Many ballpoint pens have a particular design feature intended to save your life – if necessary. It’s one of those clever features most people never notice and hopefully never have to use yet millions of pens contain it. ⁠https://www.iflscience.com/theres-a-surprising-reason-why-pen-caps-have-holes-in-them-47723/⁠ (more…)

Can you train yourself to become a night owl—or an early bird? Millions of people try. They force themselves to stay up later, wake up earlier, or work overnight because that’s what life demands. But can your body really adapt? Or is there a biological clock inside you that simply refuses to cooperate? (more…)

People often assume that someone with brown eyes appears more trustworthy than someone with blue eyes. Research suggests there may be something to that belief—but not for the reason most people think. In fact, eye color may have very little to do with it. ⁠https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3541379/⁠ (more…)

The lottery is one of the few games where everyone knows the odds are terrible—and millions of people play anyway. Why? It turns out there are some fascinating psychological reasons people buy lottery tickets, along with a few surprising facts about the odds and strategies that most players never consider. ⁠https://www.wired.com/video/watch/lottery-strategy⁠ (more…)

Nothing can ruin a meal faster than someone loudly slurping soup, coffee, or noodles. At least that’s what many people think. Yet in some cultures, slurping isn’t rude at all—it’s expected. And as annoying as it may sound, there is actually a surprisingly good reason people do it. ⁠https://www.discovermagazine.com/its-not-rude-slurping-makes-food-taste-better-42739⁠ (more…)