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11 Things We Didn't Know Last Week

News, discoveries and ... fun

Sport fans In Pub

1. Yes, men are idiots. (Learn more at AARP)

2. Drinking alcohol to fall asleep can have the opposite effect. (Learn more at University of Missouri via Futurity)

3. The myth that eating carrots improves your eyesight stems from a World War II espionage ruse. (Learn more at Washington Post)

carrots

4. If you feel younger, you'll live longer. (Learn more at AARP)

Older Latin Couple Dancing

5. Watson, the IBM computer, is becoming a leading expert on post-traumatic stress disorder. (Learn more at Mashable)

6. You can buy a military-spec used Humvee from the Army, but you can't take it on a public road. (Learn more at Yahoo Autos)

Humvee driving through creek

7. More teens smoke electronic cigarettes than regular cigarettes. (Learn more at St. Louis Post Dispatch)

Smoking electronic cigarette

8. Forty-three countries, including Albania, have banned spanking, but not the United States. (Learn more at VOX)

Countries banning spanking

>> Get travel discounts with your AARP Member Advantages.

9. The world's oceans contain nearly 700 pieces of plastic for each person on the planet. (Learn more at USA Today)

Garbage on beach - mostly plastic - from ocean
National Oceanic and Atmospheric

10. Horses that win the Kentucky Derby have a "speed gene" that ancient horses lacked. (Learn more at Christian Science Monitor)

11. Pilfering patients are the reason there's nothing interesting to read in your doctor's waiting room.(Learn more at AARP)

Gossip magazines

Bonus video: You know how sometimes it seems there's only one song on the radio and it's playing all the time? Well, this video mashup brilliantly proves that was the case in 2014.


 

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/181993090" 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 — Rowdy fans: iStock/dangubic; Carrots: Flickr/Al Case; Dancing couple: iStock/aldo murillo; Humvee: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret
Flickr/DVIDSHUB; Vaping: Flickr/A. Currell; Spanking graphic: Time magazine; Ocean garbage: Flickr/NOAA photo library; Magazine montage: iStock/hutchyb

Music – Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra plays Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra – Blue Blazes by Sy Oliver, Creative Commons, courtesy of Smithsonian Remix project.

Staying Sharp: Keep Your Brain Healthy

 

 

 

 

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