Have you ever flown in your dreams? A new theory shows it can be good for your brain

Have you ever flown in your dreams? Sadly, I don’t recall if I ever have, but I don’t remember many of my dreams. These sorts of impossible, fantastic scenarios that fill our heads during sleep may provide an essential escape from the routines of life. In turn, flying in your dreams — or whatever it is that you’re doing — can help the brain better process and generalize new information while you’re awake, reports Sarah Wells in our lead story.

Now’s as good of a time as any to drop the link to our email: newsletter@inverse.com. (If you’re reading this in your email, just hit reply.) Let us know about your weirdest dream that involves flying. We’ll publish our favorites in a week or so.

I’m Nick Lucchesi, editor-in-chief at Inverse, and I want to learn to fly.

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A neuroscience theory that answers a question about dreams — Neuroscientist Erik Hoel has a new theory about dreaming that predicts our dreams may have more in common with artificial intelligence than you might think. Here’s Sarah Wells:

Like the droning chime of a grandfather clock, our waking lives are filled with monotonous and repetitive moments — wake, eat, work, sleep.

This kind of rote behavior might work for machinery like a toaster that we expect to always perform the same task, but for the human brain that continues to learn every day, such repetition can be mind-numbing.

That’s where dreaming comes in to set us straight, Erik Hoel, a neuroscientist and assistant professor at Tufts University, tells Inverse.

Get more insight into the story.

More on dreaming:

• Having intense dreams after your Covid-19 shot? An expert explains why
• Can octopuses dream? A new study hints at a tantalizing answer
• Why do people have lucid dreams? Study questions the limits of consciousness

Pentagon UFO report: Watch new video leaked ahead of landmark dossier — A new video appearing to show U.S. Navy radar encounters with unidentified objects adds fuel to the fire as to what will be in June's UFO Pentagon report. Passant Rabie has the story:

On July 15, 2019, United States Navy personnel filmed something they couldn’t explain — or at least, that is what a new video purports to show.

The video dropped last week on the website of Jeremy Corbell, a filmmaker and UFO enthusiast. In the new footage, we can see what appears to be a radar display with multiple objects moving across the field. At a point in the video, one of the people apparently monitoring the radar exclaims: “holy sh*t.”

Get all the details here.

Go deeper:

• UFO evangelist: Pentagon report is just the “tip of the spear”
• 2019 Navy UFO video: everything you need to know.
• The Pentagon’s UFO report is incoming: what to know

Ancient Judeans’ table scraps offer a fresh twist on Jewish cuisine — Researchers in Israel and Sinai uncovered remains of catfish — suggesting Ancient Judeans ate the fish despite it being classified as non-kosher at the time. Kate Bratskeir has this interesting story:

The kashrut is the name given to a set of dietary rules in the Jewish Torah. Together, they outline the foods Jewish people can and cannot eat and restrict the consumption of non-kosher foods.

Among the most commonly cited are foods like bacon, shrimp, and, depending on the time of year, leavened bread. These rules are considered both sacred and ancient, yet there is at least one twist in this culinary tradition according to new research, one that points to a very particular food: catfish.

Read the full story.

More food science:

• Doctor debunks the stomach-churning myth about an “indestructible” food
• 8 foods that fight memory loss
• Scientists say these 4 kinds of food could save your life

Intermittent fasting could significantly shape long-term memory — Fasting mice showed signs of better memory in a new study, adding to a body of animal research supporting the brain-boosting powers of timed eating. Sophie Putka has the details:

Read the rest here.

More “fast” news:

• How fast we age may hinge on one unexpected mineral
• F9 review: Crash and burn, a franchise up in flames
• Fast Color: You need to watch the best indie apocalypse movie on Amazon Prime ASAP

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• Before we go, happy birthday (🎂) to these folks: Zachary Quinto (44), Justin Long (43), Wayne Brady (49), Dominic Cooper (43), Andy Cohen (53). (Source: AP.)