S U N D R Y

Doctors woke up a patient in the midst of a brain surgery to ask her to play violin. They wanted to verify that she wouldn't lose any vital parts of her brain during the procedure — kottke.org

Smart speakers mistakenly activate 1.5 to 19 times a day — neu.edu

Was society really better before? Humans have a tendency to better remember happy things. This is called the Pollyanna principle. Applied to society, it might explain why we tend to forget what really was not working so well in the days of yore. Read on for an interesting list of 100 ideas that help understand how to world works — collaborativefund.com

Pop songs are getting sadder and angrier — marginalrevolution.com

Kobe Bryant, an NBA legend who recently passed away, could sense when the basketball rim was too low. Too low by a quarter of an inch, meaning 0.6 centimetres. Great athletes will always surprise me — theplayerstribune.com 

Research suggests that baking can help improve a bad mood. Baking cakes, not getting baked, mind you — vice.com

Romantic kissing is prevalent in about half of the world's cultures. Only 46% cultures (in a sample of 168) — yale.edu

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This is the Sundry Newsletter. It is a distillation of what I read every week: society, fun facts, history, business, science, branding, art, etc. Thank you for reading — Ulysse Sabbag.