The human body is a strange and fascinating piece of machinery. It keeps us moving, safe, protected, and can even heal us when we get hurt, all on its own. For the most part, our bodies do a great job of protecting themselves and maintaining themselves, even when we’re not focusing on taking great care of ourselves. We even have ways to regulate our sleep in the form of circadian rhythm, which doesn’t develop until after the first two months of life. Here are just a few strange and unusual ways humans have adapted to have our bodies regulate themselves.

• Sweating: Believe it or not, that annoying and occasionally embarrassing thing your body does when you’re working out actually serves a purpose. The average person has two to four million sweat glands working as the body’s coolant system to protect it from overheating. When your sweat evaporates, it helps to cool you off, keeping you from causing damage to your body from overheating.
• Blood: Some of your body’s best lines of defense lie beneath the skin. When exposed to certain stimuli, such as temperature changes, certain bacteria, and other factors, your body will expand or contract blood vessels to move more or less blood around your body. This helps keep you warm in cold weather and explains why you get rosy cheeks in the winter.
• Acidity: Your body is very careful about this form of self-regulating. The pH level of blood is almost always exactly 7.4, give or take a very, very small amount. Your body keeps your blood this pH constantly in order to protect your organs and other parts of your body. It manages this mainly through one simple task: breathing. Exhaling CO2 keeps your blood pH exactly where it should be.
• Heat Transfer: Ever wonder why it’s so refreshing to jump into a cold pool when it’s hot outside? The amount of heat dissipated from the body nearly 26 times greater when in water as compared to air of a similar temperature. In order to prevent overheating, your body can release heat into the surrounding environment to cool you off.

The human body is incredibly skilled at regulating itself, so don’t worry too much if you push it a little bit hard. But it’s always a good idea to visit your doctor if something feels off. You don’t want to be one of the 710,000 flu-related hospital visitors because you pushed yourself too hard! Usually, your body can rebound on its own fairly well.

It’s a known fact that just about every kid out there loves recess. It’s one of the few times during the school day they get to run around, play, and just enjoy being a kid. However, schools everywhere are cutting recess from their day, or are shortening the amount of time kids get for recess. This could be incredibly detrimental to the development of these children. Here are just a few of the many benefits that daily recess provides for young children.

• Exercise: Aside from P.E. and extracurriculars, recess is some of the only time kids these days get for fitting in exercise. Only 43% of six to eleven-year-old children in America get the suggested hour of exercise every day. Recess can give children a chance to run and play, and this physical form of play can help ensure they’re staying healthy with plenty of exercise.
• Class Performance: Sitting through an entire day of schoolwork without time to play during recess can actually hurt your child’s ability to focus throughout the day. Teachers in schools with recess have observed that recess improves student focus, memory, and attention spans. Having an opportunity to play during the day allows students a chance to refocus their energy once they return to the classroom, improving the experience for both students and teachers.
• Stress Reduction: Kids are naturally fidgety due to their higher energy levels, and forcing them to sit in one place for most of the day can be highly stressful. Additionally, kids can have very high stress levels from the demands of schoolwork. Giving children recess means they have time during the day to play, have fun, and reduce this stress.
• Social Development: Kids don’t often have a chance to interact naturally in a classroom setting; most discussions and social interactions in classrooms are heavily structured. Recess can give chances for kids to interact with one another just as children, without that heavy structure, allowing them to build social skills that will help them later in life.

Any child care consultant will tell you that recess is essential to kids’ development during their education, and taking away this crucial break during students’ days can do more harm than good. See what your school’s policy on recess is to make sure your kids are getting the full benefits of this important play.

Funky painted signs, flickering electric lettering, and glowing neon messages are the bright faces of business on the street. Passerby and travelers rely on great signage for vital information, and effective signage results in a successful business — in fact, 83% of business owners who purchased LED signs noticed that their sales increased.

Neon decor is the modern art of using decorative neon and LED artwork and signs to evoke feelings of comfort and warmth – this plays into the interior design of a home or space.  Interior design expert, Christine from VoodooNeon.com designed this series of top quality neon signs which provide light, provide comfort and also warmth in any space.

While we know that signs work wonders for entrepreneurs, they can also be incorporated in evocative interior designs. Though hand-painted signs have been staples of country-style homes for decades, neon signs and other lit signs have become increasingly popular elements in a variety of interior styles.

