Happiness Formula

According to Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert,

Happiness = marriage, money, and no children

1. Marriage: People in good marriages are happier, healthier, and live longer than unmarried 
2. Money: Some money buys a lot of happiness, a lot of money only marginally increases it ... with the golden per capita income hovering between $50,000 to $75,000. Richer people can increase happiness by staying active and spending their wealth on others.
3. Children: childless couples are happier than their counterparts

Lonely? Update Your Facebook Status

Participants posted more Facebook status updates than normal for 1 week and, unlike the control group, they

1. Lowered feelings of loneliness
2. Said the lowering was due to feeling more connected daily to friends, and
3. Said the effect was independent of friends feedback

Don't Smile if You Want to Beat Someone Up!

Research finds that MMA fighters who smile are more likely to lose and fighters with neutral expressions were more likely to win. This supports the idea that smiles involuntarily signal submission.

How Big is the Universe?

This easy to understand video clip explains.

Russian Meteor

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains what happened with the Russian meteor.

Cute Aggression

Researchers found that people looking at a slideshow of cute animals popped more bubbles on bubble wrap vs. people watching funny/neutral pictures (120 bubbles for cute pictures, 100 for neutral pictures, 80 for funny pictures). Cuteness, in other words, cultivated aggression in people - not tenderness. Researchers don't yet understand why the nexus exists, but surmise it exhibits a loss of self-control.

Stressed? Clench Your Left Fist

Research finds that athletes perform better under pressure if they clench their left hand (and, also, instead of their right hand).

Panicking is primarily due to the brain's left hemisphere; the right hemisphere controls the body's left side's movements (and the left hemisphere controls body's right side's movements). Researchers correctly posited that if the right hemisphere is triggered (e.g by squeezing your left hand) physical performance will improve and the panicky thoughts of the left hemisphere will fade.

The study suggests its findings can extend beyond sports to all mechanical activities.