News Sidequest

Fewer teens are getting driver’s licenses. Federal data shows about 1 in 4 16-year-olds is licensed now, down from about half in 1983, and cost is a big reason. Also: The Atlantic asks the question you probably don’t...

IFLScience spent a night at a famously haunted British castle and came back with a better question: why do people pay to be scared? Scientists call it recreational fear, and it works because the body treats fear and...

A new Cambridge review in Psychological Medicine pulls together years of research on reading for pleasure. It links reading to better attention and memory, fewer mental health problems, and a lower risk of dementia...

A University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital national poll of 2,027 parents finds 81% say having a baby costs more than it should, with 40% of parents of children under 3 reporting they are struggling financially...

A King’s College London study of 9,632 children ages 9 to 11 in the ABCD Study found that even one caffeinated drink per week — mostly soda — was linked to smaller cortical surface area across 22 brain regions, with...

The Telegraph covered new research and expert consensus on birth memories: less than 1% of adults claim to remember being born, and neuroscientists are confident it isn’t scientifically possible — the hippocampus is too...

The New York Times covered new research suggesting the theoretical human lifespan ceiling may be 146 to 194 years — but even in the most optimistic scenario, irreversible DNA mutations accumulate in ways that eventually...

Investopedia’s 2026 American Dream analysis puts the lifetime cost of the traditional package — home, two cars, two kids, college, retirement, vacations — at $5.3 million, up from $3.4 million just three years ago, and...

A King’s College London study of more than 5,500 adolescents published in JAMA Network Open finds that every extra 1,000 to 2,000 daily steps is linked to fewer mental health symptoms a year later — with no plateau up...

The average American household’s monthly costs total $8,856 according to an Independent analysis — and someone earning $100,000 takes home about $8,333 a month after taxes, leaving them $523 short before a single dollar...

Starlink satellite internet is now on hundreds of planes across United, British Airways, Qatar, Air France and others, with speeds fast enough for actual Zoom calls — and some airlines are now explicitly allowing them...

Beryl Dillman, a retired educator who spent 50 years as a principal and professor, turned 108 in Eugene, Oregon last week — his family believes he may be the oldest living man in the state — and credits a clean diet, no...

The New York Times published a piece this week synthesizing the latest research on infant consciousness — and the scientific consensus is shifting toward yes, with growing evidence that some form of conscious experience...

The Washington Post profiled the growing trend of readers treating non-readers as a dealbreaker — including a new dating app called Readme built specifically for bibliophiles — with Bumble data finding that straight...

Gallup released new data today showing only 31% of Americans say a college education is "very important" — down from 70% in 2013, and the lowest reading since the question was first asked in 1978. Only 12% say college...