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Not all smiles are created equal. tonipostius via Flickr How much teeth should you show when you smile? How wide should your grin be, and what if it’s crooked? Using a variety of computer-animated faces, researchers from the University of Minnesota have done their best to isolate the traits of a winning smile. At first glance, this may seem like a laughing matter. But for people with paralysis or other medical conditions, being physically unable to smile can cause communication problems, anxiety, and depression. The new study, published today in PLOS One, could help doctors who perform facial

When we are facing a challenge in life, we're often encouraged to talk about it with a confidante, a family member or to seek professional counsel like a therapist. But some people find more comfort in silence. In her new memoir, Sit, Walk, Don't Talk, Jennifer Howd takes readers into the world of silent meditation retreats, where, as you may imagine, there's scarcely any talking. Howd says the practice of mediation is a viable option for pretty much anyone seeking an escape from our sometimes too-noisy world. "You don't have to necessarily go away for days on end," she says, "but just sitting

One recent evening after work, Wallace Bruce set off for a run. The 30-year-old actor had taken a few months off from exercising, so he planned an easy loop through his Los Angeles neighborhood.He was five minutes from his house and had just broken a sweat when a man with white hair, also jogging, blew past him. Mr. Bruce estimated him to be in his late 70s. Ten yards down the road the man turned his head back and shouted: “Keep up… if you can!” Although Mr. Bruce chuckled to himself, he immediately picked up his pace. “A ‘game-on’ type of instinct kicked in,” he says. “I thought, ‘Alright old

Who among us has not walked into a Target mentally chanting something like “Eggs, shaving cream, toothpaste, toilet paper” only to get home and realize we’ve forgotten the toothpaste? Looks like we’re using mouthwash tonight! If you’ve got a lengthy to-do list, and you’re not ready to commit to bullet journaling or whatever to keep track of it all, Gary Small, the director of the Longevity Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, has a little trick to hold it all in your head: Turn the words into a story. He demonstrated this trick on Saturday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, which is

Neuroscience isn't on many elementary school lesson plans. But this spring, a second grade class at Fairmont Neighborhood School in the South Bronx is plunging in. Sarah Wechsler, an instructional coach with wide eyes and a marathoner's energy, asks the students to think about the development and progress that they've made already in their lives. "You probably don't remember, but there was a time when you didn't know how to speak and you were just like 'Wah wah wah blah blah blah, mama, mama!' " she tells the kids. "Our brain grows and changes when you try hard things, when you learn new thing

Stacy Blake-Beard was 29 years old when she was starting out as a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Not only was she the youngest faculty member, but she was also younger than most of her students. One day, one of her doctoral students came into her office to discuss a research project. “[The student] looked over at me and asked, ‘How old are you, anyway?’” Blake-Beard recalls. “I think I did not fit her image of what a doctoral advisor would be.” The idea that Blake-Beard’s age somehow prevented her from being an effective professor was a bias she often faced as

Lynn Vavreck, a professor of political science at UCLA, is a co-author of “The Gamble,” about the 2012 presidential campaign. “What one does when faced with the truth is more difficult than you would think.” — Wonder Woman, in the movie released last month. This goes for all of us, not just superheroes. The nuances of how people react when faced with the truth have come into focus in today’s increasingly polarized political climate. A decade ago, comedian Stephen Colbert introduced viewers to the idea of “truthiness,” a quality belonging to claims that were based on gut feelings instead of fa

Before he arrived at Wichita State University, Steve Paniagua had never seen a therapist. He’d struggled with depression and suicidal tendencies for years, but his family could never afford treatment. As soon as he got to the Kansas school, Paniagua called the school’s counseling center. He learned that he could meet with a licensed therapist as often as he needed to, free of charge. “For two years, I would go maybe once a week to the counseling center,” Paniagua said. “It was that extra support that I needed. If something bad happened, I always knew I could go there and be a little bit safer

"Are you real?" If you've seen the TV series Westworld, you may remember this line. A man named William has just arrived at Westworld, a sort of wild west theme park where people can interact with human-like robots. The host who greets him looks and sounds 100 percent human. But is she? Her response when William poses this question: "Well, if you can't tell, does it matter?" If you can't tell, does it matter? People have been wrestling with this question since the advent of robotics. What would it mean to have machines that are essentially just like us? Will robots ever become fully conscious

A new paper by philosophers Dominik Klein and Matteo Colombo, forthcoming in the journal Episteme, defines a mystery as something that cannot be explained. This definition doesn't stray too far from our everyday usage. The first definition of mystery to appear on a Google search, for example, is "something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain." But on Klein and Colombo's view, to declare something a mystery isn't just a confession of ignorance. Some of the time, you can learn something important when you learn that something is a mystery — provided it's the right kind of my

Two years ago, in a testimony to the state of New Jersey, Benjamin Unger recounted how he was made to beat an effigy of his mother with a tennis racket. The action was part of a “treatment” meant to curb his attraction to men. According to Unger, a religious organization tasked with turning him straight told him that his close connection to his mother was the cause of his sexual orientation. He stopped speaking to her entirely. So-called “conversion therapy,” the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation (almost always from gay or bisexual to straight), has a history of damagi

