EUREKA!

EUREKA!

[ NEW FINDINGS AND RESEARCH ]

Slope Safety

Despite findings, wear a helmet.

Wearing a helmet for snow sports may not help prevent head injuries, but it can certainly mitigate them. In a study led by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center’s Andrew Crockett and Eleah Porter, researchers found that helmeted snowboarders and skiers suffered more injuries than those who did not wear helmets, although helmeted athletes were much less likely to suffer cervical spine, skull, or scalp injuries. The results, published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, revealed a doubling of helmet use during the course of the study—but a decrease in head injuries of only 6 percent. Crockett and Porter believe helmets offer a false sense of security to their users, who may engage in more reckless behavior because they believe they’re safer than they are. The researchers still encourage all snowboarders and skiers to wear helmets.

Age of Discontent

Peak misery year identified.

Your peak of unhappiness comes when you reach 47.2 years of age, according to Dartmouth economics professor David Blanchflower. He examined statistics from 132 countries to correlate age with happiness, resulting in a variety of U-shaped “happiness curves” that show the average peak of misery comes at 47.2 years in the developed world and 48.2 in developing nations. “The curve’s trajectory holds true in countries where the median wage is high and where it is not and where people tend to live longer and where they don’t,” says Blanchflower, who has written numerous papers on happiness.