Cruel TV Makes for Crueler Viewers: Study

Chowing down when depressed may just be instinct

(NEWSER) - There’s a reason we gorge on chocolate bars or French fries when we’re down: Fatty foods actually do make us feel better, a study suggests. Scientists in Belgium had subjects look at images of sad people and listen to sad music while being fed through a tube, the Daily Mail reports. Brain scans revealed that those who received a saline solution grew 4% more depressed, while those who got a fatty solution through the tube didn't experience changes in their mood. More»

Cooperation works better in the workplace, adulthood

(NEWSER) - Alpha "mean girls" from high school turn into get-along "gamma women" by the time they hit their 20s ... in most cases, according to experts. "Relational aggression" involving catty gossip, public digs and humiliating pranks tends to decline with age, with bullying plummeting in college, observers say. College seniors "outgrow this behavior or at least have the ability to recognize it as juvenile," noted a counselor. Teens love to follow the jaw-dropping antics of high school mean girls, whom one expert compares to "gladiators." But "it's no longer appropriate" in college, notes Liz Fund, author of Supergirls Speak Out. "Most mean girls grow up to be normal," she tells the Washington Post . More»

And finds that daydreaming is tied to bad moods

(NEWSER) - Turns out the all-powerful iPhone can also moonlight as your personal therapist, by way of the "Track Your Happiness" app. The app pings users at random times during the day, asking how they're feeling and what they're doing. Researchers looked at the responses of 2,250 adults and found a link between daydreaming and unhappiness: Responders said they were daydreaming almost 47% of the time, and the daydreamers were more likely to say they felt down in the dumps, Mashable reports. More»

Study: They like to cleanse either their hands or mouth

(NEWSER) - Liars like to literally clean up after their deceit, a new study suggests. What's more, if they typed their fib in an email, they want hand sanitizer; if they spoke the lie, they prefer mouthwash, reports AOL News . So say University of Michigan researchers who put student volunteers in an imaginary scenario in which they had the choice to lie or not, followed up by a marketing survey of hygiene products. More»

Track Flick and making 'fetch' happen, anyone?

(NEWSER) - Hard as it is to believe, John Hughes made his last high school-centric film in 1987. Luckily, the 22 years since haven't lacked for flicks that chronicle some part of those awkward, wonderful 4 years. Christopher Borrelli of the Chicago Tribune lists the 10 movies that do it best:

1. Dazed and Confused: Reflects what high school memories essentially are: "plotless, keen distillations of moments and feelings."