The 15-minute stick exercise that can help you find your purpose, how evolution led to lactose tolerance in humans, and more.

Lex Ashcroft's reads

This 15-minute stick exercise can help you find your purpose. Most have heard of a midlife crisis, but not as many are familiar with the tug of war of desires that can occur in the "quarter life", the stage between adolescence and midlife. A simple drawing exercise developed by a psychotherapist can help people find balance in their competing sides. Writing for NPR, Marielle Segarra details the five steps of the exercise: naming two sides of your personality, creating a narrative for each, assessing the wants and needs of these personalities, and the hardest part: figuring out how to fulfill them both.

Cultivating a more meaningful life by 'snacking on joy'. It's no secret operating in this busy, uncertain, and stressful world can hamper peoples' efforts to enjoy the little things. While we often focus on big events to fill our cups of joy, research has shown day to day experiences bring much meaning to our lives as well. Writing for the Washington Post, Richard Sima breaks down the science of joy, and how researchers say we can find more "joy snacks" throughout everyday life: including recounting past joyful moments, highlighting positive experiences, and practicing "gratitude interventions."

Alyssa Nystrom's reads

Why you may want to get rid of your gas stove. While the gas industry maintains that gas stoves are only a minor source of indoor air pollution, research suggests that they can contribute to elevated levels of nitrogen dioxide in many homes—even when they are turned off. Writing for The Conversation, Jonathan Levy explains why researchers and agencies, including the California Air Resources Board, are voicing concerns about hazardous indoor air emissions from gas stoves.

How evolution led to lactose tolerance in humans. In a recent study published in Nature, researchers tracked European milk consumption throughout history—and discovered a surprising pattern. According to the study, our lactose-intolerant ancestors consumed dairy to survive times of famine and disease, driving the evolution of lactose-tolerant humans, Haley Weiss writes for The Atlantic.