For those who celebrate Christmas, the scent of pine is inextricably linked with the holiday season. And while artificial trees have surpassed live trees as the most popular Christmas tree of choice in the U.S., there are 25-30 million real Christmas trees sold in the U.S. annually, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. With […]
New research has found that caring for grandchildren — including simple acts like picking them up from school and attending play dates — may combat loneliness in senior citizens. Publishing their findings in the journal Aging & Mental Health on November 23, a team of experts from Germany and the U.K. systematically reviewed data from […]
Carols are playing on the radio and in stores, homes are decked out with colorful lights and displays, and vehicles can be spotted with green spruces or pines on their roofs — all signifiers that it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as the old Bing Crosby song goes. Christmas, observed annually on December […]
An American Idol alum has teamed up with the Make-A-Wish and Sing Me a Story foundations to bring an unforgettable experience to a 10-year-old cancer patient from North Carolina. Sing Me a Story is a nonprofit organization based in Nashville, Tennessee, with a mission to serve “families in need through the imaginative stories of their […]
People around the world give gifts for various purposes and occasions, from solidifying business relations to celebrating holidays. More than just a fun tradition, anthropologists and psychologists have found gift-giving is an important part of societal integration and interpersonal connection, and giving can greatly benefit individuals’ well-being. But finding the perfect present isn’t always easy. […]
Bumblebees are known for being excellent workers, helping to maintain and operate a nest while also pollinating plants and flowers. But accomplishing tasks isn’t the only thing these social little buzzers do — they enjoy playtime, too. In a first-of-its-kind study led by Queen Mary University of London and published in Animal Behaviour, researchers found […]
Gift-giving is one of life’s great joys: the thoughtful process of picking out the perfect present, the gleeful anticipation as you watch the recipient tear into the wrapping paper — what could be better? According to researchers at the University of Notre Dame, humans are “hardwired for giving,” and the holiday season offers ample opportunity to […]
It’s often said that children’s brains are like sponges, due to their ability to rapidly and easily absorb large quantities of information. A new study, led by Takeo Watanabe of Brown University, has now identified how and why children so effortlessly outpace adults when it comes to their capacity for learning a lot in a […]
When you see a vending machine, you likely expect it to dole out snacks or beverages — not life-saving medication. In Ohio, there exists such a machine that dispenses naloxone, a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. And it has already saved 960 lives through overdose reversal in under two years, according to new […]
Hot flashes, also known as vasomotor symptoms or hot flushes, are brief, uncomfortable, and intense waves of heat that plague more than 80% of women experiencing menopause. It wasn’t until 1941 that the drug Premarin, which addresses the symptoms by replacing estrogen, came on the market, and since then, no new classes of drugs designed […]
“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”: The tradition, based on a 19th century Old English rhyme, encourages brides to incorporate one thing from each category into their weddings for good luck and a happy marriage. Dallas-based wedding dress designer Lovell Cox has given the saying a new meaning by reconstructing old family wedding […]
Recently proclaimed to be “the world’s most expensive sheep” by National Geographic, the Ladoum sheep of Senegal compete in annual televised beauty pageants and are known to fetch upward of $10,000 each. In some cases, it’s considerably more: a purchase price of just over $80,000 was allegedly once recorded. To be sure, Ladoum sheep are […]