You have enough enemies when it comes to getting things done—having your own brain plotting against you is just unfair. Hone up on a few strategies, thought exercises, and habits that get you past mental roadblocks and back to productivity. . . . 10. Pick Good Sounds Megadeth doesn’t get everyone motivated, and classical is many folks’ idea of nap music....

Pulling late nights, or an all-nighter, feels like a badge of honor you can wear at some jobs. But given the impact of sleeplessness on work, at least one researcher considers it like showing up at work loaded. A fascinating article on what we understand about sleep (read: not a whole lot) in National Geographic Magazine makes the case that workers, and the culture...

A beautiful stranger can send a man’s stress hormones so much so that the stress may be bad for the heart –especially if he thinks he’s not in the same league. That’s the conclusion of a new study which was conducted by experts at the University of Valencia in Spain. According to boffins, the anxiety level of men who might think they are not “in the same league”...

Is laughter the new exercise? Quite possibly. While toning thighs and building muscle mass still require a trip to the gym, other benefits associated with exercise — improved cholesterol and blood pressure, decreased stress hormones, a strengthened immune system and a healthy appetite — can be attained with regular guffaws, studies now suggest. The latest mirth study,...

“Brain games” are certainly fun, but contrary to what many players hope, they’re not likely to make you any smarter. From a six-week study paid for by the BBC and reported by Discovery News: More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for...

Women have a subconscious fear of getting fat, a study has found. When they see an overweight woman, their brain reacts negatively, increasing feelings of unhappiness and even selfloathing, say researchers. While this is common in anorexics and others with eating disorders, the experts found it also happens in healthy women with no obvious worries about their weight. Men,...

Allergies have become widespread in developed countries, with hives, asthma, hay fever, and eczema becoming increasingly prevalent. According to a new report, this is a result of the excessive cleanliness and sterile environments that have been created by an obsessin with cleanliness. Dr. Guy Delespesse, director of the Laboratory for Allergy Research at the University...

The six-million dollar man was pure fantasy in the 70s — but largely realistic technology today. And the future of this tech is even wilder: Implantable brain electrodes may be just around the corner. Futurists and science-fiction writers have long speculated about merging human and machine, especially human brains and computers. These dreams are slowly becoming...

Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a world that was completely color blind. But research has shown that racial stereotypes are found in every culture and every people — even children as young as 3 years old tend to prefer their own racial group. It’s universal. Almost. A few people are completely and utterly blind to race: children with a rare genetic disorder...

Positive thinking is so firmly enshrined in our culture that knocking it is a little like attacking motherhood or apple pie. Many persons swear by positive thinking and quite a few have been helped by it. Nevertheless, it is not a very effective tool and can be downright harmful in some cases. There are much better ways to get the benefits that positive thinking...