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Are Women Better Tasters Than Men?
NPR: If, like me, you're an amateur taster of beer and wine, inevitably you've asked yourself why you don't taste that hint of raspberry or note of pine bark that someone else says is there. Genetics certainly have something to do with why we have different perceptions of tastes. Scientists have shown there's a genetic component to how we experience bitter and sweet flavors, as we've reported. And "supertasters," who seem to be born rather than made, are said to experience a lot of tastes more intensely. ... That said, Linda Bartoshuk, a professor at the University of Florida Center for Smell and Taste, has found that supertasting abilities are more common in women than in men.
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What Do Conspiracy Theories Do to Us?
New York Magazine: Conspiracy theories are all around us. Sometimes they're relatively harmless — concerns about Roswell aliens aren't having a major effect on public policy — and sometimes they're not: Something like 37 percent of Americans believe that anthropogenic climate change is a hoax, which has a pretty disastrous effect on the U.S.'s ability to contribute meaningfully to a potentially catastrophic problem. ... The author, Princeton University researcher Dr.
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A psychologist reveals ‘the single biggest predictor of human happiness’
Business Insider: When psychologist Arthur Aron was a graduate student in the 1960s, he was looking around for something to study for his dissertation. But he didn't want just any topic. He wanted to find one "that people thought couldn't be studied scientifically and then prove that it could be," he said. And then he fell in love — and that was all he could think about. It was hard, at first, for researchers to take Aron's study of love and romantic relationships seriously. "Early on," Aron told us, "it was a topic on the margins." But it quickly became clear that it deserved a closer, more scholarly look. Read the whole story: Business Insider
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Stress Affects How Men and Women Provide Support to Partners
Men and women both provide strong support to their partners, but women tend to do a better job of being supportive under stressful situations.
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To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved
The Wall Street Journal: Putting off a work or school assignment in order to play videogames or water the plants might seem like nothing more serious than poor time-management. But researchers say chronic procrastination is an emotional strategy for dealing with stress, and it can lead to significant issues in relationships, jobs, finances and health. In August, researchers from Stockholm University published one of the first randomized controlled trials on the treatment of procrastination. It found a therapy delivered online can significantly reduce procrastination.
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10 Years In, Tulsa’s Pre-K Investment Is Paying Off
NPR: Researchers have been tracking Jose Arriaga since he was 4 years old, waiting for the day he would start ninth grade. This fall, Jose is a freshman at Booker T. Washington High School, a selective public school in north Tulsa, Okla. And no one is more proud of him than his mother, Veronica Arriaga. "He's been a straight-A student throughout middle school," Mrs. Arriaga says in Spanish. "That's why he's here." ... "These children did show huge gains in early math and early literacy skills," says Deborah Phillips, a developmental psychologist at Georgetown University who has been overseeing the study.
