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This Week In Studies: 5 Surprising, 5 Obvious
This Week In Studies is Bustle's round-up of what science had to say for itself this week.
The expression should be "a dolphin never forgets."
A new study reveals that dolphins' memories actually far eclipse that of elephants. Dolphins recognize their friends' whistles even after they've spent 20 years apart, which makes their memories the best in the animal kingdom.
It's a shame that dolphins are actually incredibly aggressive and violent animals, because if you cross one it will remember you for ever.
Surprising: Elephants Might Forget You, But Dolphins Won't
This Week In Studies is Bustle's round-up of what science had to say for itself this week.
The expression should be "a dolphin never forgets."
A new study reveals that dolphins' memories actually far eclipse that of elephants. Dolphins recognize their friends' whistles even after they've spent 20 years apart, which makes their memories the best in the animal kingdom.
It's a shame that dolphins are actually incredibly aggressive and violent animals, because if you cross one it will remember you for ever.
Obvious: McDonalds Puts Calorie Boards Up, Is Shocked When People Still Consume Calories
Fast food chains like McDonald's and Starbucks are required to "menu-label" their products — in other words, draw attention to how many calories exist in each muffin and McNugget. The law was implemented under the Obama Administration in the hope that an informed public change their mind about that burger.
To worldwide gasps of horror, it has turned out that people who eat high-calorie fast food have not stopped eating it because there's a board there with some numbers on it.
Surprising: Eating Garlic Cloves Halves Your Cancer Rate
Maybe the answer is to have Taco Bell start serving garlic cloves. Eating raw garlic twice a week slashes your chance of developing lung cancer by half. Experts murmured something about "free radicals." Who wouldn't love some raw garlic right now?
Obvious: Fruit Flies Are Here To Stay
California despises the Mediterranean fruit fly. It's ravaged the agricultural industry over there for decades, and attempts to get rid of it haven't worked. This study has discovered that, in spite of being hated statewide, the fly has absolutely no plans to leave. It's almost like it lives there and has no plans to go back to the Mediterranean, where there's far less sweet, sweet agriculture.
Surprising: You're More Likely To Die In The Country Than The City
The bad news is coming thick and fast for Californian farmers. Apparently deaths by injury are a fifth more likely to happen in the countryside, rather than the city. Maybe because people out there use hammers and stuff.
This article about it is full of revelations: "If perception were reality, the most dangerous places to live would be major urban areas, where crimes like homicide are supposedly high. But perception is not reality."
Obvious: If You Have A Traumatic Childhood, You Might Drink A Lot Later
Those who have undergone all sorts of devastating traumas in childhood are, it emerges, more likely to drink heavily when they're older.
Of course, this is really sad, but seriously, Chekov and O'Neill explained that one to us awhile ago.
Surprising: Baby Owls Sleep A Lot Like Baby Humans
It turns out that owlets sleep exactly as adorably as baby humans. Using tiny sensors, researchers found that owls go through the same stages of REM sleep, process the same chemicals, and develop during naptime much the same as babies.
OK, this isn't as much "news" as an excuse to look at this photo of a baby owl. Next week: a study proving that we like looking at baby animals.
(Image: Flickr/TheMixer)
Obvious: You Might Think More Creatively If Your Desk Is Messy
Good news for disorganized people everywhere: if your desk is cluttered and messy, it'll probably help you think outside the box.
Researchers had people carry out a series of tasks in two rooms: one very tidy, and one that looked like it'd been struck by a natural disaster. When people were in the tidy room, they were more patient, more conventional, and didn't litter. The messy room, however, spawned out-of-the-box thinking, fresh and creative ideas, and more rebellion.
Right. Sooo, how many creative people you know live in an orderly, by-the-book fashion? Obvious.
