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Science Says There’s No Such Thing as ‘Comfort Food’. We All Beg to Differ
The Guardian: Most of us know this intuitively – that comfort and junk foods are subtly distinct. The former is an emotional as well as a nutritional unit, and the latter is merely a sugar rush. Besides which, no cookbook would dare put the word "junk" in its title, but whole shelves are devoted to the art of the comfort food. If, after a hard day, you make yourself mashed potatoes with gravy, or mac and cheese with brown sauce, or scrambled eggs with the consistency of an Ultimate Frisbee, it is probably because someone once made it for you exactly that way.
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What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades
The New York Times: Does handwriting matter? Not very much, according to many educators. The Common Core standards, which have been adopted in most states, call for teaching legible writing, but only in kindergarten and first grade. After that, the emphasis quickly shifts to proficiency on the keyboard. But psychologists and neuroscientists say it is far too soon to declare handwriting a relic of the past. New evidence suggests that the links between handwriting and broader educational development run deep. Read the whole story: The New York Times
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The Future Is Long, For the Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
I have a 65-year-old friend who is planning on retiring soon, and he is also planning on being dead by age 80. That’s his financial plan. He has enough money in savings to finance 15 golden years in some comfort, and he is wagering on the fact that men in his family are not long-lived. That’s one kind of financial planning, but what if he’s wrong? Paradoxically, this friend is healthy and fit, and works hard to stay that way. So maybe he will defy the longevity statistics and live a long—and destitute—life. The fact is, retirement planning is a riddle, and millions of Baby Boomers are learning that they simply don’t have enough information to make sound decisions.
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Surnames Not Linked to Career Status After All
Last fall, we reported on a study indicating that people with noble-sounding last names had a slightly heightened chance of working in management positions. But after conducting further analysis, the researchers behind that study have changed their conclusions. In the original study, published in November in the journal Psychological Science, Raphael Silberzahn of the University of Cambridge and Eric Luis Uhlmann of HEC Paris analyzed 84 different surnames among nearly 223,000 private-sector employees and managers in Germany.
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Elaborate Classroom Displays ‘Harm Children’s Education’
The Telegraph: Teachers should consider taking down over-elaborate classroom displays amid concerns maps, artwork and photographs damage children’s education, according to research. Researchers said highly-decorated walls in primary schools undermined pupils’ ability to concentrate during lessons and absorb teachers’ instructions. The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, found that children educated in “sparse” classrooms spent more time "on-task" and gained higher test scores. Read the whole story: The Telegraph
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Will Facebook Make You Sad? Depends How You Use It
Science Magazine: Using Facebook makes people sadder, at least according to some research. But just what is it about the social network that takes a hit on our mood? A study of the different ways of interacting with the site now offers an answer: Grazing on the content of other people’s idealized lives may make reality painful. Scientists have long debated Facebook’s impact on users’ in-the-moment mood as well as their deeper satisfaction with life. Some studies have found that the site makes us happier; others, sadder. Read the whole story: Science Magazine
