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Fun World Cup final. It's trite, but defense really does win championships.
Spain conceded just one single goal the entire tournament - the lowest of all time.
They also just became the first country to hold the men's and women's World Cup titles simultaneously.
And they're hosting the next World Cup! Barcelona must be nuts right now…
As always, please forward IQNEWS to a friend if you're a fan!
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STORY OF THE WEEK |
The great spicy food debate
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Is spicy food good or bad for you?
As hot sauce sales hit new all-time-highs, the debate is heating up (Sunday…punday?), with recent research landing on both sides.
The case FOR centers on longevity. A meta-analysis of 570K+ linked chili consumption to 25% lower risk of death from any cause. Capsaicin, the pepper compound that's hot, is the driver - anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, and blood-sugar-regulating. A '26 cohort study also tied spicy diets to slower biological aging.
The case AGAINST centers on GI health. A 14-study review found the heaviest chili consumers were 64% more likely to develop GI cancer, and 3X more likely to develop throat cancer. The risk wasn't uniform (highest in Asia, Africa, N. America), and serving temp is a key confounding variable. Riskier regions serve spicy food hot, which damages the esophagus.
Expert consensus as of now? Moderation. Spicy food appears safe, even beneficial for most people. Very high chili intake - especially in hot meals - not so much.
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IN OTHER NEWS |
Hear hear!, fooled by faces, oil scam...
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| Tel Aviv University just regrew inner-ear hair cells - the sound-detecting cells that, once damaged, never grow back. Possibly the LASIK moment for hearing. |
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| Lancaster University conducted a study on real versus AI faces. Participants caught the fakes just 58% of the time and rated the AI faces more trustworthy than the real ones. |
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| Cornell just found that drinking water with your meal makes you eat more, not less. Water resets your palate, so food keeps tasting as good as the first bite. |
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| Trinity College found your brain successfully tracks two conversations at once for several seconds after you transition from one chat to another. |
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HACK OF THE WEEK |
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Your phone is a slot machine with a camera. Every bright badge and juicy thumbnail is designed to keep your thumb humming.
Here's the hack to reclaim your time and attention: drain the color by changing your screen to grayscale.
Setup takes a minute via your phone's accessibility settings.
No more red notification dots screaming at you. No candy-colored feed. No dopamine overload.
Enjoy the extra 30+ minutes a day, my friend.
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SHOWER THOUGHTS |
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1. A slightly different version of you exists in the mind of everyone who's ever met you.
2. Your bed is basically a wireless charger for your body.
3. The alphabet song and 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' are the exact same melody.
4. The word "swims" upside down is still "swims."
5. If aliens come to earth, we'll have to explain why we made dozens of movies in which we fight and kill them.
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POST OF THE WEEK |
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QUOTE / TIL / WORD / TRIVIA |
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Kurt Vonnegut: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” |
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Today I learned The Eiffel Tower can grow about 15 centimeters, roughly 6 inches, taller in summer. Its iron frame expands in the heat, then shrinks back as it cools. (more here)
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esurient [ ih-SOOR-ee-uhnt ] - adjective
Hungry; greedy for food.
By 6 p.m. I am esurient enough to eat the garnish off someone else's plate.
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Q: Mercury is closest to the sun, but which planet is actually the hottest?
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SHOP BRAIN + BODY FUEL |
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Fan of IQNEWS? Forward to friends! 
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