Recent Articles
True or False: Plants Produce Vitamin B12
False: Vitamin B12 is made by neither animals nor plants, but by microbes. This is another reason why its important to support your gut's "good bacteria." Vitamin B12 deficiency is common in vegans who don’t eat B12 fortified foods or take B12 supplements and can...
6 Foods to Boost Your Mood
Can you eat your way to a better mood? More and more scientific research is saying so. Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet is important for your general health, so why should it be any different for your mental health? From depression-fighting seeds to...
True or False: Researchers have mapped where self-esteem “lives” in the brain
True: Researchers at Dartmouth College have identified a region of the human brain that seems to predict a person’s self-esteem levels. It’s called the frontostriatal pathway, and the stronger and more active it is in the brain, the more self-esteem someone has. The...
What percentage of our happiness can we actually change?
Leading researcher Sonya Lyubomirsky has been able to determine that about 40 percent of our capability for happiness is underdeveloped and within our power and ability to change. About 10 percent can be attributed to life circumstances and 50 percent of our happiness...
15 Signs That You *Actually* Love Yourself
There’s a thin line between self-help and self-criticism—at least, according to Danielle LaPorte. The “truth bomb”-dropping spiritual guru (with a coveted spot on Oprah’s SuperSoul 100 list) makes the case for radical forgiveness and unrelenting love in her latest...
On average, how many items can we hold in short-term memory?
The total capacity of short-term memory is fairly limited. Experts believe that you can hold approximately seven items in short-term memory for about 20 to 30 seconds. This capacity can be stretched somewhat by using memory strategies such as chunking, which involves...
True or False: Humans and giraffes have the same number of cervical vertebrae
True. The Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is the tallest land animal on earth, standing up to 6 metres- 20 feet in height. They achieve this remarkable stature predominantly through their exceptionally long legs and incredible neck which can itself measure 2 metres-...
How to Find Out If Your Doctor Takes Drug Company Money
The vast majority of physicians in the United States take gifts from the pharmaceutical industry. Thanks to the Sunshine Act, you can find out exactly how much your physician (or any doctor) gets from which drug companies. A long-time editor of a prestigious medical...
How to Get Rid of Post-Flight Soreness Fast
Do big travel days at the airport leave you feeling horrible? Does your lower back start to cry while your butt muscles tingle with impending numbness after hours on a plane? Do your shoulders ache from hauling around your carry-on all day? Hopping on an airplane...
What part of the body accounts for one quarter of our bones?
Our feet are home to more bones than any other part of your body. How many? Of the two hundred or so bones in the body, the feet contain a whopping 52 of them.