At Nonprofit Wildly Kind, a Unique Ambassador Program Gamifies Kindness While Engaging Communities

Kayla Lamoreaux genuinely enjoys giving back. “I’m one of those people who always felt happy seeing other people happy,” she told Nice News. She’s also someone who’s struggled in her relationship with alcohol. So when Lamoreaux found herself newly sober during the pandemic, when much of America was running up their BevMo! bills, she decided […]

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Read more about the article What’s “Bird Theory”? The Science Behind the Viral Relationship Test
"Eastern Bluebirds, male and female, perched on a flowering branch in spring"

What’s “Bird Theory”? The Science Behind the Viral Relationship Test

Social media has given rise to numerous challenges purported to reveal the truth about romantic relationships — like orange peel theory, the idea that if your partner peels your orange without being asked, they truly care for you. Certain of these are more dubious than others, but one test that’s recently gone viral has some […]

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How to Keep Dementia From Robbing Your Loved Ones of Their Sense of Personhood — Tips for Caregivers

Every three seconds, someone in the world develops dementia. There are over 6 million people living with dementia in the U.S. and 57 million globally. These figures will only increase in the coming years, as rates of dementia are predicted to double by 2060. If you don’t know someone affected by dementia, you probably will at some point.

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Jet Lag Is a Drag — Here’s How to Leave Lethargy Behind and Make the Most of Your Trip

Cross-country and international vacations are exciting opportunities for adventure — until you spend your first couple days exhausted, stumbling through the streets bleary-eyed in an attempt to track down a lifesaving cup of coffee. OK, maybe jet lag isn’t always that dramatic, but lying wide awake until 3 a.m. can put a damper on an […]

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How “Emodiverse” Are You? Experiencing a Diverse Range of Emotions May Help Us Make Better Decisions — Take the Quiz

When it comes to emotional states, we’d all love to vacillate between being just plain happy and having the time of our lives. But research into an idea called emodiversity suggests that experiencing many different emotions — even negative ones — is a good thing, associated not only with improved well-being but also with better […]

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Star-Shaped Cells Make a Molecule That Can “Rewire” the Brains of Mice with Down Syndrome — Understanding How Could Lead to New Treatments

Delivering a connection-building protein to star-shaped cells in the brain could reverse changes to neural circuits seen in Down syndrome, according to new research my colleagues and I published in the journal Cell Reports.

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Read more about the article Deep Brain Stimulation Successfully Treated Half of Depression Patients in New Trial
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Deep Brain Stimulation Successfully Treated Half of Depression Patients in New Trial

A small trial led by researchers out of China and the U.K. has turned up some promising news for people experiencing anxiety or depression. Half of participants with treatment-resistant severe depression saw clinical improvement after undergoing deep brain stimulation, or DBS, and more than a third experienced an almost total elimination of their symptoms.

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“Poetry in Motion”: The Story of Maria Tallchief — America’s First Prima Ballerina

It’s impossible to tell the story of American ballet without giving credit to trailblazer Maria Tallchief, who would’ve celebrated her 100th birthday earlier this year. The legendary dancer leapt and twirled her way to international stardom during the mid-20th century and is widely considered America’s first prima ballerina. “A ballerina takes steps given to her […]

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Read more about the article How Pecans Went From Ignored Trees to a Holiday Staple — The 8,000-Year History of America’s Only Native Major Nut
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How Pecans Went From Ignored Trees to a Holiday Staple — The 8,000-Year History of America’s Only Native Major Nut

Pecans, America’s only native major nut, have a storied history in the United States. Today, American trees produce hundreds of million of pounds of pecans — 80% of the world’s pecan crop. Most of that crop stays here. Pecans are used to produce pecan milk, butter and oil, but many of the nuts end up in pecan pies.

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