Scientists just officially modeled out how to achieve maximum height / hang time on a playground swing set.

So you can stop holding your breath on that one...

TL;DR - shift your body weight forward when you hit the forward-swinging high point, and then shift backward when you hit the backward swinging high point.

This may seem intuitive, but apparently it isn't given physicists are all fired up about the discovery (and doing lots of playground swinging to celebrate).

What's wild to me is that kids just naturally figure out how to optimally shift bodyweight to achieve peak momentum. It's like a pendulum is built into our DNA. Pretty rad.

As always, please forward IQNEWS to a friend if you're a fan!

Gray hair is an I'm-sure-scientists-know-why-this-happens-but-I'll-never-look-it-up topic.

Well, turns out scientists DIDN'T know...until today.

At a high level, we did know that a reduction in our supply of pigment-producing cells called melanocytes was the ultimate cause, but we didn't understand why melanocyte supply drops in the first place.

Melanocytes are formed from melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) in the hair follicle. A recent study closely examined these stem cells in mice as they aged and found they get "stuck" in a region called the follicle bulge as we age and/or incur stress.

And when an McSC gets stuck, it never develops into an melanocyte and thus never contributes pigment to the strand of hair.

Here's the punchline...

"This finding presents a potential pathway for reversing or preventing the graying of human hair by helping jammed cells to move again between developing hair follicle compartments," reports one of the study authors.

Pretty wild!

That said, silver fox George Clooney seems to be doing okay with some salt and pepper up top. Same with Meryl Streep. And a zillion other people.

Most arguments go something like this...

"I think X!"

"X makes no sense. Y is the way."

"Y can't be the way because of Z."

"You're wrong and I dislike you as a person."

(That last line might only be relevant to me; I can't say for sure).

Anyway, point is: most arguments entail two parties making statements at each other, which rarely results in people changing their minds (a.k.a. resolution).

If you instead weave questions into your argument (e.g., "But what if you were in position X - would you still feel that way?"), the other party is far more likely to see flaws in their logic and adjust their perspective.

Go pick an argument with a stranger and give it a try! Just kidding...sort of.

1. When in school, students wish to leave it. When in the workplace, adults wish to go back to school.
2. In Star Wars, the people who won brought swords to gun fights.
3. There is nothing as simultaneously satisfying and disappointing as figuring out a big twist long before you’re supposed to.
4. Talking to your pets is weird but not talking to your pets is weirder.
5. It's such a blessing that our thoughts don't directly control our bodies.

Robin Sharma: "Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life."

Today I learned about the Blue Java banana, a hard cold-tolerant type of banana known to have an ice cream-like consistency and a flavor reminiscent of vanilla. (more here)

undergird [ uhn-der-gurd ] - verb
provide support or a firm basis for
That's a philosophy that needs to undergird retailers' business plans this year.

Q: How many inches is the diameter of a basketball hoop?
A: (see below next section)