Smooth and easy

It’s hard to rival being a Pepper, but Mr. Pibb also kinda felt like being part of an original crowd. It was something different for when a cola or root beer wouldn’t do, and as the folks at Coca-Cola kept reminding us, “It goes down good.”

Some soft-drinks always rise above others in any given market, but did you know a certain drink tends to dominate the sky? Because our taste buds act differently when we fly, ginger ale tastes better and more refreshing on a plane! 

Can never go wrong going for a soda ;)

Marvin the Martian would surely be impressed. After 378 days in a 3D-printed environment spanning 17,000 square feet and designed to simulate conditions on Mars, NASA’s four crew members emerged on Saturday at around 5 p.m. CT.

Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones entered the simulated space at Johnson Space Center on June 25 last year as part of the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog project.

NASA’s intention was to observe the behaviour of the crew in a would-be Martian environment, researching the ways the crew would handle living under conditions that would include limited food and resources, isolation, and the harsh conditions of the fourth rock from the Sun.

According to Steve Koerner, deputy director of Johnson Space Center, it was “crucial science as we prepare to send people on to the red planet.

Mars is the goal, according to Koerner, a statement some may question similarly to how critics questioned the Moon landing over 50 years ago.

“Why go to Mars? Because it’s possible,” said Anca Selariu, the crew’s space officer. "Because space can unite and bring out the best in us. Because it’s one defining step that ‘Earthlings’ will take to light the way into the next centuries.”

Caps are coming back (#facts ⬆️), and as the kids (ironically) like to say these days, that’s “no cap.”

The bucket hat was the big trend in elite fashion circles over the last few years, but the crumpled up “dad cap” has been roaring back, even to the point where female icons have taken up the mantle.

“I think in many ways, whatever you’re wearing, if you add a baseball cap, it instantly feels a bit more casual,” said Hannah Banks-Walker, Grazia’s head of fashion commerce. “[Jennifer Lopez] bunging on a leather baseball cap [with this outfit] is quite a funny juxtaposition.”

It’s not just anecdotal, either. Marks & Spencer recently reported sales of baseball caps have risen 30% above expectations this summer.

The real life boost, however, could be the consequence of anecdotal examples, with sightings of today’s top celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Rihanna, J-Lo and yes, Staker Paul, who have tipped the scales of these fashion choices away from vintage and towards an outright renaissance.

Digital switching refers to swiping away from or fast-forwarding through digital content in order to relieve boredom. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General suggests this may actually have the opposite effect.

“If people want a more enjoyable experience when watching videos, they can try to stay focused on the content and minimize digital switching,” said Katy Tam, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto. “Just like paying for a more immersive experience in a movie theater, more enjoyment comes from immersing oneself in online videos rather than swiping through them.”

The study involved 1,200 students at U of T, with half being forced to watch all of a ten minute YouTube video, and the other half being allowed to scroll through five-minute videos as many times as they wanted over a ten minute period.

Based on descriptions provided by the participants, those in the second group ended up feeling more bored than those in the first group.

“Digital switching may make the content of online videos seem meaningless because people don’t have time to engage with or understand the content,” Tam said.

It’s a constant struggle for legacy bands these days to convince audience members to care about anything but what they grew up on. Twisted Sister, however, seems to have a way to make fans lend them their ears.

Guitarist Jay Jay French went on Dean Delray’s Let There Be Talk podcast and revealed frontman Dee Snider’s reverse psychological trick to convincing fans to reconsider their attitude of “we’re not gonna take it” while they wait to hear We’re Not Gonna Take It.

“The truth is, when you come up with a new song, most people just get up and go to the bathroom,” French said.

“We recorded a new song many years ago called ’30’…we started playing it live. And Dee started saying, ‘OK, folks, tonight we’re going to be doing a new song. I’ll give you plenty of warning. It’s the song that you’re gonna go out and get a drink or take a piss. We’re three songs away from the piss song…two songs away.’

“And he would embarrass the people so much that they wouldn’t leave because now they don’t want to look like schmucks by getting up and leaving!”

British economist Charles Goodhart said “when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." An example of this in practice would be a customer support worker prioritizing a quota of completed service requests at the expense of the quality of service itself.

This became known as Goodhart’s Law, and its premise was observed recently in a study about chasing happiness.

Researchers at UC Berkeley, NYU, and the University of Toronto gathered 1,800 participants to ask them their thoughts about the nature of happiness, and had them keep daily journals documenting their levels of happiness.

The study found that the more the participants were encouraged to focus specifically on their happiness, the less happy they ended up feeling.

The conceptual definition of happiness has eluded thinkers and scientists going back as far as Ancient Greek philosophers. Ultimately, it’s likely a byproduct of living a life of meaning and purpose. Though it can be pursued, it’s unclear if it can, itself, be retrieved.

It sounds like Twisted Sister has a good strategy to convince fans to check out their lesser known newer material. But let’s be honest: sometimes, you just wanna hear the hits!

And speaking of hits, today’s trivia takes a look at Billboard’s top 10 songs of the ’80s ;)

Have a great day ahead Staker!

Trivia courtesy of funtrivia.com. Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.