Daydreaming interferes with memory. An experiment published in the journal Psychological Science required 116 college students to do 1 of 2 things between memorizing 2 lists of words. They could think about a vacation in the U.S. or one abroad. Those who daydreamed about a vacation abroad remembered fewer words from the first list. It seems the farther away your mind drifts in time and space, the harder it is to remember something you just did. Of course, if you’re trying to forget something embarrassing you just did, this could be a “dreamy” solution.

You could forget July 30th is National Cheesecake Day. Celebrating with a slice of plain cheesecake – no strawberries, no chocolate, no fun – is approximately 411 calories. That translates into about 36 grams of fat, 16 being saturated fat; 185 mg cholesterol; 310 mg sodium; and 42 grams of carbohydrates. If you weighed 150 pounds, working off 411 calories would take about cialis cheap 61 minutes of vigorous strength training, 145 minutes of yoga, 52 minutes of biking, 91 minutes of gardening or 121 minutes of cleaning. The next time someone with a camera said “Say cheese”, your smile might not be as big.

However, knowing lucky charms work could make your smile very big. In a German study participants who were allowed to keep their lucky charms – a stone, coin, keychain, stuffed animal – did better on a computer memory test. Superstition increases confidence, which makes people try harder on a particular task and perform better. Michael Jordon routinely wore his college gym shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform. Serena Williams wore the same socks throughout a tennis tournament. Actor Geoffrey Rush always has a plastic figure of Daffy Duck in his pocket. It seems for many people believing in lucky charms is “luckrative”.

Bed bug eradication is becoming lucrative because bed bugs are spreading across the U.S. According to Congress’ “Don’t Let The Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009”, the bed bug population has increased 500% in the past few years. Their increasing numbers are attributed to increased travel, immigration, resistance to insecticides, eradication expense ($800-$1200 for a 1-bedroom apartment) and lack of awareness. In addition to being in homes and hotels, bed bugs have been found in public transit, laundromats and movie theaters. Considering it takes approximately 1 week to see allergic reactions from bed bug bites, figuring out where they are could drive you “bed buggy”.

Author Bio: Knight Pierce Hirst takes a second look at what makes life interesting and it takes only second at http://knightwatch.typepad.com

Category: Culture and Society
Keywords: daydream, cheesecake, luck, bed bug