By Brian Handwerk writing for National Geographic Find out how the date got its unlucky reputation and how even nonbelievers may be influenced by our collective triskaidekaphobia. As if October wasn’t spooky enough, this year the creepiest month also features the return of Friday the 13th. October 13 is the second ill-fated Friday to fall in 2017. […]

by Thomas Biery  Polygon.com  Now, this is quite a different feeling. Star Wars: The Force Awakens delivered a message of potential. Rey and Finn, practical nobodies held back and tormented by their pasts, were driven by fate into an adventure that made them heroes. Rey in particular realized her strong connection with the Force, and resisted even […]

By Lily Hay Newman writing for Wired.com   WHEN YAHOO DISCLOSED in December that a billion (yes, billion) of its users’ accounts had been compromised in an August 2013 breach, it came as a staggering revelation. Now, 10 months later, the company would like to make a correction: That incident actually exposed three billion accounts—every Yahoo account that […]

 by Kevin Sheridan Hundreds of millions of workers worldwide dread going to work every day. But for those workers who have to work with a jerk or workplace bully, going to work is unbearable. All of these office jerks are Actively Disengaged employees whose behaviors contribute to their coworkers’ depression, anxiety, health problems, despair, and insomnia. […]

BY JENNIFER HIJAZI Islands throughout the Caribbean communities are beginning a long road to recovery from several major hurricanes that have ravaged the Atlantic. But Puerto Rico in particular is facing what local officials have described as a full-blown humanitarian crisis, with devastation they call “apocalyptic.” Less than two weeks after Hurricane Irma made landfall on the […]

WRITTEN BY: Rachel Cole for Britannica.com Religious leaders, scientists, and even a hen (or so it seemed) have been making predictions for the end of the world almost as long as the world has been around. They’ve predicted the destruction of the world through floods, fires, and comets—luckily for us, none of it has come to […]

By Linda Rodriguez McRobbie SMITHSONIAN.COM    You aren’t alone in your fear of makeup-clad entertainers; people have been frightened by clowns for centuries There’s a word— albeit one not recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary or any psychology manual— for the excessive fear of clowns: Coulrophobia. Not a lot of people actually suffer from a debilitating phobia of clowns; […]

from cnet.com  The brand new iPhone X — that’s pronounced “ten,” by the way, not “ex” — is a phone of firsts for Apple. The 5.8-inch OLED screen isn’t just larger, it also uses a different technology that Apple says will make colors absolutely pop. It’s also the first iPhone to completely do away with […]

From slidegenius.com Every person has a distinct personality type and buying decision behavior. Cultural traditions, race, and social status influence an individual’s decisions and actions. This is why sales professionals need to understand these key factors to map out a strategy that best fits them. While it’s possible to cater to different sets of audiences, it’s […]

By Charisse Jones, USA TODAY Parents who came up short hunting for a Hatchimal, the hottest toy of the last holiday season, are about to get a second chance. A newer version of the toy egg that hatches a host of magical creatures is expected to be in-demand again this year when it comes to gifts under the holiday […]