Cool stuff: dogs CAN understand you, mini-skirts are illegal in Uganda, and people been eating popcorn for 4,000 years. Plus a happy video.

Hi friends.  Some cool articles from the week, and a happy video that will make you cry in case you’re in the mood to get out some emotion: 

First, the happy video.  Nothing like strangers helping needy kids to pull at the heartstrings:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/19/norwegians-boy-without-jacket_n_4815716.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

Now the articles:

It’s no surprise to dog owners, but this is cool nonetheless: research indicates that your dog may understand the emotions in your voice, leading to a greater understanding of what you’re saying:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26276660

People ate popcorn 4,000 years ago: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/27/283307934/popcorn-common-snack-helped-to-build-empires

You’re not allowed to wear miniskirts in Uganda:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26351087

Bye now. Happy weekend. 

What's the science behind our love of chocolate? And how good is your English vocabulary?

Hi!  No time to write a substantial blog post this week, but here's a cool video about the science behind why we love chocolate:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/video/why-do-we-love-chocolate/

And here's a cool website that tests your knowledge of English vocabulary.  Seems like a lotta smart people aren't getting above about 81%!
http://vocabulary.ugent.be/wordtest/start

You are all cute.  xo

Dog-to-English translator, and life on Mars

In case you haven't learned anything interesting this week, here's something cool you can tell your friends:

A group of Scandinavian scientists are developing a translator that will read your dog's thoughts and tell you what he/she is thinking:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25559116

Also, 1,000 candidates have been selected from amongst 200,000 applicants to be tested to see if they're fit enough--mentally and physically--to receive a ONE-WAY trip to Mars in 2025:
http://news.yahoo.com/mission-shortlists-over-thousand-candidates-life-mars-163024347--sector.html

How to control the debilitating physical effects of stress

Hello my friends!  I'm busy this week doing some more fiction writing, so for my blog I'll just link to a fantastic piece I just read.  The article talks about various studies showing that although stress has been linked to major, debilitating physical illnesses, we can reduce those debilitating effects (to ZERO) if we deal with stress properly.

I love this:
"A... study, out of the University of Buffalo, did not surprise researchers this year when they noticed a 30% increase in people’s risk of dying for every major stressful experience, such as financial difficulties and family crises. But those same researchers were shocked to discover that people who respond to such crises with the desire to care for others don’t just reduce their risk of dying. Instead, their risk drops to 0%. Caring, says Dr. McGonigal, creates resilience, the ability to meet with life’s crises with creativity, hope, and connection."

Here's the whole piece:
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10995/its-not-stress-that-kills-you-its-how-you-handle-it.html

Have a good week.  xo

My favorite things this week

And now for a completely different blog post, my favorite things this week:

1. This video of twin 11-month-olds dancing to a guitar is one of the best things I've ever seen.  And I'm not one of those people who thinks that absolutely everything babies do is cute.  Watch this unless you're afraid to smile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to7uIG8KYhg&feature=share

2. Flight of the Conchords bring it once again, in a song with lyrics supplied by 5-year-olds.  Genius: http://mashable.com/2012/08/26/conchords-cure-kids/ .

3.  Lately I've realized that I have an inexplicable fondness for squirrels, so this story made me almost faint from the cuteness: http://www.examiner.com/article/animals-and-their-human-friends-the-soldier-and-the-squirrel  

4. Below wild squirrel is one of the primary sources of my obsession.  She comes to hang out with me whenever I'm in the area.  Eeeek!