Making Science Fun Again
Wise & Well Weekly: The newsletter helping you make tomorrow a little better than today
Welcome back to your weekly dose of wisdom and wellness, with science-backed insights you can use to improve your physical, mental and emotional well-being. You’ll find the usual mix of actionable health and wellness articles below, but first…
As we start a new year, I have a brief announcement:
With help from several great writers, I just launched a new science publication on Medium, a complement to Wise & Well that broadens our coverage into general science topics and takes a decidedly lighthearted approach to serious science writing. Aha! asks and answers the most intriguing, strange and unexpected questions about humans, animals, planet Earth and beyond — whether they’re the most pressing or not.
Here are a few examples for our inaugural week:
We’re having loads of fun over on Aha!, so if you like Wise & Well, I encourage you to check out its new, sassier sibling.
Now, some serious health and wellness writing…
HEALTHY READING
A selection of this week’s informative and insightful Wise & Well articles:
The Problem with Productivity
A former 70-hour-week corporate litigator knows all about the push for productivity and how it exhausts employees. Now he laments productivity’s application to the modern pressure to “optimize our lives so we are extracting every last ounce of all that the world apparently has to offer.” He’s figured out how to turn the problem on its head, using productivity apps to give him more free time.
— By Niall Stewart
Does Knowing More Than One Language Help or Hurt Your Brain?
Bilingualism is prized in many countries and cultures, but has never been a priority in the US education system. Interestingly, learning a second language promotes growth in brain circuits but also creates competition for those circuits, as if two users were sharing processing time on a supercomputer. This psychiatrist and neuroscientist weighs the pros and cons in a deep dive into how the mind works.
— By John Kruse MD, PhD
Your Weight-Loss Resolution is Doomed to Fail
What is it that makes dropping a few pounds so maddingly difficult? Why are so many of us feeling like losers while the weight keeps piling on? More to the point, this writer asks: is there anything we can do about it? An emerging body of research offers a resounding yes…and suggests we can enjoy the hell out of it, too.
— By Kathleen Murphy
This Shaman Has Good Advice for Your Depression
Can intense drumming, an exorcism, sunlight and the help of an entire village help a Westerner emerge from depression? You might just be surprised how effective non-medicinal approaches can be, and here are several to try.
— By Ilana Rabinowitz
Cardio or Weights First?
When you enter the gym, which way should you head first? Toward the treadmills and spin studio to get your sweat on with a cardio session? Or toward the free weights and strength-training machines to do some resistance training? This kinesiologist has all the answers.
— By Randal Claytor
RANDOM BIT OF WISDOM
“You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So get on your way!”
— Dr. Seuss
Wise & Well writers are physicians, psychiatrists, research scientists, dieticians, fitness experts, journalists and other professionals who share their expertise to help you make tomorrow a little better than today.