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Ask, don't tell. No, we're not talking about gays in the military but New Year's resolutions. Experts say if you ask someone if they're going to exercise in the new year, you're far more likely to get a positive response than if you say, you're a fat pig, you need to lose weight. We all make resolutions at the new year -- and most of us drop them by about the third week of January.  I know, I'm one of them -- though my determination to lose weight and run at least 3 miles a day every day has stayed strong.  Of course, I've only lost about 5 pounds this year and some people still say, "I saw you out walking," when I'm jogging by. But asking about resolutions in a simple question can be a game-changing technique for people who want to influence their own or others' behavior, according to a recent study spanning 40 years of research.  The research looked at the phenomenon in which asking people about performing a certain behav...

I have a friend who posts everything she does -- from the restaurants where she drinks wine (holding up the glass to prove it) to the meals she prepares in her kitchen to the new car she bought with a convertible top (posed with a Santa cap and the top down at Christmas), angling for likes. I guess you would say she's dependent on Facebook Now a new study says that if what drives you to Facebook is feedback on your posts, or even just news, or games, yup.  You're hooked.  But that's not necessarily a bad thing, says Amber Ferris, an assistant professor of communication at The University of Akron's Wayne College. at newswise.com. Ferris, who studies Facebook user trends, says the more people use Facebook to fulfill their goals, the more dependent on it they become. She is quick to explain this dependency is not equivalent to an addiction. Rather, the reason why people use Facebook determines the level of dependency they have on the social network. The study...

This might make you think twice the next time you reach for an Oreo out of a vending machine. A new study has found that harmful bacteria can survive on sandwich crackers and cookies for months.  And months. According to newswise.com, researchers at the University of Georgia found that pathogens, like salmonella, can survive for at least six months in cookies and crackers. The recent study was prompted by an increased number of outbreaks of food-borne diseases linked to low-water-activity, or dry, foods. We won't even get into Chipotle. “There have been an increased number of outbreaks of diseases associated with consumption of contaminated dry foods. We wouldn’t expect salmonella to grow in foods that have a very dry environment,” says Larry Beuchat, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus and researcher in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who works with the Center for Food Safety on the UGA campus in Griffin.  Beuchat and study co-autho...

They don't know if they're coming or going.  Doctors are now saying that alcohol is good for your heart.  But maybe not so much for your breasts, ladies. Turns out a whole confluence of studies has found that one drink a day, every day, keeps your heart healthier but may contribute, somewhat significantly, to the development of breast cancer.   But any more than that, not so much.  And as for those who really don't imbibe at all, we could be in the worst shape of all. According to The New York Times, research into how alcohol consumption affects health has been going on for a long time. A 1990 prospective cohort study included results of more than 275,000 men followed since 1959. Compared with those who never drank alcohol, those who consumed one to two drinks a day had a significantly reduced mortality rate from both coronary heart disease and “all causes.” Those who consumed three or more drinks a day still had a lower risk of death from coronary heart ...

We all know the story of the woman expecting a diamond necklace who gets the Swiffer for Christmas. Or the woodworker, the mani-pedi. What do you do when you get a gift you really . . .don't want? Oh, I've been there. Granted, my husband is Jewish and Christmas has come hard to him. But what do you do when you don't get what you want, from somebody you love but who should know better? Experts conducting an experiment found that women who got an undesirable gift shrugged it off, while men who got a bad one weren't quite so easy-going. They say it's easier for women to wreck a new relationship with a bad gift. As if. Larry hasn't always been a, well, great gift-giver. When we first started dating I got a diamond heart one Christmas, a solid gold bracelet another and even one-carat diamond earrings the Christmas I was pregnant with our son ( my idea). What is the effect of bad gifts given within established relationships? A...

Getting less and less sleep ?  Congratulations.  You've evolved to a human. Humans get by on significantly less sleep than our closest animal relatives. The secret, according to a new study, is that our sleep is more efficient. Researchers from Duke University scoured the scientific literature and compiled a database of slumber patterns across hundreds of mammals including 21 species of primates -- from baboons and lemurs to orangutans, chimpanzees and people. They then used statistical techniques to account for each species' position in the primate family tree. They found that humans are exceptionally short sleepers -- getting by on an average of seven hours of sleep a night, whereas other primate species, such as southern pig-tailed macaques and gray mouse lemurs, need as many as 14 to 17 hours.  Now, I don't particularly care much about the sleep habits of southern pig-tailed macaques, I find it interesting that they make out better than us at night...

It's pretty much the same old story. But it's still a good one. Live in the moment.  But now researchers say it will help with motivation , too. Their point?  Enjoy the task at hand, according to newswise.com.  A new study from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business finds people value having a positive experience when they are in the middle of an activity, although this matters less to them before or after they start the activity. For example, people value that their work is engaging more when in the middle of a current job then when thinking about future work.  Because when people look forward to or back on an activity, they tend to underestimate how important it is to actually enjoy doing it, people also underestimate in advance how much the presence or absence of a positive experience will influence their persistence on a task. And further, people may come to regret selecting activities that provide a less enjoyable experience when th...