Like Goldilocks, the human body is always in search of a happy medium where everything is just right. While you’re probably not testing out porridge or bear beds in the pursuit of mental equilibrium, your body has many mechanisms to keep you balanced with regards to temperature,...
Like father, like son, right? Pretty much, it turns out—though it’s more accurate to say like parent, like child. There are many areas where children take after their parents, but only a few seem to be specific to gender: The presence of sex-controlled genes (as the scientists say)...
In the not-too-distant future, when you’re bred in labs for maximum efficiency and unparalleled servitude, it’s probably safe to rely on machines for data about how many calories you consume and burn off in any given period. Until then, however, it’s hard to say exactly how many...
The smell of sunscreen and charcoal in the air means that summer is finally here, shepherding in the familiar rites of the season—sunburns, hot dogs and another chance to finally resolve the Blizzard vs. McFlurry debate once-and-for-all. Be careful, though, how quickly you devour that Blizzard or...
To my friends who ran the marathon—you know who you are; actually, everyone knows who you are thanks to the Mylar blanket you wore long after you were warm again—I’d like to say, “Congratulations!” Not that I need to say it again since I screamed it at...
Getting swoll. Doing work. Pumping iron. No matter what you call it, exercising can be tough on your body. There’s a certain degree of pain or discomfort while you’re working out, but the real burn is often felt in the days after your initial trip to the...
Idle hands may be the devil’s playground, but a layabout towel is a back-to-back Coachella weekend for bacteria. To prevent germs (and their sidekick, rank odors) from proliferating in the fibers of your monogrammed L.L.Bean, towels should be washed every few days, or as soon as they...
One of life’s cruel ironies is that the occasions when we most desperately want to wash our hands—e.g., after shaking hands with a runny-nosed colleague after a meeting—water and soap are nowhere to be found. Hand-sanitizing gel is sometimes offered as a substitute, but can you really...
Like an extra helping of pecan pie at Thanksgiving, the last hour at the pool or the latest installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, we’ve all experienced too much of a good thing. After a gluttonous turn at the dessert table, you can sleep it...
Put down the margarita for one second, and listen. You need to eat something. No really—you’ve got work tomorrow, and we don’t want another “situation.” And don’t just put another taco, burrito or quesadilla in your mouth because, let’s face it, you probably had some combination of those...
We’ve all got baggage, some more damaging than others. Sometimes your baggage remains hidden to the outside world, known only to your therapist or failed romantic conquests. Other times, you wear it right on your face. Dark bags or circles under your eyes can make you look...
Sometimes the smell from your trip to the toilet is so terrible that it could be used as a weapon of mass destruction. Unfortunately, other than changing your diet—e.g., decreasing the amount of meat in your diet—there’s not much you can do about the odor of your...