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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-funded researchers developed a nasal spray of a brain peptide, Hypocretin-1 (orexin A), that stimulates wakefulness. Previous studies have shown this effect of Hypocretin-1 on other animals, such as rats, but this latest study looked at nonhuman primates (rhesus monkeys) and at a new nasal spray administration method. The researchers found that sleep deprived monkeys (30-36h) who received Hypocretin-1 performed better on short-term memory tasks, which are measures of the effects of sleep deprivation, than sleep deprived monkeys who did not receive the drug. When given Hypocretin-1, sleep deprived monkeys preformed about as well as non-sleep-deprived monkeys. Hypocretin-1 also removed all visible signs of sleepy minds in PET scans. Basically, it countered the effects of sleep deprivation.
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Researchers from the University of Manchester found that parents tend to favor the eldest offspring–in beetles at least. “Parents show bias in sibling rivalry, Study says.”

Nicrophorus vespilloides.

Because beetles form families with two parents and many offspring, the lead researcher Dr. Per Smiseth thinks that this research may offer insight into human parental relationships: “The burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides has a similar family structure to that of a human family unit in that there are two parents, a number of offspring and interactions between parents and their young.”
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