Say you’re faced with making a decision between multiple brands or change service providers. Your willingness to seek variety, or make a change — even if it requires additional effort — may be tied to how confident and empowered you feel at that moment. [More]
research
Imagining The Smell Of Cake Will Actually Make You Buy More Cake, Researchers Find
By 2.11.14
Anyone who doesn’t believe that smell sells has clearly never spent a year living in an apartment immediately above a local gourmet bakery. Who can resist the smell of freshly-baked bread first thing in the morning? Nobody, that’s who. Scent is a powerful trigger. [More]
Millennials Who Chose Not To Attend College Are More Likely To Live In Poverty Than Past Generations
By 2.11.14
The always rising cost of tuition and the number of students graduating college with significant debt might be enough to turn some away from getting a college education. But a new study by the Pew Research Center found that not going to college could be an even more expensive decision. [More]
Why Does Anyone Ever Buy Brand-Name Painkillers?
By 7.9.13
For everyday over-the-counter drugs like painkillers or allergy medicine, do you pick up the brand name, or a generic? Even if the inactive ingredients and binders are slightly different, the brand-name and store-brand meds that sit side-by-side on the shelf should have the same effects. One costs a lot less. So why does anyone buy name-brand over-the-counter drugs? [More]
Turn Yourself Into A Guinea Pig For Cash
By 1.17.12
If you’re looking for ways to scrounge up extra funds, the medical industry offers some outlets that might be worth looking into. While these methods of scrapping together supplemental income aren’t for everyone, they might become attractive given the right circumstances. [More]
Stuff Bought Through Spam Actually Gets Delivered
By 6.8.11
While most of us don’t trust spam, if you order something advertised through it, be it pills, knockoff Rolex watches, or software, it will probably end up at your door. That’s one of the many surprising conclusions uncovered by researchers tracking exactly how spam works (PDF) from alpha to omega in the transaction process. [More]
Food Dyes May Exacerbate Hyperactive Behavior In Some Kids
By 3.28.11
It has long been suspected that kids with ADHD might be having some sort of reaction to common synthetic food dyes — but now the FDA is going to formally consider any links between the dyes and hyperactivity in children, including over 30 different studies on the topic. [More]
Science Says Your Cell Phone Makes Your Brain Cells More Active
By 2.23.11
It stands to reason that those little bundles of electromagnetic radiation we call cell phones affect the body somehow, and researchers have confirmed they mess with our brains. [More]
New Flu Vaccine Could End Shortages
By 2.16.11
A shift toward producing flu vaccines using cultures of animal cells inside of steel tanks instead of chicken eggs should make it easier to get the shots ready more quickly to stem pandemics. [More]
Study: Many Students Learn Little In College
By 1.20.11
A significant chunk of students who seek higher education are just spending a bunch of money to spin their wheels, according to new research that finds many are hardly learning anything. [More]
Virus Could Make Batteries Last 10 Times Longer
By 12.9.10
“Virus” and “tobacco” are not two words you usually think of in a positive light, but they could be the secret to making batteries last ten times as long. [More]
Nestlé Agrees To Stop Promising Boost Kiddie Drink Is Anti-Diarrheal, Pro-Studying
By 7.19.10
Nestlé is the latest company to slap some nutrients (or in this case probiotics) in a product, call it “functional food,” and market it to shoppers as a healthy and smart product. Last week, the FTC got the company to agree to stop claiming that its chocolate Boost Kid Essentials–which comes with a straw lined with probiotic bacteria (mmm delicious!)–will do things like protect them from diarrhea and improve school attendance rates. The FTC says the claims aren’t substantiated with adequate scientific research. [More]
Save By Starting Your Shopping Trip From The Back Of Store
By 7.12.10
If you want to find the best deals and sale items, it’s wise to head directly to the back of the store and work your way up to the front. [More]
Researchers: Violent Games Make Some Teens More Hostile
By 6.8.10
If your teenager is quick to anger and depression, disagreeable and likes to break rules, video games may not just be letting him blow off steam, but may actually accentuate his dark tendencies, a study by professors from Villanova and Rutgers concluded. [More]
DVR Didn't Kill The Commercial Star, Says Duke U.
By 5.7.10
Networks and advertisers alike are understandably worried that the commercial-obliterating magic of DVR would render ad spots irrelevant. The fears are unfounded, according to Duke University business professor Carl Mela, whose study found that the Aflac duck and Verizon Can You Hear Me Now Guy won’t go down so easily. [More]
Judge Says You Can't Patent Human Genes
By 3.30.10
A judge just invalidated the patents on two human genes whose mutations have been linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The genes were isolated by a biotech firm called Myriad Genetics, which argued that because it figured out how to isolate the genes outside of the human body then they were patentable. The judge called that “a ‘lawyer’s trick’ that circumvents the prohibition on the direct patenting of the DNA in our bodies.” The company sells a $3,000 cancer screening kit and has maintained a monopoly on the test because of the patents. [More]
Interactive Chart Helps You Vet Health Supplements
By 3.23.10
Are you tired of forgetting whether you should add creatine or cinnamon to your kale smoothie? Do you worry that the milk thistle you’ve rubbed on your genitals isn’t helping? The “Snake Oil?” graphic at informationisbeautiful.net can help you out–it provides a graphical overview of 166 different health supplements and arranges them according to how much evidence there is that they actually work. [More]
Amazon Most Trusted Brand Of 2009; Toyota Was Seventh Most Trusted
By 2.23.10
All the money that Amazon has sunk into infrastructure and rapid fulfillment has paid off–the online retail giant was the most trusted brand of 2009, according to a brand study released by Millward Brown. The market research company spent 2009 asking consumers questions like, “How trustworthy is this brand?” and, “Would you recommend this brand?” [More]
