Life Skills(Page 3)

Research-backed advice to make your daily life a little better—or at least a little easier.

Latest in Life Skills

Brown-skinned child with black braids at the grocery store holding ripe fruit like pineapple and papaya in arms

Pick the sweetest, ripest fruit with this science-based guide

By Sara Chodosh

A person sits with their laptop on their legs and Amazon open in their browser to figure out how to cancel Amazon Prime.

How to cancel Amazon Prime in 5 easy steps

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

person holds hand to ear, old magazine illustration

This gadget from 1930 let people ‘talk’ to the dead—with a magic trick

By Bill Gourgey

best smoke detectors sliced header

The best smoke detectors, according to experts

By Brandon Russell

A notebook with Spanish verb conjugations, written probably in the process of learning two languages simultaneously

You should learn two languages at once

By Amanda Svachula

Amber tree sap dripping from a branch.

How to keep tree sap from ruining your car’s paint

By Maddi Langweil

antique store furniture

Pro tips for buying high-quality used furniture—and keeping it looking new

By Carla Delgado

A homemade electrolyte drink that's a pale green lime color, on a cutting board next to some lime slices and sugar.

2 easy homemade electrolyte drinks that actually work

By Alisha McDarris

Deer tick passing tick-borned diseases to a young person by biting back of the neck

6 tick-borne diseases you really don’t want to get

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A shower of Perseids meteors lights up the sky in 2009 in this NASA time-lapse image.

Two full moons, colorful meteors, and an asteroid will light up August’s sky

By Laura Baisas

A redheaded person in a blue plaid shirt sitting at a desktop computer, doing work and trying to minimize distractions while working from home.

How to avoid distractions while working from home

By Whitson Gordon

Borax powder in multicolor scoops on a blue background

Don’t drink or douche with Borax, no matter what TikTok tells you

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A person demonstrating how to safely cross a river or creek in the outdoors

How to safely cross a running body of water on foot

By Alisha McDarris

A car passenger appears to feel nauseous with her hand to her mouth.

What causes motion sickness—and how to avoid it

A short-haired teenage boy wearing a black shirt and grinning with his head stuck in a metal fence.

Read this if you or someone nearby is stuck in a fence

By John Kennedy

a person showing a sunburn on their shoulder and back, probably looking for a sunburn treatment.

A sunburn treatment that actually works

By Sandra Gutierrez G., Claire Maldarelli

Three cows taking shelter near a house during a flash flood. A black one and a brown one are standing knee-deep in water, while a second brown one is standing on the porch.

Flash floods are rare, but deadly. Here’s how to be ready for them.

By Maria Parazo Rose

three stages of woman standing and lifting barbell

I lift heavy weights to soothe my fibromyalgia pain—here’s what the science says

By Urmi Bhattacheryya

Kidney beans black beans, corn, and tomatoes can all increase your daily fiber intake

Up your daily fiber intake for a happy microbiome

By Claire Maldarelli

A bunch of poison ivy leaves which you'll need to learn to spot to avoid an allergic reaction.

How to keep poison ivy from ruining outdoor fun

By Alisha McDarris

A white cooler sitting in the sun on a concrete sidewalk by a large body of water.

The scientifically best way to pack a cooler

By John Kennedy

Fourth of July partygoers playing in red, white, and blue confetti, which could be a fireworks alternative

Celebrate a firework-less Fourth of July with drones, bubble guns, or confetti cannons

By Carla Delgado

A distant shot of a hiker about to go downhill

How to hike downhill safely and comfortably

By Alisha McDarris

Four women sitting around two small, white, round tables having a conversation.

9 science-backed tips for better conversations

By Sofia Quaglia

Person working out in living room with dumbbells.

How to start lifting weights—even if you’ve never picked up a dumbbell in your life

By Amanda Svachula

A person wearing a yellow sweater and sitting at a wooden desk while using a silver Macbook laptop.

It’s time to buy the domain name of your dreams

Toilet on palm tree-filled beach

Why your poop gets weird on vacation—and what to do about it

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A woman running on a desert trail to burn the most calories.

These heart-pumping exercises burn the most calories

How pilots end up in a ‘death spiral’

How pilots end up in a ‘death spiral’

By Julia Craven

A concerned-looking person sitting on a couch with the back of another person in the foreground, perhaps a therapist talking with someone who has high rejection sensitivity.

How to manage anxiety in response to rejection

ISS astronaut taking selfie during space walk for social media

Make your social media feed smarter with these science accounts

By Jamie Helmick

Two bear cubs in a meadow.

