settings. The results of the physiological measurements suggest that Shinrin-yoku can aid in effectively relaxing the human body, and the psychological effects of forest areas have been correlated with the various physical environmental factors of forest. The studies of Shinrin-yoku provide valuable insights into the relationship between forests and human health.

These results of Shinrin-yoku studies will contribute to support the development of a research field dedicated to forest medicine, which may be used to develop new strategies in preventive medicine. The results of the field experiments also provide a platform for interested enterprises, universities, and local governments to promote the effective use of forest resources in stress management, health promotion, rehabilitation, and the prevention of disease.

Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S: 16107007) from The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT).

References

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tropical and subtropical coniferous forests

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing): evidence from field experiments in 24 forests across Japan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This paper reviews previous research on the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing), and presents new results from field experiments conducted in 24 forests across Japan. The term Shinrin-yoku was coined by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 1982, and can be defined as making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest.

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Why Wilderness for the Boulder White Clouds

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Why Wilderness for the Boulder White Clouds

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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On Technology

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Credit... Jon Han

If all goes according to plan, in April of next year, thousands of people will receive a package containing a device called the Light Phone 2. The project was funded on Indiegogo, and many Light Phone customers will have been waiting for an entire year by then. It's the second iteration of the device, but by modern standards, the phone will be primitive, with a colorless screen and none of the familiar apps. This lack of functionality is spun as a benefit; the Light Phone is marketed as "a phone that actually respects you." It's a manifestly absurd series of words, but I suspect more than a few of us understand perfectly what it's supposed to mean.

If you're one of those people, it seems likely that your smartphone doubles as your alarm clock, meaning it's the very first thing you hear every day, rousing you from your sleep before spilling a night's worth of inbound information into view the moment it is silenced. From that point, it is hungry for attention: In the bathroom, in the kitchen and at the table, it is a constant accomplice, as helpful or unhelpful as you want or allow it to be.

In the car, it is a navigator, a radio, a nagging distractor and a ready accessory to manslaughter; at work, it is both a vigilant assistant and an eager fellow shirker. It funnels all types and degrees of information through a few common interfaces, supplying a delirious new channel alongside your inner monologue: An important security update regarding your account. I love you, and I can't wait to see you. Reminder: Call back the eye doc. The identity of the Golden State Killer was discovered using a genealogy database, investigators said. Your credit score has changed. Three missed calls from "SCAM LIKELY." One missed call from "BOSS'S BOSS."

The smartphone is half of a strained and intimate relationship, one that we never could have imagined would become so serious, but which we now can't imagine leaving. This portrait of discontent would seem to suggest a need - or at least some demand - for smartphone alternatives. But the market has yet to signal that it's sick of smartphones, only that it is running out of people who haven't owned at least one. Sales are still growing; they're just accelerating less. The obvious demand is still for more.

This sense of inevitability has some customers, and companies, looking for a release, an escape or at least an alternative. While the most influential tech companies are trying to figure out what products they can make to use alongside smartphones - on your wrist, in your head, over your eye - some more marginal companies are charting less obvious trajectories. Their respective approaches differ, but they make at least one common assumption: The best option, at this point, isn't to make phones better. It's to make them worse.

Few companies are better positioned to make a less-smart phone than Nokia, a company that defined and dominated the global cellphone market until about the time when the iPhone arrived. In early 2017, Nokia announced a new model, the 3310, based loosely on a predecessor of the same name first released in 2000, a.k.a. "the Brick," one of the most popular cellphones in the world. It is not the purpose of the 3310 to offer much of anything new, but it can at least offer a challenge: You joke that you miss your old phone, so here's a chance to buy one. I did: It works; it makes and takes calls; it sends and receives texts. It can, with extraordinary difficulty, summon Google. But its familiarity belies how ill adapted it is to even a conscientious smartphone objector. I almost instantly wished, for example, that I could trade the newly added camera for GPS mapping, a smartphone feature that has been an unobtrusive improvement in my life. The 3310 is at its genuine best when it falls like a smooth stone into your pocket, where, rather than constantly buzzing at the periphery of your consciousness, it sits inert, ready mostly to be ignored.

