weird facts

WTF Fun Fact 13349 – Rewatching Your Favorites

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When you truly want to chill out, do you find the latest Netflix show or do you enjoy rewatching your favorites? If you said the latter, you might be interested in a study that says it might be good for you.

Rewatching favorite shows can improve mental health

Studies have shown (and there’s one cited at the bottom for proof) that rewatching your favorite TV shows could help improve your mental health. It turns out the warm feelings of nostalgia we experience from reruns can actually help reduce stress and anxiety. So maybe it’s time to turn on some Lassie, The Munsters, The Jetsons…you get the picture.

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. It can transport us back to the past. It also evokes fond memories of a time when things seemed simpler and more comfortable. This emotional response has been recognized as an effective coping mechanism against stress and anxiety.

If you’re struggling to deal with the pressures of everyday life, nostalgia can provide a reminder of the good times.

The comforting nostalgia of rewatching your favorites

One reason old reruns are so effective in reducing stress is the sense of familiarity they offer. When we watch a show we’ve seen before, we know what to expect and can anticipate the storyline. This predictability creates a safe and controlled environment that allows us to relax without any surprises or challenges.

One study even showed that when participants viewed familiar television programs, their levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) decreased significantly.

Our connection to familiar characters is also important to the soothing power of TV nostalgia. Over time, we form attachments to the people we see on screen. We may even feel as if we know them personally. These bonds can provide us with a sense of companionship, which is especially important when we’re feeling lonely or isolated.

When we’re feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, it’s good to find healthy ways to manage the feelings. By providing a comforting escape from reality, old reruns can help us unwind and decompress.

It can even have a meditative effect. The familiarity of the show means we don’t have to pay as much attention. This can help clear our minds, allowing us to focus on the present moment and let go of the worries and concerns that have been troubling us.

So, next time you want to practice self-care without leaving the couch, turn on some reruns of your favorite old show.

—WTF fun facts

Source: “The Temporal and Focal Dynamics of Volitional Reconsumption: A Phenomenological Investigation of Repeated Hedonic Experiences” — Journal of Consumer Research

WTF Fun Fact 13268 – Cocaine Bear is a Real Story (Mostly)

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Have you seen previews for a strange-looking moving called Cocaine Bear and wondered what is going on? Well, you might be shocked to know that cocaine bear is a real story.

What is cocaine bear?

In 1985, a black bear in Georgia ingested more than 70 pounds of cocaine. The drugs had been dropped from a drug smuggler’s airplane. The bear, later dubbed “Cocaine Bear,” was found dead in the woods. The bizarre story has become something of a legend. People clearly remain fascinated by the unlikely chain of events that led to the bear’s demise.

According to a recent New York Times article (cited below), the incident began when drug smuggler Andrew ThorntonThornton’suring a parachute jump after a drug trafficking operation went wrong. Thornton had been carrying several duffel bags filled with cocaine. As he fell to his death, the bags tore open and their contents scattered across the forest.

Days later, authorities found a bear dead in the woods near the site of Thornton’s fatal fall. A necropsy later revealed that the bear had ingested a large amount of cocaine and had died as a result.

The story has become something of a pop culture phenomenon in recent years. Now, Hollywood has released a movie based on the incident, with Elizabeth Banks directing and Keri Russell in the lead role. The movie is a fictionalized retelling of the incident.

What’s fictional about the story?

Cocaine bear is a true story up to a point. The film’s writers invented the killing spree plotline. We don’t actually know what happened to the bear in its final days anLexington’st we do know that it didn’t kill anyone.

Despite the sensational nature of the story, the incident is a reminder of the dangers of drug trafficking and the tragic consequences that can occur when individuals engage in such activities.

Where is the bear now?

Oddly enough, the bear appears to be on display in Lexington’s Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall. In an August 2015 blog post, the mall staff said the stuffed bear was once owned by the country singer Waylon Jennings. The rumor is that he kept it in his home in Las Vegas, but the NYT was unable to verify that part of the story.

Another partly true and strange fact about the bear is that its taxidermied body has the authority to officiate legally binding weddings. According to Wikipedia:

“This claim is only partly true; the bear does not have the authority to solemnize weddings, but the state of Kentucky cannot invalidate marriages performed by unqualified persons if the parties believe that the person marrying them has the authority to do so. As such, it is a belief in the Cocaine Bear’s authority that allows it to officiate legally binding weddings in Kentucky.”

—WTF fun facts

Source: “Yes, ‘Cocaine Bear’ Was Real. Here’s the Back Story.” — The New York Times

WTF Fun Fact 12578 – Mike the Headless Chicken

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It’s hard – and gross – to think about, but the phrase “like a chicken with its head cut off” originates in a biological oddity of chickens.

You see, you can decapitate a chicken and it will continue to run. They aren’t zombies (because they’re not actually dead yet), it’s just that the animal’s spinal cord circuits still hold residual oxygen. It’s kind of a sick biological joke that the most decapitated animal has this odd feature if you think about it.

The circuits that still have oxygen to operate no longer have a brain to control them, so the spinal cord’s signals go to the legs, causing the chicken to run (typically for just a few seconds).

This is pretty rare since chickens are typically laying down when this happens, but it has certainly happened.

Now, Miracle Mike the Headless Chicken (as he was dubbed by Life Magazine in the 1940s) is a different story. Poor Mike’s owner left a tiny part of his brain stem intact with a messy chop.

On September 10, 1945, Lloyd Olsen was beheading chickens on his farm, and got a runner, but was surprised to see that he didn’t keel over immediately.

Olsen’s great-grandson, Troy Waters, told the BBC years later that his grandparents put the chicken on the screen porch for the night and were shocked to wake up and see “The damn thing was still alive,” according to Waters.

But this isn’t some sketchy legend. Headless Mike toured the country, drawing slack-jawed audiences at carnivals. It was photographed and recorded by the news in various towns and in Life Magazine.

The family had their share of interlopers who insisted on coming to see Mike but also got plenty of hate mail for not just putting him out of his (or perhaps just their) misery. – WTF fun facts

Source: How Mike the Chicken Survived Without a Head — Encyclopedia Brittanica