Happiness

Older adults who played in pickleball competitions reported greater life satisfaction, suggesting that participating in serious leisure activities can improve wellbeing later in life.

Nursing home residents who cared for crickets for eight weeks had improved cognitive function and reported fewer symptoms of depression.

Every position of a Rubik’s Cube can be solved in 20 moves or less.

Happiness

Religious people tend to live longer than non-religious people, partly due to greater engagement in community and volunteer activities.

Dog owners have a 24% lower risk of dying early and a 31% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

Cat owners have a lower risk of dying from a heart attack or cardiovascular disease, even if they no longer live with a cat.

Mindfulness-based art therapy reduced headaches and stress in a group of 8 teenage girls.

Women sleep better and feel more comfortable and secure when sharing their bed with dogs rather than with cats or human partners.

Having a partner who empathizes with one’s negative emotions is good for relationship quality, although empathizing with positive emotions may carry even greater benefit.

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

Happiness

People in distressed marriages had higher levels of a protein associated with 'leaky gut syndrome' (holes in the intestinal lining).