Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh announce they’ve discovered that drinking in a social setting can increase people’s positive emotions, and help those people bond. According to the researchers, earlier studies purporting to examine this topic looked at so-called “social drinkers” when they drank alone; this study actually put social drinkers in a social setting, and found […]
About: Lauren Maurer
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- Lauren is a soon-to-be-graduate of the Science Writing Program at MIT and currently an Improbable Intern.
Posts by Lauren Maurer:
Your Money or Your Life: The perils of having an income
A steady paycheck has a slightly unfortunate side-effect, two researchers intimate (intimidatingly): It just might kill you. People who have money are more likely to spend money, they say—and, while doing so, engage in activities that could convert them into mortality statistics. “The Short-Term Mortality Consequences of Income Receipt,” William N. Evans (pictured), Timothy J. Moore, The National […]
Saddle-sore: Unfortunate consequences of bicycling
Previous research has focused on whether male bicyclers with badly-positioned bike seats might be hurting their manhood. Turning to the other side of things, now researchers say riding a bike with the handlebars lower than the seat decreases sensation in women cyclists’ genitals. So their time in the saddle—the bike saddle, that is—may be diminishing their […]
Adam’s “rib” a Biblical euphemism
In a letter to the editor in the American Journal of Medical Genetics, two authors suggest that the story of Adam’s rib being the humble beginnings of Eve is the result of a mistranslation. In reality, they suggest, the story is an explanatory myth for why humans are one of the few mammals lacking a […]