I recently stumbled upon two research studies that are very relevant to my daily life, since they deal with two of my favourite things: public transit and wine!

A mathematician at Harvard has done a research study which appeals to my lazier tendencies. Have you ever waited for a bus and eventually given up and walked to your destination? Scott Kominers has shown that it’s almost always better to keep waiting at the stop. Yes! My lazy waiting strategy (often ridiculed by Dan) is vindicated!

And on the wine front: Researchers from CalTech and Stanford hooked subjects up to a brain scanner and had them taste wine at supposedly different price points. It turns out that people enjoy a wine a lot more when they’re told it costs $90, than when they’re told the exact same wine costs $10.

Why can’t my research be this fun?