Newborn's Reflexes

Mother nature pulls out all the stops when it comes to newborn babies, providing them with a set of inborn reflexes designed to protect these especially vulnerable creatures and ensure their care. Some of these primitive behaviours are spontaneous, while others are responses to certain actions.

Startle, or Moro, reflex.

When startled by a sudden or loud noise, or a feeling of falling, the Moro reflex will cause the baby to extend the legs, arms and fingers, arch the back, draw the head back, then draw the arms back, fists clenched, into the chest.

Duration: Four to six months.

Babinski's, or plantar, reflex.

When the sole of a baby's foot is gently stroked from the heel to toe, the baby's toes flare upwards and the foot turns in.

Duration: Between six months and two years, after which toes curl downwards.

Rooting reflex.

A Newborn whose cheek is gently stroked will turn in the direction of the stimulus, mouth open and ready to suckle. This reflex helps the baby locate the breast or bottle and secure a meal.

Duration: About three to four months, though it may persist when baby is sleeping.

Walking, or stepping, reflex.

Held upright on a table or other flat surface, supported under the arms, a newborn may lift one leg and then the other, taking what seem to be 'steps'. This 'practice walking' reflex works best after the fourth day of life.

Duration: Variable, but typically about two months.

Sucking reflex.

A newborn will reflexively suck when the roof of his or her mouth is touched, such as when a nipple is placed in the mouth.

Duration: Present at birth and lasts until two to four months, when voluntary sucking takes over.

Palmar grasping reflex.

Touch the palm of your baby's hand and his or her fingers will curl around and cling to your finger. An interesting bit of baby trivia: newborns grasp may be powerful enough to support full body weight - but don't try this at home or anywhere. Some more trivia: This reflex curls babies' feet and toes, too, when they're touched.

Duration: Three to six months.

Tonic neck, or fencing, reflex.

Placed on the back, a young baby will assume a 'fencing position' , head one side, with arms and legs on that side extended and the opposite limbs flexed. En grade!

Duration: Varies a lot. it may be present at birth or may not appear for at least two months, and disappear at about four to six months - or sooner, or later.

A Pen that Records the Writer’s Emotions, being developed by Philips

The pen is undoubtedly mightier than the sword. For many of us our words are a way to vent our emotions, may it be in the form of articles, blog entries or perhaps poetries and autobiographies. But have you ever wondered how amazing would it be if your pen could actually reveal your state of mind and emotional state whilst you are using it to pen down something. Well, here it is! Philips has developed a truly amazing pen that can tell the writer’s exact emotional condition when he or she is writing something. Well this intuitive pen incorporates sensors that help in revealing the emotions, by finding physiological factors like heartbeat, blood pressure, skin temperature, and finger pressure. Further on, the pen includes a small actuator that has the ability to alter the properties of the line it traces out by changing inks and modifying the shape of the writing tip. The writer’s emotional condition if then concluded by an integrated chip that transforms the color and quality of the trace accordingly. The New Scientist magazine had a rather interesting quote by Philips: “Signatures are currently always the same, yet some documents will be signed with enthusiasm, others possibly with hesitation. Having a recording of this could be useful for historical reasons.” But all the same if you are not too keen for things to get very transparent, then you have a choice to simply change the on-off switch to “off” option to inactivate this function.

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