Consequences of Time in Nature
Joye and teammates report that they “tested the ‘nature-as-reward hypothesis’, which suggests that superior cognitive task performance following nature exposure reflects a general performance improvement, driven by the reward value of beautiful things. ....
Your Home’s “Face”
The façade of your home is the face that it presents to the world. Just like our own faces have a big effect on the instantaneous opinions formed of us as people, the front...
Feeling not with your Fingertips – from your feet to your butt!
We don’t just have nerve endings in our fingertips and tactile experiences from the soles of our feet as we walk, from our butts as we sit, etc., also influence our experiences in a...
Viewing Textures
Textures on surfaces are often seen, so they influence how people think and behave, even if no one ever reaches out to touch them: We prefer glossy surfaces to ones that are matte so...
Things we learned in 2023
In 2023, researchers have reported that: Symmetrical things seem more functional and reliable and asymetical ones more fun and exciting—useful information when you’re making choices. At-work sound volumes of about 50 dBA are best;...
To DIY, or not to DIY
In many parts of the world, at this time of year, people find themselves with time on their hands; hiking is definitely not the top of anyone’s list as sleet pours from the skies,...
Conversation Enhancers
As you move through the Winter months where you live, you may find conversations with those you’re “cooped up” with getting a little tense. Some science-based suggestions for smoothing your interactions with those you’re...
Peach Fuzz – Pantone Colour of the Year
Pantone has named their colour of the year for 2024 – Peach Fuzz (visible here: https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year/2024?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAj_CrBhD-ARIsAIiMxT-Srg5ERWiVQ_tNUUMnjWt_lx8EBYLwJ0511CQeVK2yE55oN6TMUFoaAo_BEALw_wcB). Sometimes the colours of the year that Pantone selects seem, well, wacky, but this year’s seems right on...
Global Warming Stripes
In “The Coloured Stripes That Explain Climate Change” (the BBC, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231206-the-coloured-stripes-that-explain-climate-change) Carla Rosch illustrates how the associations we have to colours can be used. Take a look at the warm and cool colours...
Beige is Blah…!
Kircher writes about an online negative reaction to a beige-y interior in “She Redecorated Her Boyfriend’s Apartment. Tik Tok Hated It.” (The New York Times, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/style/tiktok-beige-apartment.html). Science indicates that sometimes beige, as a very...
Plant trees and feel less pain!
Gungormus and colleagues link planting trees to experiencing less pain: “Sensory stimulation has shown the capacity to modulate pain mechanisms. . . . A single-group, pretest-posttest clinical trial was used. . . . healthy...
Use “Healthy” in your labelling
Sleboda and team’s work may be handy as you attempt to convince your family and friends to act in more environmentally responsible ways. The researchers collected data as “Participants chose between one gourmet food...
Tension and Tastes
Zushi’s team shares that “Prior research indicate that emotional states can alter taste perception, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. . . . The first experiment investigated how anxiety affects taste perception when individuals...
Synaesthesia!
If you’re interested in synaesthesia, take a look at Cytowic’s work, available at the link, below. Cytowic shares that “Synaesthesia has already caused a paradigm shift in two senses. For science, it has forced...
Lighting and Feeling Tired
Zhou and Pan report that “participants were tested under different illuminance levels and correlated color temperatures (CCT) for three distinct reading durations. Reading efficiency during the task tests and objective measures of brain activity...
Designing New Year’s Resolutions – The Long Read
As one year ends and another begins we’re driven to think about the high and low points of the last 12 months and to plan for the next 12, and beyond. All of which...
Keeping your New Year’s Resolutions
Looking for tips for keeping your New Year’s resolutions? Look no further: Open the curtains and let in the natural light. We not only process information more effectively in natural light, our cognitive performance...
Design – Sending Silent Signals
As The Space Doctors has discussed oodles of times, human beings continually “read” the world around themselves, trying to determine what it has to “say.” All of which sounds like a lot of mumbo-jumbo,...
There are more benefits of being active – beyond the Calories!
The research is very clear that being active, really using your muscles throughout the day, has all sorts of benefits beyond burning calories (although burning calories is indeed a good thing). Taking a walk,...
Cold Weather Fixes…
Want to feel warmer? Make sure you’re surrounded by warm colours and nix the cooler ones. The difference in perceived temperatures can be as much as 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Similarly, when we see images...
What Art?
Have you decided to add some art to your life? Neuroscience research makes it clear when it’s best to add what: Looking at nature scenes—in paintings, in photographs, etc.—helps you mentally refresh after you’ve...
Biophilic School Design – Great for Students, Teachers, and the Planet They Live On
When biophilic design principles are applied at places where people are learning and teaching, good things happen—moods and cognitive performance improve (for students and teachers!)—which is always a plus, whether trigonometry or Latin grammar...
The Value of Biophilic Design
The neuroscience research makes it very, very clear that being in a biophilicly designed space elevates our wellbeing. Need proof of the value of indoor biophilicly designed spaces? Here’s a representative sample of research...
The Science Behind Wild Swimming
Wild swimming has been having a moment, for the last few decades, and likely will get even more attention when people swim in the Seine during the 2024 Paris Olympics—although jumping into the Seine...
Curvaceous Houses
A November article in The New York Times talks about the many curving design elements in environments created by Polish Brazilian designer Jorge Zalszupin (Michael Snyder, 2023, “Wacky, Curvaceous Houses in Brazil That Feel...
Treehouses!
What could be more biophilic than a treehouse? In October, Tow Vanderbilt reported on the treehouses designed by Takeshi Kobayashi (“A Treehouse Builder Who Creates Impermanence: Japan’s Takashi Kobayashi Has Found Freedom in the...
Scenting and Branding…. yes this is a thing!
M. Brown, in a recent article in The New York Times reviews recent efforts by many to link their locations/products/services to specific scents in consumers’ minds (“When You Think About Your Credit Card, Does...
Nature and the Authentic you!
Yang, Sedikides, Wang, and Cai “formulated several hypotheses: (a) nature fosters authenticity, and it does so through at least four plausible mechanisms: self-esteem, basic needs satisfaction (autonomy, competence, relatedness), mindfulness, and positive affect; (b)...
The Science behind why soft sounds and touch affect us so positively.
Lohaus, Thoma, and Bellingrath report in a literature review that ASMR* “is associated with short-term positive effects on mental health. . . . for the roughly 25 to 30 percent of people who can...
How Women write about Nature
Researchers have learned more about how who we are influences how we write about nature; the same demographic factors likely influence thinking more generally. A Langer lead team found that “female authors tend to...
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