Why Do We Get Our Best Ideas in the Shower?

Creativity sometimes requires taking a step back. Activities like showering or walking can help. When you’re struggling with a problem that feels unsolvable and then somewhere between shampoo and conditioner, you find the answer in the shower. Doing something mindless like showering, we can find a creative solution. Researchers at the University of Virginia call it “the shower effect”.

They have found that mildly engaging tasks like showering or walking can boost the most creativity. Creative idea generation requires that one should strike a balance between focused thinking which limits originality and random associations which are often irrelevant to our creative problems.

People in the study weren’t actually showering. Instead, researchers tried to imitate (模仿) the engagement level of a shower or walking through videos that required a certain level of engagement. Participants either saw a video that was considered boring—two men folding laundry—or a video of the famous scene in a familiar movie. After that, participants had 45 seconds before researchers asked them to list creative uses for a brick or a paperclip.

This research highlights the importance of stepping away from a problem to solve it, says Alice Flaherty, at Harvard Medical School. She says her students could learn a thing or two from the research because time away from a task is what helps us focus afterwards. “Some of my graduate students are so dedicated that they won’t get up from their desks until they have a creative idea, which is counterproductive because they don’t ever let their brains step back and take a rest”.

But Flaherty also holds that researchers need to control physical arousal (唤起). “They say that when you’re out walking or showering it’s mildly engaging to the brain, but it might just be that it’s physically arousing,” she says. “An activity increases your heart rate, which might make you think you have the best idea. While showering might promote creativity, it might not be for the reasons they state.” But whatever the reason, Flaherty agrees that when you’re stuck and can’t seem to come up with a creative solution, stepping away to do something completely unrelated could get your juices flowing.

【推荐2】Many believe that smiling takes years off your appearance by conveying a youthful happiness. However, a study has found that smiling actually makes people look older, unless they are over 60, in which case the wrinkles have set in and it makes little difference.

Neuroscientists showed participants hundreds of photographs of faces of people aged between 20 and 80, either smiling or with a neutral expression, and were asked to estimate their age. The faces of younger people in their twenties and thirties were identified as looking older when they were smiling. However, smiling had little or no effect on the perceived age of those over the age of 60.

The study found that for middle-aged people between the ages of 40 and 60, gender played a role in whether smiling altered the perceived age. Men in this age category appeared older when they smiled, but for their female counterparts, smiling had no effect.

Researchers also suggested that it could be down to the gender differences in lifestyle and skin care that could affect facial wrinkling.

The study follows a similar one undertaken in 2018 which also debunked the theory that smiling can take years off your appearance. The same scientists published a paper saying that the belief “well-rooted in media” was “a complete misconception”. They said the misplaced belief was causing social media users to post ageing photos of themselves online.

【推荐3】While it's not impossible for birds to fly in the rain, they usually choose not to. You may see birds fly for a few seconds in poor weather, but most of them prefer to stay put on rainy days.

Why does rain make it harder for birds to fly? You might imagine that moving through the air while being pelted by raindrops would be pretty unpleasant. However, it's not the rain itself that makes flying difficult. Instead, birds are influenced by the drop in the air pressure that comes with most rainstorms. When pressure drops, the air is less thick, which makes it harder for birds to fly. Moving through the sky in areas of low air pressure takes a lot of energy.

Most birds need to eat several times a day—rain or no rain. Luckily, most birds' feathers（羽毛）are highly waterproof（防水的）, protecting the skin beneath. Many birds can also make oil that they can spread over their feathers to further protect themselves from the rain. Most birds don't like rain. In fact, in a 2010 study, a team of researchers studied birds living in a Costa Rican rainforest. They found that the birds had higher levels of stress hormone（应激激素）on rainy days. That may not surprise you. After all, many animals feel stressed out during storms. Pet owners often find that rain and thunder make their animals nervous. Some animals are so strongly influenced by nature that they almost seem to forecast the future.

No one really knows how many birds die during a storm or series of storms. But the number is certainly higher than usual. They fly into trees or windows; they get lost over the ocean or a large lake; their food sources are made more difficult to get but, at the same time, they need more food to get warm. However, if rain continues for some time, birds will have to challenge the storm.

Chinese weddings, and the customs before the wedding, are steeped in ancient traditions. Here is an overview of the most common and traditional Chinese marriage ceremonies.

The color red plays an important part in a Chinese wedding. Red is the symbol of joy — and what is more joyous than a wedding? Red is the main color for Chinese weddings, from clothing to candles on the tables to red firecrackers.

The Chinese groom’s family formally asks in the form of a letter for the hand of the bride.

Both families have to agree that the couple is a good match for each other. Importance is placed on the horoscopes of both the groom and bride. Also, the actual date of the wedding is discussed as to avoid unlucky days.

If negotiations were successful, a gift letter is send to the bride’s family, and the groom will bring the bride’s family a variety of food and other traditional items. The couple is now engaged.

The bride prepares a dowry. A dowry includes clothes and other daily necessities. At the day of the wedding, the dowry is brought to the family of the groom.

The groom’s family sends a wedding letter, officially acknowledging the bride into the family.

During the actual ceremony, which equals the exchange of vows in the west, the couple will pay respect by kneeling three times.

They kneel to the heaven and earth, the ancestral tablets and their parents, and then to each other. A tea ceremony follows, in which the bride serves tea to the groom’s family. The bride will receive jewelry or money wrapped in red envelopes.

The couple will invite all relatives and friends to their wedding banquet. The banquet is considered even more important than the ceremony itself. A great deal of attention is placed on the food offered during the banquet.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a wedding banquet without fish, which is a symbol for abundance.

Naturally, modern Chinese couples might not follow all traditions or rituals. Also, while it was tradition that the newlywed couple moved in with the groom’s family, many modern couples would prefer to live alone.

But even during a modern Chinese wedding, elements of ancient customs can be found.

While my colleague didn’t wear a red Qipao — the traditional brides’ dress — she followed tradition in having a traditional Chinese wedding banquet.

If you are ever invited to a Chinese wedding banquet, don’t miss out! A Chinese wedding banquet is a joyous celebration and the highlight of every Chinese wedding, no matter whether traditional or modern.

Most Chinese superstitions involve numbers and colors. Also, the way a word sounds is very important. A Chinese bride shouldn’t wear black, blue or gray, because that would result in bad luck to the marriage. Preferred colors for the bride to wear are white, but red is the all time favorite.