'Impossible' Coral Reef, Better Sleep With Lower Temps and 'Textalyzer' Catches Distracted Drivers - Today on HowStuffWorks NOW

Apr 28, 2016 05:17 pm   Today on HowStuffWorks NOW   An 'Impossible' Coral Reef System Discovered at Amazon River Mouth How can a rich ecosystem exist beneath water as muddy as that of the Amazon River's plume? The surprising discovery all has to do with physics and density.       One Simple Way to Get More Sleep: Lower the Thermostat Arianna Huffington's new book on sleep got us thinking about how to get better zzzs. Could lowering the thermostat work for you, too?       Prehistoric STDs Could Be the Reason Humans Became Monogamous Only a tiny percentage of animals are socially and sexually monogamous, but that includes humans. A new study says ancient STDs may be at the root of the practice.       MC1R Gene May Have a Hand in How Old You Look Researchers have found if you have certain versions of the MC1R gene, you look about two years older than you really are. And no amount of spray-on tan can change that.       New 'Textalyzer' Tech Aims to Catch Distracted Drivers A proposed bill in New York would give police access to drivers' phones after car accidents. Yes, texting while driving is a problem — but could this be the solution?       What It's Like Circumnavigating the Globe in a Solar-powered Plane The pilots of the sun-fueled Solar Impulse 2, halfway through its 'round-the-world trip, self-hypnotize while spending days on end in a space the size of a coffin.       Thought Experiment: What If We Stopped Walking Upright? Humans have only been bipedal for a sliver of history. What if we returned our spines to their original position and quit walking upright? What would that world be like?       Saudi Arabia Will Attempt to Lessen Its Addiction to Oil Yep, the same country that's home to Saudi Aramco, an energy behemoth valued at trillions of dollars, thinks it might be time to start stepping away from the oil.       Can Jet Hand Dryers Really Blast Out a Germ Cloud? Well, Yes and No A new study finds noisy touch-free dryers like the Dyson Airblade can fill an entire room with airborne viruses. But "can" and "actually do" are different things.       Skyscrapers of the Future Could Be Made of Wood Steel and glass office towers are the norm in most modern cities. But some imaginative architects want to switch to a renewable, less carbon-intensive old standby: wood.       Parents: Ditch the Spanking and Try Non-punitive Discipline Instead That's according to two authors who combed through five decades of research on 160,000 kids and found that spanking leads to negative outcomes all around.       Exploring the World of Mail-order Marriages While the headlines usually focus on tales of abuse and scams, the reality is more humdrum — and heartbreaking.       Surprise! There's Such a Thing as Abdominal Migraine If you've never heard of abdominal migraines, you're not alone. But your kid might experience them and, eventually, migraine headaches as an adult.       How Republicans Could Still End Up With a Contested Convention This Year Voting in a primary is a choice a political party makes for itself. Things could still end up being ultimately decided at the convention in July. Here's why.       Tim Peake Ran a 3:35:21 Marathon — From Space The British-born astronaut also landed himself a Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon in space while he was at it.     Copyright © 2016 InfoSpace LLC, All rights reserved. HowStuffWorks, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

Ridiculous History, Oldest Living Thing and 30-year Tetanus Booster - Today on HowStuffWorks NOW

Apr 25, 2016 04:30 pm   Today on HowStuffWorks NOW   Ridiculous History: When People Thought They Were Made of Glass Imagine being afraid that if someone touches you or that if you sit down, you'll break. That's what life was like for someone with the glass delusion.       What's the Oldest Living Thing on Earth? Trees? Fungus? Bacteria? It all kind of depends on how you define "alive" ... and how you define "thing," as this BrainStuff video explains.       Test Driving Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Car Buckminster Fuller's 1933 designs for a car were innovative, stylish and exciting. But how would one actually handle on today's roads?       30 Is the New 10: Study Says You Only Need a Tetanus Booster Every 30 Years The current U.S. recommendation is to get a tetanus shot every 10 years. Will this new study change CDC guidelines?       Is Your Airbnb Photo 'Trustworthy'? If So, You Could Be Charging More Thinking about making some extra cash with Airbnb? Pick your profile photo carefully. New research finds that it matters more than you think.       Take a Dose of Dickinson: Poetry as Therapy Poetry can actually help you heal from traumatic situations. A poetry therapist explains how.       No, Not Only U.S. Presidents Are on American Money Harriet Tubman won't be the first non-president whose face appears on the front of U.S. paper currency, but in 2020 hers will be the first black woman's to do so.       Life Expectancy for White Women in U.S. Decreases It dropped by only about a month, but that's the first time a decrease has happened in the century or so that the CDC has been tracking these things.       Predicting the Next Death on 'Game of Thrones' "Game of Thrones" fans, beware spoilers — a new computer program predicts the death of the show's characters.       Stupid People Are Surprisingly Confident So at least they have that.     Copyright © 2016 InfoSpace LLC, All rights reserved. HowStuffWorks, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list