Eat Fish = Brain Happy

Research finds that people who eat baked or broiled - but not fried - fish at least once a week preserved more grey matter in brain areas at risk for Alzheimer's disease and also exhibited higher levels of working memory capacity.

Yawning May Indicate Closeness

Research finds that people are more likely yawn in response to the yawn of someone they know. The "yawn contagion" was highest when responding to family, then friends, then acquaintances, then strangers - the same pattern when measuring empathy in other ways.

Dentist Visit Helps Heart

Research finds that individual who had their teeth cleaned once a year had a 24% lower risk of heart attack and 13% lower risk of stroke than otherwise.

Super Size = Status

In a study, participants judged another consumer on several attributes, including status, after the consumer selected the largest options available for products that were free or of similar price. Those selecting the biggest product were deemed those with highest status - i.e. socially insecure consumers will purchase bigger items to gain status.

Taller Candidate = More Votes?

Researchers first had participants describe and draw figures representing their concept of a typical citizen and an ideal national leader. 64% drew a leader that was taller than the typical citizen.Then, participants answered a survey about their personal perceptions of political leadership and attitudes about  running for office - revealing a significant relationship between height and perceived leadership capability and also in running for office. What's more, a preference for taller leaders exists in various societies (e.g. ancient Mayans, pre-classical Greeks), among the majority of American presidents, and even animals.

Just so you know - John McCain is 5'8", President Obama is 6'1" but Mitt Romney is 6'2"...

Key Ingredient for Success

Research has shown that practice is a necessary ingredient for success - but its not always sufficient.


In one study, 57 pianists - who had practiced from 260 to 31,000+ hours - had their working memory capacity (WMC) tested. WMC allows an individual to simultaneously juggle several thoughts. For example, "you arrive home and your neighbor greets you by your car in order to schedule a lunch date, on your way to add it to your calendar, you stop to turn on the lights, add bread to your grocery list, and feed the dog. WMC enables you to retain the lunch information through those unrelated task."

In the study, WMC was used to assess sight-reading skill and the ability to play without preparation. Higher WMC participants tended to outperform others - including those with extensive experience of the task.

How to increase WMC? Expressive writing (especially negative writing), Dual N-Back Training, reading, chess, various foods, and exercise.

Higgs Boson Particle

The Higgs Boson Particle has been found. Don't know what the big deal is? Check out the video.