Looking for interior design inspiration? Be sure to check out these three clever ways that you can use neon and electric signs to give a space fresh energy:

1. Over the Bed
   Incorporating multiple light sources in a bedroom is a great bedroom decor idea to create a cozy atmosphere both day and night.. A neon light over the bed can bring a small glow to the room during the evening or during dark early mornings. Charming phrases like “sweet dreams” can add romance to an adult bedroom, or stars and other shapes can create a spunky neon nightlight in a children’s room.
2. Adding Fresh Color
   In a room dominated by uninteresting neutrals, neon and electric signs can add just the right amount of color to bring vibrancy back to the space. Colorful lights look especially interesting on dark walls that sharply contrast their brilliance. Colorful lights can also add a new depth and dimension to the tones in the room by casting colored objects in a different light. For example, yellow or red lights can bring warmth to the color scheme of a space, and blue or white lights can bring cooler, more modern looking tones to the room. Just remember to not go overboard: choose a fairly empty wall space to highlight your new bright sign without too many distracting elements.
3. Signs Don’t Have to Have Words
   If you’re having trouble picking a phrase that you love enough to put on the wall, consider ditching letters altogether. There are hundreds of unique lit signs to choose from that are functionally closer to wall art. Look for heart shapes, interesting lines, or even images of fruit and food for a fun modern touch in your kitchen.

Brighten any space in your home with a funky new sign by following these design tips. Whether your style is quirky, contemporary, sophisticated, or down-to-earth, an electric sign can bring fresh light and new interest to your stylish interior.

If you’re traveling with a co-worker or a boss for the first time, congratulations! Your company trusts you to do a good job of representing them in a new place.

However, business trips can be awkward and stiff affairs if you don’t know the proper etiquette for working on-the-go. Use these tips and tricks to make the most of your first business trip.

1. Use Travel Time Appropriately
   When traveling, it is easy to forget that you’re still on company time and hard to know how you should act between destinations. When traveling with superiors, follow their lead on trains, cars, and airplanes. Do they want to plan for coming meetings and presentations, or are they taking a nap? When in doubt, ask politely about the agenda between company activities.
2. Don’t Be Late
   Even if you often get away with being late, when out of the office, always be early for every event. The Huffington Post recommends arriving 10 minutes early for most activities. Do not cause extra stress by delaying plans due to tardiness and poor planning. Double check the schedule and don’t hesitate to confirm start times verbally with your coworker or boss.
3. Don’t Get Drunk
   Even though traveling for work may seem like a miniature vacation, remember that you’re away on business and are representing your company. Having more than a drink or two on the plane, at dinner, or at events can impair your judgment. Don’t hinder your company’s objectives or your own reputation and career advancement by doing something you’ll regret — save the drinks for your time off the clock and away from your boss.
4. Know What’s Expected of You
   According to Countrynavigator.com, the junior traveling companion is sometimes expected to handle the logistics of the trip while the senior employee tends to business. You could be responsible for tipping drivers, making dinner reservations, printing tickets, and more. Stay alert to what needs to be done and how you can help things run more smoothly throughout your travels.
5. Pack Like a Pro
   It can be hard to learn how to pack compactly and efficiently for business trips, especially if you need to look your best every day. Make use of hotel irons and cleaning services. Bring items you can wear more than once, and try bringing items with similar colors so you can mix and match with ease. Bring a few nice outfits for evenings, since you may be meeting clients in non-office settings, like at a restaurant.
6. Keep It Professional
   Though traveling may feel like bonding time, Entreprenuer magazine recommends keeping personal business to yourself when chatting with your boss. Even though 33% of domestic business trips require time in a plane, and sometimes red-eye flights, leave the comfy pajamas in your suitcase and dress professionally in public.

By following these five steps, you can get the job done and impress your boss on any trip away from the office. By knowing the proper etiquette, you might even be able to relax and have some work-appropriate fun.

Young kids are notoriously curious about everything around them, so why not let them investigate a bit more? Kids love to learn how things work, whether it’s computers, chemistry, or even nature. With a basic compound microscope (the very common kind with two sets of convex lenses) and a little creativity, kids can spend hours learning about the world around them – and it keeps them entertained! Here are a few basic microscope experiments scientists of all ages can enjoy.

• Cheek swab: This is an awesome way to teach kids the basics about cells and human biology. Simply take a small swab from the inside of your cheek with a toothpick, and smear the toothpick on the slide. Use a small bit of dye to make the cells easier to see, then take a look in the microscope to see cheek cells.
• Onion cells: Another quick and easy experiment, this one will have your kid learning about plant cell structure. Place a drop of water on the microscope slide, and on top of that lay down a piece of the thin membrane that separates the layers of an onion. Drop a bit of dye on the membrane, and take a look under the microscope. For an added bit of fun, compare these cells to the cheek cells from the last experiment to see the difference between plant and animal cells.
• Cork cells: Replicate the first cells ever seen under a microscope with this experiment. Slice a thin layer off of a cork with a sharp knife or razor blade (make sure the parents do this part), and lay it on top of a drop of water on a microscope slide. No dye needed for this experiment, just take a look in the microscope! This experiment was how famous scientist Robert Hooke first discovered the existence of cells. Let your kids know that they’re doing exactly what a famous scientist did; your little scientists will certainly be excited knowing that.

Just remember for any science projects or experiments that safety is important. Make sure to handle any equipment carefully, and try to have parents around to supervise kids during their science experiments.