There are newly designed less-smart phones that better split the difference: the Light Phone 2 and the Unihertz Jelly, a full-fledged but strategically miniaturized Android handset. Each is well equipped for the moment, gesturing, in some element of its design, to the contradictory and possibly unresolvable feelings of the disaffected smartphone user. Each also got off to a strong start, identifying at least a sliver of demand with viral crowdfunding campaigns: The Light Phone raised more than $1.5 million on Indiegogo for its second iteration; the Jelly raised $1.7 million on Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

The Light Phone promised detoxification and escape, taking and encouraging a performative approach to smartphone anxiety - a conspicuously consumed juice cleanse, a loudly anticipated fast, a week away "off the grid." It was, in its first iteration, capable only of making calls. (The 2 will allow texting and might include basic mapping and ride-hailing. Social media, the company says, is a "no go.") In essence, it's a luxurious protest, a wellness-oriented alternative to powering up an old flip phone or strutting out the door devil-free.

If the Light Phone suggests that the problem with your iPhone is that it does too much, the Jelly instead proposes that it's too good at doing what it does: too easy to get lost in, like a TV; too easy to do work on, like a laptop; too easy to turn to in a moment of silence or inactivity. The Jelly has all the basic stuff: It runs a version of Google's Android, it has high-speed data and it supports the same apps available to any other smartphone user. But its anti-innovation is brutal: It has a tiny, 2.45-inch screen. Its approach to smartphone moderation is to make the process of using it difficult enough that, in more marginal cases, it's simply not worth it. It's an engagement machine with the resistance turned up as high as possible. Messages become shorter. Reading becomes more deliberate. An idle check of the phone is associated less with the rush of refreshing an app than with the tedious process of opening one in the first place. As an individual strategy, the device supposes that helplessness might be solved, or at least replaced, with frustration.

None of these phones are likely to draw many customers, at least compared with the smartphone giants, and they don't pretend that they're going to change the course of an industry. They would each be successful if they slightly reformed a few thousand customers' individual habits. More important, they say things that the major smartphone companies simply can't: that there are cracks in this relationship, and they're not going to heal themselves. One day, the costs of festering mutual resentment could serve to make the problems worse: for the manufacturers, a decrease in profit, and, possibly in response, an intentionally exploitative approach to product design; for us, a decline in personal well-being that we don't yet have the framework or vocabulary to even properly discuss.

They are the products the tech giants haven't given us and probably never will. But they illustrate, at least, how narrow the industry's imagination has become, and how much we wish for its expansion in any direction but directly, inevitably forward. They may also suggest a need to adjust our collective sense of what smartphones are, and why they bother us when they do.

Another world-altering technology offers a good comparison point: the automobile. We might enjoy driving, and we are miserable in traffic. We buy cars because we need them, and we might buy specific cars because we want them, and the best ones can make a bad commute more bearable. But the problem isn't our car. It's all the other cars; the cities designed around them; the roads created for and now clogged by them. Smartphones are now trapped inside the world we've constructed around them, and so are we. If we want to escape, it won't be another phone that gets us out./*/

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Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone? (Published 2018)

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On Technology Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. If all goes according to plan, in April of next year, thousands of people will receive a package containing a device called the Light Phone 2.

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Nature is essential, technology is secondary.

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everything else mentioned

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Pretty much, we should try to limit or eliminate the adverse effects of modern technology, while also enjoying the nature our planet has provided us with.

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Obviously, healthcare and farming are important to our lives. Healthcare keeps us alive and healthy, and farming does the same thing! We all need to eat to live.

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Technology can provide us benefits, but it can also do us harm. Particularly social media is damaging. Also, blue light from screens can interrupt sleep.

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It can improve our mood, and this can is necessary to have a happy life.
We should protect this nature.

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I just tossed all my sources here so I'd have them all in one place

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I just tossed all my sources here so I'd have them all in one place

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I don't know if I'll use all of these. I just want to keep my options open for fleshing out :)

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Compromise. We should all spend less time using harmful technology, but not completely cast it away.

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Technology is, in fact, also essential to many people.
Particularly healthcare and farmers.

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Technology isn't all good or bad.

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Nature is essential.

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We need nature to lead a healthy life, but technology is taking us away from nature.