Science-Backed Secrets to a Successful Marriage
There is no perfect formula for a happy and successful marriage, but science has gotten pretty close. Psychologists studied couples’ habits and interactions and they have found that successful couples have a lot of things in common.
The Society for Personality and Social Psychology surveyed and studied 30,000 people from the US over four decades.
They have found that the happiest couples have sex once a week. Also, they have determined that the more sex a couple has, the happier they are, but only up to a frequency of once a week. Having sex more than once a week did not impact a higher level of happiness.
The lead researcher, Amy Muise said in a press release:
“Although more frequent sex is associated with greater happiness, this link was no longer significant at a frequency of more than once a week. Our findings suggest that it’s important to maintain an intimate connection with your partner, but you don’t need to have sex every day as long as you’re maintaining that connection.”
Researchers also found that couples who drink together tend to stay together longer. These results came from a study published in Journals of Gerontology B: Psychological Sciences. It doesn’t include only drinking but any other activity that couples do together while spending more quality time with each other.
Scientists also proved that couples who are less materialistic are more satisfied in their relationship. Money tends to be one of the main reasons why couples seek counseling and one of the leading causes of divorce. When a couple is able to focus less on the pursuit of material possessions and focus more on each other, their relationship will flourish.
Beliefs in Aliens, Atlantis, and other Myths is on the Rise
Beliefs in pseudoarcheology such as ancient aliens who built pyramids in Egypt or Atlantis, a lost city and other myths are on the rise.
In 2018, 41% of Americans declared that they believe that aliens visited Earth in the ancient past. Approximately 57% of Americans believed that Atlantis and some other advanced ancient civilizations existed.
All these myths are not backed by science and therefore, are considered to be outlandish. They have been circulating for decades and now archaeologists are mobilizing to counter these beliefs.
Scientists are taking these beliefs to blogs, Twitter, podcasts, newspapers, and YouTube to debunk any false claims and to explain the matter by using real archaeological methods. They are planning to share their knowledge and evidence during a symposium at the Society for American Archaeology meeting.
They are hoping to provide real scientific information to a curious public and to reveal the truth of pseudoarcheology.
Believing in myths without any proof can be dangerous at times if the beliefs are the main reason for someone’s behavior or actions towards others and towards themselves. Also, this could become a pattern for believing in things that could be more dangerous or degrading to others.
Ebola Outbreak in Congo is not an International Crisis
Epidemiologist, Michael Osterhold, who is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis said:
“We have an Ebola gas can sitting in DRC that’s just waiting for a match to hit it. It could blow substantially in this area any time soon.”
Although, a number of organizations including the DRC’s Ministry of Health, and WHO are doing a great job to contain the outbreak, many do not agree that this is not an international crisis. Officials in Congo are doing everything they can to detect cases, find and vaccinate anyone who had direct or indirect contact with a person who became ill.
WHO did not declare the Ebola outbreak in Congo as an international crisis, however, Congo needs an additional $104million to close a funding gap and carry all their plans to fight Ebola by the end of July this year.
Osterholm was “surprised and disappointed” by the decision that the outbreak is not an international crisis.
“I have read, reread, and discussed at length what the conditions are that would” justify declaring a PHEIC… The funding gap alone should tell you the world is not understanding the public health importance here and the emergency nature of this. WHO is sending a message that we’re concerned but it’s business as usual, and I don’t see anything as business as usual here.”
Hopefully, the outbreak will stay under control in Congo.