A quick moment of silence for everyone who had their knuckles rapped by a nun for writing left-handed in school. New research published in PLOS Biology suggests hand dominance may be an evolutionary trait — and the story of why most of us favor one hand over the other may go back much further than we thought. Read more about the study here.
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Nutrition & Food
Why Weight Gain Before 30 Hits Harder
Ahmet Kurt/Unsplash
Heavy Stuff: We know that being overweight comes with increased risk for things like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. But is there a specific time of life when weight gain is most harmful?New research suggests there is.
The Study: Researchers from Lund University in Sweden collected data from 1963 to 2015 for more than 620,000 adults. Participants had their weight assessed multiple times between ages 17 and 60. The study found that a steep weight-gain trajectory, early-adulthood obesity onset, and higher weight gain between ages 17 and 29 were associated with higher mortality risk. People who developed obesity between ages 17 and 29 had about a 70% higher risk of death during the follow-up period compared with those who had not developed obesity by age 60.
The Takeaway: Obesity before age 30 had the strongest link to premature death, especially in men, with a substantially higher risk of liver, pancreatic, kidney, colon, and other cancers. In women, the cancer risk remained about the same regardless of when they gained weight. But the risks were not limited just to obesity. Gaining 6.5 kg (about 14 pounds) between 17 and 30 was associated with about 17% higher risk of premature death. More weight gain was associated with higher risk.
Keep in Mind: Important potential confounders, like activity level, diet, and alcohol use, were not included in the analysis.
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Fitness
The Gym Hack That Actually Has Science Behind It
Kateryna Hliznitsova/Unsplash
Buff It Out: If you find your gym routine wearing on you at times, myo-reps might be exactly what you need. Developed by Norwegian strength coach Borge Fagerli in the mid-2000s, the technique strings multiple short sets together with only a few seconds of recovery in between.Research suggests that you can get the same muscle-building stimulus as traditional training in a fraction of the time.
How to Do It: To do them, pick a weight you can lift for around 10 to 15 reps and do your activation set, stopping one or two reps shy of failure. Then rest for about 10 to 20 seconds, and knock out a mini-set of four to five reps. Keep repeating that cycle until you can't hit three reps anymore. Stick to exercises where your form stays controlled when you're tired, like machines or dumbbells, and cap yourself at five mini-sets.
The Benefits: Research suggests myo-rep-style training can get the same amount of work done more than seven times faster than traditional sets. Because you're using lighter loads, it's also easier on your joints.
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SPOTLIGHT
Annie Murphy Paul
ANNIE MURPHY PAUL
Author, Science Writer
Courtesy: Annie Murphy Paul
Annie Murphy Paul spent years as a freelance science writer, convinced that good thinking meant holing herself up and pushing through, until reporting her new book, The Extended Mind, changed her way of thinking. Research in cognitive science, she found, increasingly suggests that the brain works best when ideas are routed outward and back again rather than staying sealed inside the skull.
One of her most useful findings is about rest. For example, scrolling your phone during a break draws on the same cognitive resources you were using while typing and concentrating at your desk. But stepping outside or glancing out a window, even for as little as 40 seconds, restores attention in ways that staring at a second screen never will.
The social piece is equally concrete. Talking through an idea with someone else, or even just working near others, activates memory and motivation in ways that solo work cannot replicate. Paul used all this newfound knowledge to upgrade her work practices while writing the book, began regularly taking walks outside, and leaned on a longtime writers' group — and says she couldn't have finished it without them.
The viral “marry me chicken” is so good, they say it could lead to a proposal. This quick, flavorful chicken cutlet is simmered in a creamy sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, shallots, white wine, and fresh parsley — it comes together with just six ingredients. Every bite is infused with oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, making the dish rich and comforting without feeling too heavy.
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This, Not That
Better Bathroom Reading
THIS
NOT THAT
Phil Hearing/Unsplash, Charlesdeluvio/Unsplash
This: Nothing Not That: Bringing Your Phone to the Toilet
The bathroom doesn’t need to become another scrolling station. Leaving your phone outside cuts down on mindless screen time and helps keep bathroom visits shorter — which your pelvic floor will probably appreciate.
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HEALTHY HABIT
The Clean Start Cue
Before starting work, clear just one small area — your keyboard, a notebook, a corner of your desk. A tidy starting point reduces visual noise and makes it easier to settle into focus.
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Final Thought
Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
