Study finds restaurant industry workers have the most stressful jobs in North America

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The next time you're unkind to your waiter or waitress please think about their health. A new study from Vancouver-based VitalSines took a look at how fast different professions age people internally as compared to their chronological age. They used iHeart, an internal age tracking device placed on the fingertip to measure aortic stiffness. The pulse in the finger helped the researchers determine its user's internal age. And the researchers discovered from studying over 500 people with 50 different positions in North America that those who work in the restaurant industry age faster than any other segment. Servers, hostesses, bartenders, and kitchen employees have been found to be 17 years older than their chronological age. Behind them are talent buyers (at 15 years older) and social works (eight years older). Those with the most positive results include financial advisors, who tested 15 years younger internally than chronologically, doctors (14 years younger), naturopaths (13 years younger), and realtors (eight years younger). 

Aortic stiffness is known as a proven risk indicator of heart and brain disease. But with positive lifestyle choices, such as better diet, increased movement, and lowered stress, this can be remedied. If you want to check out your internal age, you can get the iHeart device at this link. 

Study shows music streaming services are shortening musical intros

Music streaming services aren’t just disrupting traditional record labels. It seems they’re changing the way songs are made, too. A new study from Hubert Léveillé Gauvin, a doctoral student in music theory at The Ohio State University, finds that songs are getting shorter instrumental introductions to try and accommodate the shortening attention span of listeners. And it seems the streaming services—such as Spotify and Pandora—are to blame.

Gauvin listened to and analyzed songs that made it into the top 10 from 1986 to 2015 and found “a dramatic shift away from long intros” and “a marked increase in tempo.” Songs back in the mid-80s had intros averaging over 20 seconds, now they’re down to five seconds on average so they immediately get to the lyrics. Tempo has also increased by around eight percent.

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Adobe: 46 per cent of retail traffic driven by mobile

$27 Billion Spent Online so far; Star Wars’ Kylo Ren, Xbox One, Samsung Gear VR, and GoPro HERO3 Top Sellers

Adobe released its first set of 2015 Digital Index Online Shopping data for the holiday season. Between November 1 and November 24, nearly $27 billion have been spent online, 8.5 percent more than in 2014. Mobile devices continue to play a dominant role in online shopping, driving 46 percent of visits to retail sites and 24 percent of sales ($6.32 billion).

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Study finds constant smartphone use changes the way your hands work

Credit: Shutterstock / nenetus

If you’re attached to the hip (or hand, in this case) to your smartphone, it is changing the way your fingers work. According to Swiss researchers, activity in the brain cortex associated with your index fingers and thumbs are enhanced in direct proportion to how often you use your smartphone. This part of the mind lights up if you get in touch with people all week and it fades away if you’re away from your smartphone for an extended amount of time. However, those who use basic phones won’t be able to see this change.

This study is showing us how repetitive smartphone use is changing our sensory processing—whether it’s for the good or not, we don’t know just yet.

Source: Engadget