Stock markets tend to rise in the week after a blockbuster movie opens
Blockbuster movie releases were followed by significantly higher US stock market returns the next week, along with lower expected volatility and risk aversion, and the pattern also appeared in international markets.
Five shared genetic factors explain about two thirds of the risk for 14 psychiatric disorders
Analysing genetic data from 1,056,201 cases across 14 psychiatric disorders, the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium found five underlying genomic factors that explain around 66% of each disorder’s genetic variance on average, tied to 238 shared genetic loci.
38 million obituaries show Americans are remembered for faith and family, not power
An analysis of 38 million US obituaries found tradition appears in 80% and benevolence in 76%, while power and stimulation are rare; men are remembered more for achievement and power, women for benevolence, and benevolence has not recovered since COVID-19.
Across 20 million papers, remote teams made fewer breakthroughs than on-site ones
An analysis of 20 million research papers and 4 million patents over half a century found that teams spread across cities are consistently less likely to produce disruptive discoveries, because distant members rarely conceive ideas together.
People who move house often score higher on narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy
Across eight studies with 6,147 participants, people who moved more often, and residents of places with heavy population outflow, scored higher on the Dark Triad traits. A mobile mindset nudged people toward those traits, and people high in them preferred a mobile life.
People who saw a total solar eclipse as children were more likely to become scientists
Societies exposed to more total solar eclipses were denser and more technologically complex, and among 150,260 historical figures, those who could see a total eclipse between ages 5 and 15 were about 4% to 7% more likely to work in science.
Good looks help job seekers only when their degree matches, China and US studies show
In 2,095 real applications in China, applicants whose looks and university prestige matched got 11.7% callbacks versus 6.8% for mismatched ones, and a survey of 2,020 US hiring staff showed the same pattern.
A smiling profile photo lifts Airbnb bookings by 3.5%, and male hosts gain the most
Across 9,248 Airbnb hosts in seven US cities, a smile in the host’s profile photo raised bookings by 3.5% on average, worth about $673 a year for a typical property. The boost was biggest for male hosts, new hosts and riskier neighbourhoods.
Saying you didn’t make time, not didn’t have time, boosts motivation to try again
In nine experiments, describing a missed goal as “didn’t make time” rather than “didn’t have time” made people feel more in control of their time, which raised their motivation to reengage and improved their views of goal-related products.