SAN DIEGO—To understand just how far Vista High School will go to keep kids interested in school, consider the case of 17-year-old Hernan Hernandez and his skateboard. Hernan, an avid skateboarder, was bored in gym class. So were his classmates. So, late this spring, Hernan approached Principal Anthony Barela with a potential solution: What about offering them a skateboarding course instead? “I’m pretty sure if you told them they could skate and get an A, they would do that,” Hernan told Barela, a former football coach who is maniacal about keeping Vista High School students in school. Barela

Do you really love your job? Are you truly engaged in your work? If you are able to answer “yes” to both questions, you’re in the minority. Less than 30% of millennials responding to a 2016 Gallup survey indicated they felt engaged at work and 16% even said they were actively disengaged. Now, to improve your feelings about work, it might require some changes — like a promotion or pay bump — or even a big job switch, especially early in your career. But the truth for at least some is that sometimes the problem is not the job but your own attitudes, and being more satisfied must start with you.

Trying to take a fire selfie? Thankfully, science is here to help you navigate how to perfect your smile. Researchers at the University of Minnesota explored the good and bad of smiles and published their findings in the journal PLoS ONE. “A lot of people don’t understand how important their smiles are and how important this aspect of communication we do with each other every day is,” Stephen Guy, a co-author of the research from the University of Minnesota, told The Guardian. The team of scientists, led by assistant professor of psychology and statistics Nathaniel E. Helwig, recruited parti

Last week at the supermarket, my daughter pulled me aside to choose a Father's Day card for her daddy. Helping her read the cards was easy; explaining them to her was not (especially the funny ones). So when we got home, I did what any scientifically minded parent would do: I looked to the scientific literature for answers. I was lucky enough to find a journal article published just this month on the neurobiology of fatherhood. It clarified quite a lot. So here, without further ado, is what I learned about the neurobiological underpinnings of some common Father's Day card greetings. "You're o

Have you ever been told that you have “period brain”? You know, the condition that arrives, say, once a month for four to seven days, and renders you completely aloof and irrational because that’s apparently what being a menstruating person does to you. This sexist nonsense and drivel continues to be passed down from generation to generation, girlfriend to girlfriend — as even the scientist who has officially debunked it noted. The idea that women literally cannot think straight while menstruating isn’t so much a myth perpetuated by men, but one we continue to saddle ourselves with. “As a spe

Have you ever worked with someone who is full of big ideas and constantly hops from one project to the next? If so, you’ve likely encountered a case of what psychologists call shiny-object syndrome. This is when someone is so distracted by the world around them that they’re forever drawn toward new ideas, people and stimuli. Related: 10 Tips to Turn Your Brain Into an Idea Factory You likely know these people. Maybe you’re even one of them. Entrepreneurs are especially prone to shiny-object syndrome. After all, we have a lot on our plates, we love new people, we’re always on the hunt for the n

In the world of media, artificial intelligence may be hot, but it's no shiny object. Concepts like artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing are bleeding into all facets of the ad business. Today, media shops can set up AI dashboards that alert them to strange patterns in their metrics, and some agencies are looking at ways to use AI to make their internal processes more efficient and make employees happier. And, of course, clients are looking for work that has AI woven in, whether it's Alexa skills or chatbots. Any time an explosive new technology takes hold, a

We’re often advised to follow disciplined routines like eating healthy and hustling hard at work to enhance our well-being — but the health benefits of indulgences like eating good food and taking time off to travel are often overlooked. We’re here to validate your desire to eat carbs and take time off to chill at the beach. All of those things can actually be extremely beneficial to your mental and physical health. So start living a little — for your well-being. Allow us to enlighten you on the major health benefits of certain indulgences. While Italy is the land of pizza and pasta, it’s also

Among the American flags and patriotic symbols, Americans across the country might spot a different sort of decoration this Fourth of July: Yard signs that clearly state, “Combat veteran lives here: Please be courteous with fireworks.” These signs, which have been distributed by the organization Military with PTSD since 2015, point to one of the lesser-known consequences of America’s Independence Day celebrations — that the fireworks Americans set off to show their patriotism can be devastating to those who have done the most to serve the United States. For military veterans and others who suf

D.D. COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY, the field that Naomi Watts’ character Jean Holloway practices on the new Netflix drama Gypsy, is meant to put into place new patterns of thought and behavior in order to break old cycles. No surprise she can’t heal herself: Jean spends her hours off-duty repetitiously gorging on bourbon, spying on her patients’ personal lives and engaging in extramarital liaisons. To craft a new pattern for her thoughts would be to impose one for the first time—she’s all random acts of hedonism. Watts digs into an outsize role that’s the opposite of her current turn on Show

Does that wine make you feel "content" or "passionate"? Pexels I think we can all admit to getting a little emotional after a few too many glasses of wine. But according to a study done at the University of Adelaide, our emotional response to wine actually begins much earlier. They found that wine descriptions could make study subjects feel more emotional about booze, perhaps making them more likely to buy it as a result. The researchers had 126 wine drinkers taste three different white wines through three rounds of samplings: a blind tasting with no information, the provision of a basic senso