Why We Should Talk to Ourselves More Often

Being caught talking to yourself can be one of the most mortifying experiences. Whether you’re encouraging yourself to get a task done or chastising yourself for making a mistake, it’s a nightmare to be called out on it, especially considering the stigma that people who talk to themselves are crazy. However, if anyone has ever laughed at you for talking to yourself, it turns out the joke is on them. According to a new study, talking to yourself is not only totally normal, it might actually be healthy. Researchers at Bangor University asked participants to read written instructions either silently or out loud. They then measured each participant’s concentration and performance of each task. As it turned out, they improved greatly when those instructions were read aloud. Apart from talking to yourself being a sign of high cognitive functioning, more researchers are beginning to say that “self-talk” can also help with recalling memories, as well as improving your confidence level and sharpening your focus. According to Gary Lupyan, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, talking to yourself isn’t an irrational thing to do. Lupyan, who has studied how hearing ourselves speak can impact our memories, added that saying a name — any name — out loud can be incredibly powerful in recalling memories. “Think of it as a pointer to a chunk of information in your mind. Hearing the name exaggerates what might normally happen if you just bring something to mind. Language boosts that process.” This news should give us a big boost the next time someone gives us a hard time for talking to ourselves. As it turns out, we’ve been doing it right all along.

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Britain's Giant Concrete Ears

On the southeast coast of England are a set of massive concrete acoustic mirrors — or “listening ears — that were built after World War I to monitor the skies for the telltale sounds of an airborne invasion. Constructed between 1927 and 1930, the Denge Sound Mirrors were part of Britain’s national defense strategy. Their shape collected and magnified sound waves in the air over the English Channel and directed them at a microphone positioned just in front of the structure. Anti-aircraft defenses were then deployed. The mirrors effectively gave Britain a 15-minute warning of an impending attack. The site features three different reflectors, including a 200-foot-long curved wall, a 30-foot-tall curved dish, and a 20-foot-tall shallow dish. Once the receivers were adjusted for the best reception, the results would be compared with those from one of the other “ears" and used to calculate an aircraft’s height, speed and flight path. They worked best at a range of between 8 and 24 miles, but by the time the wall was ready in 1930, technology was already on its way towards radar. Today the site is open to the public from August through December, with guided tours provided by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

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Meet the Tireless Entrepreneur Who Squatted at AOL

It was 6 a.m. on May 24, 2012 when Eric Simons was jolted awake by a security guard yelling at him. After working until 4 a.m., the 19-year-old entrepreneur had finally passed out. Unlike other people at AOL in Palo Alto, Calif., Simons wasn’t employed there. He had actually been living there for two months, hiding out at night on couches, eating the company’s food, and exercising and showering in its gym. Now, that was all over. Simons had moved to Silicon Valley and had been given $20,000 by AOL’s incubator program that was designed to provide mentoring for entrepreneurs to learn how startups are built. When the money ran out and the 4-month program ended, Simons’ friends left to go back to college. Simons, however, needed another solution. That’s when he decided to just stay at AOL. Fortunately for him, his badge continued to work, even after the program ended. That gave him access to everything, including the cafeteria and gym. Before long, his face had become familiar to others who worked there, enabling him to move about without suspicion. Having spent several months legitimately working in the building, often quite late, Simons had noticed that although there were security guards with nightly rounds, there were at least three couches that seemed outside those patrols, so he claimed them. He would work until midnight or later, then fall asleep, and at 7 a.m. would go down to the gym for a workout and a shower. Then he would go to the cafeteria for breakfast, and would proceed to work all day. He had 10 t-shirts, a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts, so it all fit into one locker in the gym. Since AOL had their own laundromat, doing laundry was no problem. Then came the fateful morning when he got caught. Though the security guard was angry, he knew Simons had been a part of the mentoring program, so he didn’t call the police. Instead, he confiscated Simons’ badge and made him leave. Fast-forward to 2026 and Eric Simons is now the founder and CEO of Bolt, an app that allows users to build websites and mobile applications with ease. It’s now worth $700 million and Eric Simons is an overnight success years in the making.

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Dog Abandoned at Las Vegas Airport Finds Forever Home With the Officer Who Found Him

What started as a troubling scene at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas has turned into the kind of story that restores a little faith in people. Earlier this month, a 2-year-old mini goldendoodle named Jet Blue was found tied to a metal carry-on baggage sizer near the Jet Blue airline ticket counter. According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Germiran Bryson abandoned her dog after she was denied a boarding pass to travel with the pup. Apparently, she had tried to pass the dog off as a service animal, but had failed to complete the necessary documentation. The 26-year-old told police the dog had a tracking device, implying it was acceptable to leave the animal behind and it would be returned to her. Officers didn’t see it that way and arrested Bryson for animal abuse. Court records show she faces misdemeanor counts of animal abandonment, resisting a public officer, providing false statements to obstruct a public officer, and animal abuse. Her next court date is scheduled for March 31. As for Jet Blue, his story took a much happier turn. The department announced on Feb. 21 in a social media post that he has been adopted by Las Vegas Police Officer Skeeter Black, one of the officers who helped rescue him. Now, instead of an airport terminal, Jet Blue has a forever home.

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