Results tagged “death” from 60 Second Science
Corey Binns on January 23, 2008 11:00 AM
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"How many times do I have to ask you to _________?" Fill in the blank. A good screaming match with your mate feels good. And when it's all over, making up brings you closer together. Now researchers have found fights can not only save your marriage, but save your life too.
Couples who suppress their anger when they are verbally attacked die earlier than couples who don't hold back, express their anger, and resolve the conflict, according to a new University of Michigan study.
Continue reading 'Pouting kills. Angry, fighting couples live longer.' >
Stephen Ornes on November 27, 2007 7:20 PM
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It's not news, but it's notable... November 27 marks the 253rd anniversary of the death of French mathematician Abraham de Moivre. Sure, you may remember him for his eponymous formula, or his contributions to statistics, but the legend of his death gets top billing today.
As the story goes, de Moivre began to increase his sleeping time by 15 minutes per night. (Some sources say 20.) As a mathematician, Abraham recognized an arithmetic progression when he saw it; as a human being, he knew that this was no infinite series. He predicted that the same day that he attained 24 full hours of sleep, he would cast off his mortal coils and never wake up. (The day was November 27...) His official cause of death was "somnolence."
(As a new parent, I’d give my right leg for 15 minutes more sleep.)
Continue reading 'RIP Abraham de Moivre: What if you knew when you were going to die?' >
Ted Alvarez on November 21, 2007 3:04 AM
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John Pavlus on November 9, 2007 10:16 AM
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Feelin' blue? Here, this'll cheer you right up.
Picture yourself laying on the cool grass... as it soaks up the arterial blood pouring out of a massive chest wound. Then picture the expression on your face: a rictus of disbelief, now going pale and slack as your head flops to the side, the light already fading from your eyes, a final dullness glazing over them. Good. Finally, imagine your recently buried body, swollen in your funeral clothes from the gases given off by decomposition, and then decades later, moldering and sloughing apart in its rotting box, a box which, with each passing day, marks an evermore pointless distinction between its contents and the damp dirt outside.
I'll bet that frown's turned upside down already! And so do the authors of a recent study in Psychological Science, who claim that contemplating oblivion activates our unconscious mental defense mechanisms -- in essence, taking us to our "happy place" without us even knowing it.
Continue reading 'Thinking about your own death boosts your mood' >
