On Sunday night, Emmy-nominated CBS reporter Serene Branson began delivering a live report from the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. She spoke roughly three or four words, then descended into several seconds of muddled gibberish. …
Behavior
Why People Reject Things That Keep Them Safe
When it comes to health and safety, Americans tend not to take the best precautions: we text behind the wheel, overeat, exercise too little and smoke and drink too much. Add to that the fact that we also tend to be unable to …
Young Adults Choose Self-Esteem Boost Over Sex and Money
It’s hard to imagine anything young people might value more than food, getting an extra paycheck or even having sex, but according to the results of a recent study in the Journal of Personality there is one thing prized most …
How Anti-Shoplifting Sensors Can Remind Us to Take Our Pills
One of the major challenges to getting patients the care they need, according to many doctors, has to do with the patients themselves: they tend not to take their medication as prescribed. In fact, according to the World Health …
Bored Drivers Most Likely to Have Accidents
How do you react when you hear the words “road trip?” Do you get excited, inspired by the idea of being on the road and by the adventure of driving?
When Holiday Gift Giving Offends the Giver
When it comes to gift giving, it’s the thought that counts — especially when the gift you’re giving runs counter to your own strongly held ideals.
Study: Why We Think Women Are More Trustworthy Than Men
Let’s be honest: everybody lies. The question is whether people believe what you say. And a new study shows that your trustworthiness depends not just on the words you use, but on who you are and how you say them.
Consumer Breakups: Why We Lash Out at the Brands We Once Loved
It happens to the best brands. One minute, they’re adored by millions. The next, they’re like Blockbuster, Friendster or Lindsay Lohan — sans fans, in need of rehab and largely ridiculed.
Why That Rich Guy is Being So Nice to You
There are a lot of ways to make people not like you, but one of the most powerful — if least fair — is to be really, really successful.
Does Extremely Picky Eating in Adulthood Signal a Mental Disorder?
Everyone knows someone who refuses to eat certain foods, whether it’s because of yucky texture, unappetizing color or stinky smell. Usually these people are kids. But according to a preliminary online survey by researchers at the …
The Business of Weird: Why People Pay for Bizarre Experiences
There’s a growing trend in the world of travel and leisure, and it’s, well, weird. Hotels where guests sleep on blocks of ice or inside prison cells are on the rise, and there’s no shortage of strange at today’s restaurants either (stir-fried crickets, anyone?).
It’s True: We Shop Till it Hurts
Feel like going out to dinner at that trendy new spot but can’t justify paying $120 for the tasting menu everyone’s talking about? Then take a date, spend twice as much and call it an investment in the relationship. There, that …
The Lab Rat: How to Take a Position of Power
Stories about brain research can get a little boring if you just cite an endless stream of academic papers and statistics. So welcome to Healthland’s latest feature: The Lab Rat.