Paydays are hazardous to our health. If fact, a study published in the Journal of Public Economics proved they can be deadly. Researchers studied 4 demographic groups - seniors on social security, military personnel, families receiving tax rebate checks and recipients of Alaska’s Permanent Fund dividends. People are more active after getting paid and more activity increases risk. The types of death with the largest increases were substance abuse, accidents and heart attacks. Although mortality rates significantly increased in all groups the week after checks were received, young people were more susceptible to payday mortality. Payday doesn’t always “pay off”.
One glass of beer or wine can raise blood-alcohol concentrations enough to increase the chance of being seriously injured or killed in a car crash if you drive. A study published in the journal Addiction found that with a blood-alcohol concentration of just .01% there were 4.33 serious injuries for every non-serious injury. For sober drivers there were 3.17 serious injuries. Also, accidents were 36.6% more serious even when alcohol was barely detectable. “Buzzed drivers” are likelier to speed, improperly use seatbelts and drive the striking car. “Don’t drink and drive” definitely qualifies as a “buzz phrase”.
About 50% of English speakers can’t remember 7 single-digit numbers – like telephone numbers – at first hearing. The average Chinese speaker can remember 9 digits. According to French neurologist and mathematician Stanislas Dehaene, that’s because of how the numbers sound mentally. The Chinese words for 1-9 are bullet-like: yi, er, san, si, wu, liu, qi, ba, jiu. Each takes about .25 second to say. The English words for 1-9 each take about .33 second to say. The longer it takes to mentally say 7 numbers, the harder they are to remember. It seems the Chinese are more than “one-up” on us.
Children exposed to one, rain-free July 4th celebration before the age of 18 are 4% more likely to vote Republican and contribute to the party. This is according to Harvard University research. If these children didn’t vote, they were 2% more likely to identify with the right wing. Supposedly, the Republican Party is more patriotic and more focused on America’s symbols. Thus children, easily influenced by fanfare, are socialized to identify with Republican values. It seems Republican adults celebrate July 4th more intensely than Democrats. July 4th celebrations didn’t have any effect on the number of Democrats. They “march to a different drummer”.
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