You may have heard the benefits of taking a nap. This short sleep time in the afternoon has a good effect on recharging your brain, giving you more energy to carry on with the activities of the day. At the same time, a nap can be both an art and a science. You can very well plan your ideal nap, including how long to take a nap and at what time. The experts on the subject of sleep are of the view that a short duration of ten to twenty minute power nap will give you the best performance for the rest of the day.
At the same time, depending on what you want the nap to do for you, other durations may also be ideal. If you want a quick boost of alertness, experts say that a ten to twenty minute nap is more than enough to get back to your work in a flash. This short duration of ten to twenty minutes usually limits you to lighter stages of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, making it easier to get up immediately after waking. For cognitive memory processing, however, a sixty minute nap may be better as per a specialist in sleep, who is also an author of a book on sleep including slow-wave sleep.
As per that specialist the deeper type of sleep helps you to remember faces, places and other facts. The only problem with this type of deep sleep is that you may face some tiredness, upon waking. To conclude, the ninety minute nap probably involves a full sleep cycle, which helps inspiration and procedural and emotional memory, such as learning to ride a motorcycle. As per the doctors, waking up after REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, generally means a minimal amount of sleep inaction. In addition to these suggestions, a surprising advice is to take your nap in a sitting position (good for office workers), with the spine erect to some extent.
This will help you prevent a deep sleep. If possible, thirty minute naps should also be avoided. It is because they would leave you in the middle of the road with a feeling of confusion and drunkenness that can last for another thirty minutes after waking until the healing effects of rest are felt. Sometimes, you may find yourself dreaming during naps. If so, it may be a sign that you are sleep deprived.
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End of the Line: What Happens to Old Cruise Ships
Cruise ships are among the most recognizable symbols of leisure travel — enormous floating hotels that host thousands of passengers on vacations across the globe. But like all machines, they eventually reach a point when they can no longer operate profitably or safely. When that time comes, cruise ships face a stark reality: a long final voyage to dismantling yards where they are stripped, scrapped, and recycled. Why Cruise Ships Are Retired Cruise ships are retired for a number of reasons. Over time, they experience wear and corrosion, mechanical systems become outdated, and newer vessels with more efficient engines, amenities, and environmental technologies make older ships less competitive. Ships may also be decommissioned because meeting modern safety or emissions regulations becomes too costly relative to their value. When owners decide a vessel has reached the end of its economic life, it is often sold to intermediaries who resell it to ship breaking firms. These buyers determine the most cost‑effective way to recoup value from the ship’s components and materials. The Final Voyage to the Breaking Yard Most retired cruise ships make their final journey under their own power or are towed from their last port to one of the world’s major ship breaking yards. These facilities are concentrated primarily in South Asia — especially in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Turkey — where large tidal beaches or specialized dry docks make ship dismantling possible. One of the largest and most well‑known is the Alang Ship Breaking Yard in India, which has handled a vast number of decommissioned ships over the decades. Here, vessels are deliberately run aground on a tidal beach in a process known as “beaching.” The rising tide lifts the ship close enough to shore that it can be worked on as the tide recedes. Other yards, such as Gadani in Pakistan and recycling facilities in Aliağa, Turkey, also receive retired cruise ships, where dismantling is carried out either on beaches or more controlled slipways using cranes and mechanical tools. Cruise Hive Shipbreaking: A Labor‑Intensive Process Once a ship arrives at a yard, any salvaged equipment is removed first — everything from furniture, fittings, fixtures, and even electrical components can be sold or reused. Small retailers often purchase these items locally, making a living by selling ship artifacts and materials. Then begins the painstaking dismantling phase. Workers using torches and cutting tools slice through the ship’s superstructure and hull, gradually reducing the massive vessel to its core materials. This process is labor‑intensive and can take months, during which steel plates, pipes, and other materials are separated and prepared for recycling. The vast majority of the ship’s steel and metal components are recycled — melted down and re‑rolled for use in construction, manufacturing, and other industries. As much as 85–90 % of the material from decommissioned ships is salvaged this way. Environmental and Safety Concerns Ship scrapping has long been associated with environmental and labor challenges. Older vessels often contain hazardous materials such as asbestos, heavy metals, toxic paints, and oils. Without proper safeguards, these substances can contaminate soil, coastal waters, and air, posing risks to nearby communities and ecosystems. Workers in traditional breaking yards sometimes operate with minimal protective equipment, increasing the risk of serious injuries and chronic health problems. Recognizing these hazards, the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships was adopted to improve safety and environmental practices in ship recycling facilities worldwide. Though adopted years ago, it only entered force recently, and implementation varies among ship breaking locations. Facilities in Turkey’s Aliağa zone have invested in more modern recycling methods, using dry docks and mechanical equipment to reduce direct contact with hazardous materials and limit environmental impact — but such practices are still not universal. Alternative Futures for Retired Ships Not all cruise ships end up scrapped. Some are sold to other cruise lines or repurposed for other uses. A few historic vessels have been transformed into floating hotels, museums, or tourist attractions — preserved as monuments to maritime history rather than dismantled. However, these alternative futures are rare, and the vast majority of cruise ships end their days on the beaches of recycling yards, cut apart and reborn as steel and materials that fuel other industries. In that sense, even in retirement, these massive vessels continue to make an impact long after their final passengers disembark.
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