Choosing a user name starting with a letter appearing earlier in the alphabet is just one scientifically vetted way to increase the odds of turning an online encounter into a first date. Christopher Intagliata reports

High-calorie and exceedingly pleasurable foods appear to change rat brain rewards circuitry, causing the rodents to continue to seek such fare. Erika Beras reports

Parkinson’s patients derived more benefits from a salt solution they were told was an expensive drug than from the same solution when it was described as being cheap medication. Karen Hopkin reports

Of studies presented at conferences, those that found a cognitive benefit to bilingualism were almost twice as likely to get published in journals as were studies finding no benefit. Karen Hopkin reports  

Implicit bias against another race lessened after volunteers experienced themselves via virtual reality as a member of that race. Karen Hopkin reports  

Levels of a protein fragment in the blood paralleled how long head injuries benched hockey players. Ingrid Wickelgren reports

If you're in an up mood, you may walk more energetically. But a study finds that purposefully walking more energetically may improve your mood. Christie Nicholson reports  

Subjects who kept pace with a walking colleague estimated a potential enemy to be smaller and lighter than did other walkers who were not marching. Karen Hopkin reports  

Young adults who’d had highly controlling parents were less able to stress their own viewpoints to a friend or partner in confident and productive ways. Daisy Yuhas reports  

Absence from work due to illness increased dramatically for those who slept less than six hours or more than nine hours per night. Christie Nicholson reports  

The direction of your gaze when looking at someone offers an unconscious, automatic giveaway of whether your initial reaction is romance or sex. Christie Nicholson reports

People who had to strike up conversations on a subway later reported feeling happier than those who didn’t. Christie Nicholson reports.

Survey subjects rated life experiences as making them happier and as a better use of money than buying objects. But they actually spent their cash on material goods, whose value is more easily quantifiable. Erika Beras reports

Children who experience neglect, abuse and/or poverty can have smaller amygdalas and hippocampuses, brain regions involved in emotion and memory, compared with kids raised in nurturing environments. Christie Nicholson reports  

Monkeys trained to play fixed video games made moves indicating that they expected certain patterns to occur. Erika Beras reports