How to keep your food safe from hungry bears when camping

By Alisha McDarris

Mountains and a pine forest covered in wildfire smoke.

What to do when wildfire smoke fills the air

By Natalie Wallington

Hand holding a cupcake with purple frosting, sprinkles and a birthday candle.

How to make sure you never miss someone’s birthday

Two people in workout clothes putting food and supplements into a blender to make their own pre-workout

What science says about popular pre-workout ingredients

By Purbita Saha

The mpox virus. 3D illustration.

What you can do to prevent the spread of mpox

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Three people hiking in the rain wearing raincoats.

How to stay dry and safe while hiking in the rain

By Alisha McDarris

Person holding laptop and a white reusable water bottle.

You’re probably not washing your water bottle often enough

By Amanda Svachula

Opened silica gel packet on a wood countertop, ready for someone to find another use for them.

6 clever ways to reuse silica gel packets

By Bridget Reed Morawski

White-skinned person pouring ice cubes into bath with a dark-skinned person recovering after a workout. Illustrated in orange, white, and black.

The best way to relieve sore muscles after a brutal workout

Baby sleeping naked in a white hammock

Why you should sleep naked tonight, according to science

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A male and a female mallard duck in some green grass by some bushes.

Don’t feed ducks bread. Here’s what to give them instead.

By Natalie Wallington

Hand writing on notebook

How to improve your handwriting

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Person with dark skin and short hair jumps rope while pregnant person with light skin and hair in a bun squats and lifts dumbells. Illustrated in orange, black, and gray.

The 6 essential parts of an effective workout

By Frankie de la Cretaz

Tabby cat on hardwood floors playing with a fabric toy resembling a mouse

5 ways to ensure your cat actually likes playtime

By Jamie Helmick

Mammatus types of clouds over a lighthouse and rocky coast

A scientific guide to clouds, even the ones that look like udders

By Briley Lewis

An elderly person with short gray hair, wearing a pink shirt and jeans, with their hands on the shoulders of a kid they're teaching how to ride a bike. The child is wearing a red helmet and using a balance bike on a park path.

Pro tips for teaching a kid how to ride a bike

By Jean Levasseur

Senior man and woman in wheelchair

How to get through to your aging parents without arguing

By Judith Graham / KFF Health News

split screen showing phone with halo on one side, phone with horns on the other

The Opt Out: 10 rules for better internet etiquette

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Person on yoga mat doing bridge exercise to work out muscles in core, neck, and back. Illustrated in red, black, white, and gray.

A guide to the muscles you forget to exercise

By Jamie Helmick

Wall covered in ripped posters and stickers.

How to use science to remove sticker residue

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Pink feathery muhly grass are one the many native types of grass you plant in the US.

9 native grasses that will revitalize your sad, water-wasting lawn

By Helen Bradshaw

A mouse eating a morsel of food, a scene that would prompt many to wonder how to get rid of mice.

How to get rid of mice and keep them away

By Mary Beth Griggs

Box of iHealth COVID rapid tests being distributed at a school before the US COVID public health emergency ended

Your guide to COVID testing for the unforeseeable future

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A person wearing barefoot shoes that form around their toes, sitting on a rock overlooking a body of water.

For a better hike, try swapping clunky boots for barefoot shoes

By Alisha McDarris

Earth's horizon and Pacific Ocean photographed by NASA astronauts on the International Space Station. The planet's curvature proves that the Earth is round, not flat.

10 ways you can tell the Earth is round

By Moriel Schottlender

Teddy bear sitting in a corner and hands peeking from the corner with a phone taking pictures of the teddy bear.

The Opt Out: Read this before sharing another photo of a kid online

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

The view of Zion National Park from Lava Point.

A beginner’s guide to visiting national parks

By Nadia Bajuelo

Person rides a mountain bike on an outdoor trail.

How to start mountain biking this summer

By Alisha McDarris

A TV with the Stranger Things title screen on it, in a dark room bathed in purple light. Exactly what you might see if you're binge-watching instead of going to sleep.

How to stream movies and shows without destroying your sleep

Cannabis plant under purple weed grow light

On 420, learn more about weed with these carefully cultivated science stories

By Jamie Helmick

Hand holding a joint,

A step-by-step guide to rolling a joint

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Baby with brown eyes and brown hair laying on their back. The baby is sleeping in a crib, not a bed, to prevent SIDS.

This is the safest way to sleep with your baby

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Person in a dark room watering a houseplant with a beam of light. Illustrated.

How to grow plants in the dark

By Ellen Airhart