Name droppin'

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. Love Language quiz is a sham, but does have some usefulness; a look at how we make memories in our sleep; and Gene Simmons’ solo band announces seven shows in 2027.

Let’s get into it!

The Kir Royale is a classic aperitif made with dry Champagne or sparkling wine and crème de cassis.

The Raspberry Royale is a riff on the classic that can double as a party drink during the holidays, given its red and festive hue.

In this version, instead of using crème de cassis, a dash of raspberry liqueur is called for, either in the form of Chambord, or fancier options like Mathilde Framboise or Giffard Crème de Framboise.

The drink was invented by the legendary Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten, and first appeared in her cookbook Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home, published in 2004.

It works because raspberry liqueur is incredibly sweet and colourful, whereas dry Champagne and sparkling wine are pale, acidic, and have very little sugar; the two balance each other fabulously.

The drink is also very easy to make and serve at a party, so long as you’ve got a bunch of flute glasses lined up and ready to be filled, add 1/4 oz of raspberry liqueur, four ounces of Champagne or sparkling wine, and a few raspberries to top it off.

Your guests will thank you later!

A study published in Neuron analyzed a group of neurons in the hippocampus of mice to determine what role they play in memory consolidation.

These particular neurons have high levels of a gene called Chrm2, which the researchers suspected may be relevant to the formation of memories during sleep.

They ran tests on two groups of mice, with one group acting as the control and the other having their Chrm2 filled neurons suppressed during sleep.

They determined that when the mice had their neurons suppressed after learning something, the memory of what was learned didn’t stick, whereas the non-suppressed mice were able to retain what they learned.

Most notably, sleep patterns can appear normal even if Chrm2 neurons are suppressed, providing scientists a previously unknown place to look when investigating why memories don’t form.

The Love Languages quiz was made popular by the book, The Five Love Love Languages, published in 1992 by pastor Gary Chapman.

Over 150 million people have taken the quiz to find out which one of the five languages listed in the book is the one their heart communicates with. They include: Quality Time, Acts of Service, Words of Affirmation, Receiving Gifts, and Physical Touch.

It’s a convenient way of zeroing in on what makes a person’s ticker tick, but like many quizzes of this nature, it’s reductive and scientifically baseless.

"Research has proven that there isn't a lot of validity to the idea that there are only five ways in which people show love, and that everybody fits neatly into these categories," said counselling psychologist Dr. Sarah Emmerson, whose patients almost always bring up their love language when seeking relationship counsel.

At the same time, while there isn’t really anything scientific to be gained by choosing one’s Love Language (as opposed to something like Attachment Theory), some say it can be useful for getting couples to discuss what makes them compatible or incompatible.

Awww, go on, tell us…what’s your love language?

Gene Simmons announced more tour dates for 2027, continuing the years-long run with his solo band that took off after Kiss called it a career at the end of 2023.

The God of Thunder’s band is pretty relaxed, playing with no make up, no pyrotechnics, and no rigid performance routine the kings of shock rock became legendary for.

They do play Kiss songs, though, along with rarities and covers, or pretty much whatever they feel like on any given night.

The band will head to Tuscon, AZ on Nov. 28 before flying up to Calgary on Dec. 1, and then travelling east for a pair of shows in Nova Scotia and Quebec, respectively on Dec. 12 and 14.

So far, there are seven gigs planned for 2027, though more will almost certainly be added at some point. You can find all the dates here.

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Clocking in

You probably never gave it much thought but there are a lot of great songs about time! Good thing we did because that’s the theme for today’s trivia!