A roundup of new and noteworthy insights from the week’s most talked-about studies:
1 AMERICANS PREFER PLAYLISTS TO ALBUMS
A report published by the Music Business Association found that playlists account for 31% of music-listening time across demographics, while albums make up only 22%. Singles, at 46% of listening time, were the most popular form of music.
2 PIGEONS MAY BE ABLE TO ‘SPELL’
For a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers trained four pigeons to recognize dozens of words. The birds then picked out the correct spellings from a series (which included nonwords) by pecking them, marking the first time nonprimates have been able to identify letter formations.
3 KIDS WHO GROW UP ON FARMS MAY HAVE FEWER ALLERGIES
A study published in Thorax, analyzing data from more than 10,000 people in 14 countries, found that adults who had grown up on farms were 57% less likely to have allergic nasal symptoms and 54% less likely to have asthma or hay fever than those from urban settings.
–J.Z.
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Write to Julia Zorthian at julia.zorthian@time.com