6/26/25 - Nightmares, Scent of the Summer, and Dirty Little Job Secrets

Thursday 6/26/25

Celebrate:

Beautician's Day

Forgiveness Day

National Barcode Day

National Bomb Pop Day

National Chocolate Pudding Day

National Coconut Day

National Handshake Day

Tropical Cocktails Day

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A new study in England found people who have a lot of nightmares are more likely to drop dead.

Researchers tracked people for almost two decades, and the ones who had nightmares at least once a week were three times more likely to die before the age of 70.

They found having lots of nightmares also makes you age faster.  So before they kill you, they'll make you look like a wrinkly old person.

They think it's because our bodies respond to the stress the same way they would in real life:  "Nightmares lead to prolonged elevations of cortisol, a stress hormone closely linked to faster cellular aging."

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Old people smell is a real thing.  

Technically, it is a body odor . . . but it's not hygiene-related.  There's a compound called 2-Nonenal that's created by chemicals in the body breaking down over time.  Old people secrete 2-Nonenal, which produces their smell.

But there's a chance you can do something about it.  A report says eating mushrooms up to four times a week might help eliminate it, especially shiitake, oyster, and button mushrooms.

There are two rare compounds found in them (ergothioneine and spermidine).  They work from within the body to combat the formation of 2-Nonenal.

If you don't like mushrooms, there are mushroom extracts you could try or possibly adding more legumes, peas, and soy to your diet.

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There’s a news story on a woman named Jerry Leo who's still crushing it at the gym at 100 years old.  She turned 100 in April, and can hold a plank for over five minutes. 

She's been going to the gym at her local YMCA since it opened 34 years ago.  She works out with a bunch of people in their 60s and 70s who say she's in better shape than they are.

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A high school on Long Island is in the news because this year's graduating class has 15 sets of twins.  There are just under 500 kids in their class, and 30 are twins.  So just over 6%.  The national average is around 3%.

The record for most "multiples" in a graduating class is a lot higher though.  A school in Winnetka, Illinois had 44 sets of twins in 2017, plus one set of triplets.

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What is the scent of the summer???? Searches for banana perfume have shot up 100 percent in June alone, according to Google Trends and the hashtag #bananaperfume has well over five million views on TikTok.

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People Are Sharing The Dirty, Little Industry Secrets They Think The General Public Deserves To Know.

"What's a dirty, little secret that you know only because you work in the industry?"

"I used to work for a major talent agency in Hollywood, and a lot of the Academy voters never watched the screeners and let their assistants vote on their behalf."

"Always wash your new clothing before you wear it, even if it looks fresh and new. It’s been thrown on the floor, moved around a dusty warehouse, tried on by a sweaty post-gym person, and probably sat in a stinky, humid shipping container for two months. Plus, you want to wash off all the starching/finishing products which make it look so 'new.'"

"People cleaning their underwear in kettles is a huge problem in hotels. We find so many forgotten underpants in the kettles, and I can't even assume how many we didn't catch. Don't use them. 

"Leaving online shopping items in your cart while logged in will likely put you into an automated discount offer stream! So, if you intend to buy anyway, leave it in your cart for a few days and see if you get a marketing email with a discount code."

"There isn't a 'larger than normal call volume.' We just don't have enough staff. Also, your call is not important to us. We actually want you to go away."

"I worked at a company with a third party 24-hour call center. They literally had times with no one working, and if you called, the automated system would just pick up and say, 'Someone would be with you shortly.' It would just repeat until someone actually clocked in and answered the phone."

Oh there's more - https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahdobro/dirty-little-industry-secrets-fs

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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - From a botanical standpoint, strawberries and raspberries aren't berries, but bananas and eggplants are.

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