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1. Single and loving it? Keep doing you.
While single life continues to be stigmatized, more and more people are choosing singlehood over getting married—and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Singles typically reside in cities and volunteer more, join more educational groups, and are more devoted to the arts than people who are married. All of these things contribute to happiness, meaning that all those studies about how unhappy single people are might not be all they're cracked up to be. (PsyPost)
2. Obesity is cutting a lot of lives short.
New research from the Cleveland Clinic shows that obesity is the No. 1 cause of preventable life-years lost—followed by diabetes. Shockingly, a BMI of over 30 results in as much as 47 percent more years lost than with tobacco. (Science Daily)
3. Neuroscience says doubt can be a good thing.
Our brains evolved to fear uncertainty. In an ancient, uncivilized society, hesitation often spelled death. But in the world of 2017, we have the luxury of perceiving uncertainty differently—and we should. By learning to question our own perception, we increase the probability of a more well-rounded perspective. (The Guardian)
4. Light therapy is showing promise in the medical community.
A new study found that light can control gene function and transcription of zebrafish cells in a lab setting. So what does this mean for us? That light therapy (instead of electrical therapy) could become a promising way to treat human illnesses from eye damage to diabetes. (Science Daily)
5. Guilty as charged: Sweetened drinks yet again implicated in the development of serious ill health.
Consuming a can a day of low- or no-sugar soft drink is associated with a much higher risk of having a stroke or developing dementia, according to the researchers who carried out a study published in Stroke, the journal of the American Heart Association. Step away from the bubbles, people, step away... (Live Science)
6. What if hearing aids were stylish, like glasses?
Since 80 percent of older Americans have some degree of hearing loss, we can't help but wonder why getting a hearing aid is still so expensive (read: $5,000 without insurance) and wearing it is often dreaded and stigmatized. Innovators like KR Liu of Doppler Labs want to redesign the hearing aid experience so it's more like picking up readers from the pharmacy: stylish, effective, and affordable. (NPR)