11 Things We Didn't Know Last Week

News, discoveries and ... fun

1. Marmosets can learn useful behaviors, like unlocking a box of food, from watching videos of other marmosets. (Learn more at NY Times)

2. Colognes newly created to honor Che Guevara and Hugo Chávez are a "serious error," according to the Cuban government. (Learn more at BBC)

3. Swedish scientists compete to hide the most Bob Dylan lyrics in their scholarly papers. (Learn more at Rolling Stone)

>> 12 Foods That Sabotage Sleep

4. At 20 percent, the share of never-married American adults has more than doubled since 1960. (Learn more at AARP)

5. People say their favorite snack food is fresh fruit, but they actually eat more chocolate. (Learn more at Nielsen)

6. The population of wild animals has fallen by more than half since 1970, while the human population has nearly doubled. (Learn more at Discovery)

7. A robot can distinguish between inauthentic Thai food and the real thing. (Learn more at NY Times)

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8. Americans are more depressed than they've been in decades. (Learn more at San Diego State University)

9. Singer Susan Boyle postponed her career because she was caring for her mother. (Learn more at AARP)

10. TV ads supporting Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate run more often on The Big Bang Theory; Democrats prefer The Good Wife. (Learn more at Washington Post)

11. Caffeinated underwear doesn't help you lose weight. (Learn more at NPR)

Bonus video: Aretha is back, singing the songs of other divas, including Adele's "Rolling in the Deep."

Learn something this week? Mail your ideas to 11things@aarp.org, and we’ll try to include your story next time.

On Twitter, we’re using the hashtag # 11things.

Let us read 11 Things to you:

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/170229219" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

 

Images — Marmoset watching video: Tina Gunhold; Havana street scene: Steve Mencher; Bob Dylan academic paper: AARP; Un-wedding cake: Pixabay/AARP; Girl eating apple: ktaylorg/iStock; Thai food: enviromantic/iStock; Depressed young woman: Flickr/darcyadelaide; Susan Boyle: photo by Ben Baker; Caffeinated underwear: catalog screenshot

Music – Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra plays Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra – Blue Blazes by Sy Oliver, Creative Commons, courtesy of Smithsonian Remix project and Aretha Franklin sings Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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