How sleep cleans your brain (Wired)
by Sara Harrison
We all know we need a good night’s sleep. But why? A new study suggests that deep sleep allows neurons to act in a way that literally washes toxins from the brain.

The real uses of fake languages (Slate)
by Laura Spinney
Learning Klingon or Dothraki may be pure nerdy fun, but invented languages have more serious uses too. They can offer ways for linguists to study how humans use words, and even help with real-world communication.

The scary psychological effects of (nineteenth century) tech (The Washington Post)
by Luke Fernandez and Susan J. Matt
Think our cell phones have made us obsessed with self-presentation, unable to be alone with our thoughts? Long before the iPhone, new technologies like photography and radio had much the same effect.

Stopping the next financial crash before it starts (The Conversation)
by Andreas Kern
Remember the debt bubble before the 2008 financial crash? We may be in another one—this time not tied to housing but to corporate borrowing to finance stock buybacks, dividends, and acquisitions. It’s up to the Fed to keep things from collapsing again.

Can therapy really help ISIS’s child victims? (The New York Times)
by Jennifer Percy
In Iraq, many children have returned home or ended up in refugee camps after experiencing horrific trauma at the hands of ISIS fighters. But mental health care developed in Europe and the U.S. doesn’t necessarily include the right tools to help. Transcultural therapy may be able to bridge the gap.

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