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You Asked: Does Laughing Have Real Health Benefits?
Time: Your body could use a belly laugh. It may not be the best medicine. But laughter’s great for you, and it may even compare to a proper diet and exercise when it comes to keeping you healthy and disease free. That’s according to Dr. Lee Berk, an associate professor at Loma Linda University in California who has spent nearly three decades studying the ways the aftershocks of a good laugh ripple through your brain and body. Berk says your mind, hormone system and immune system are constantly communicating with one another in ways that impact everything from your mood to your ability to fend off sickness and disease.
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Is Internet Addiction a Real Thing?
The New Yorker: Marc Potenza, a psychiatrist at Yale and the director of the school’s Program for Research on Impulsivity and Impulse Control Disorders, has been treating addiction for more than two decades. Early in his career, he, like most others studying addiction at the time, focussed on substance-abuse problems—cocaine and heroin addicts, alcoholics, and the like. Soon, however, he noticed patients with other problems that were more difficult to classify. There were, for example, the sufferers of trichotillomania, the inescapable urge to pull your hair until it falls out. Others had been committed for problem gambling: they couldn’t stop no matter how much debt they had accumulated.
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Distracted Driving May Become More Dangerous as We Age
Older drivers have actually been found to be safer drivers in many respects when compared to younger people. They’re more likely to wear seatbelts and less likely to engage in risky behavior, like speeding and driving under the influence, according to the CDC. However, a study published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention finds that older drivers should be especially cautious about multitasking behind the wheel. The research team, led by psychological scientist Kelsey R. Thompson of Northwestern University, found that distracting tasks – like talking on a cell phone or fiddling with the radio – may be particularly dangerous for older drivers.
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Positive Perceptions of Women May Empower Female Leaders
Women in leadership roles can feel like they’re in a bind. As leaders, they’re expected to be strong and decisive. As women, they’re often expected to be nice, nurturing, and cooperative. While a male leader may be praised for a take-charge attitude, a woman may be called bossy or abrasive for the same behavior. It’s no surprise that many women in leadership roles feel that the expectations for their behavior in these two roles are often at odds. However, a recent study from psychological scientists Natalia Karelaia of INSEAD and Laura Guillén of the European School of Management and Technology found that female leaders may benefit from holding positive perceptions of themselves as women.
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Automation Makes Us Dumb
The Wall Street Journal: Artificial intelligence has arrived. Today’s computers are discerning and sharp. They can sense the environment, untangle knotty problems, make subtle judgments and learn from experience. They don’t think the way we think—they’re still as mindless as toothpicks—but they can replicate many of our most prized intellectual talents. Dazzled by our brilliant new machines, we’ve been rushing to hand them all sorts of sophisticated jobs that we used to do ourselves. But our growing reliance on computer automation may be exacting a high price. Worrisome evidence suggests that our own intelligence is withering as we become more dependent on the artificial variety.
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The kids will be all right
Science News: As I was getting Baby V into the car recently, she pointed to her arm and said, “Owie! Bit!” Sure enough, she had the angry red imprint of a snack-sized mouth on her arm. It turns out she had tangled with a little boy who used his teeth to make his point. I know that biting is a totally normal way for a frustrated kid to communicate. And I know that Baby V has probably gotten her fair share of licks in. In the grand scheme of things, this bite is really no big deal. But moments like these remind me of one of the most terrifying parts of being a parent: As much as I want to, I can’t always protect my kid from bad things.
