That should explain all those kitten videos.

The report finds that the amount of time people spend tooling around on the Web doing nothing corresponds with age. Only 12 percent of people over 65 say they went online the previous day for no particular reason. Of those aged 50 to 64, the study found 27 percent answered yes to the same question.

In all, 58 percent of all adults said that they use the Internet to pass time or have fun at least occasionally. Of adults who use the Internet, nearly three-quarters surf the Web for no reason.

And those are the people we aim to serve. Link

North Korea released the results of their “happiness survey” a few weeks ago (we had the item, but looking at it now would be *wink* cheating). According to the survey, South Korea and the United States are the UNhappiest places in the world. Meanwhile, Today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss asks you to name the top five happiest countries in the survey in one minute. Can you do it? Link

Psst, freshmen! Are you feeling stressed? You’re not alone: a survey revealed that this year’s incoming students are the most stressed in 25 years. The economy, it seems, is to blame:

“Students know their generation is likely to be less successful than their parents’, so they feel more pressure to succeed than in the past,” said Jason Ebbeling, director of residential education at Southern Oregon University. “These days, students worry that even with a college degree they won’t find a job that pays more than minimum wage, so even at 15 or 16 they’re thinking they’ll need to get into an M.B.A. program or Ph.D. program.”

Other findings in the survey underscore the degree to which the economy is weighing on college students.

“Paternal unemployment is at the highest level since we started measuring,” said John Pryor, director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at U.C.L.A.’s Higher Education Research Institute, which does the annual freshman survey. “More students are taking out loans. And we’re seeing the impact of not being able to get a summer job, and the importance of financial aid in choosing which college they’re going to attend.”

“We don’t know exactly why students’ emotional health is declining,” he said. “But it seems the economy could be a lot of it.”

Link

Randall Munroe of xkcd conducted an online color survey, the results from 222,500 user sessions are ready. The aim of the survey was to find what names people associate with colors. As you can see, no one knows how to spell fuchsia. I had to stop and roll in the floor at the “disproportionally popular” color names by gender section. Link -via reddit

The results highlight the importance of wording on the issue. In a test, half of the poll’s respondents were asked their opinion on permitting “gay men and lesbians” to serve, and the other half were asked about permitting “homosexuals” to serve.

The wording of the question proved to make a difference. Seven in 10 respondents said they favor allowing “gay men and lesbians” to serve in the military, including nearly 6 in 10 who said they should be allowed to serve openly. But support was somewhat lower among those who were asked about allowing “homosexuals” to serve, with 59 percent in favor, including 44 percent who support allowing them to serve openly.

The poll was taken by telephone and included responses from 1,084 adults. Link -via Fark

(image credit: Flickr user splorp)

In 2003, Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist and internist at Harvard, and James Fowler, a political scientist at UC San Diego, began searching through the Framingham data. But they didn’t care about LDL cholesterol or enlarged left ventricles. Rather, they were drawn to a clerical quirk: The original Framingham researchers noted each participant’s close friends, colleagues, and family members.

“They asked for follow-up purposes,” Christakis says. “If someone moved away, the researchers would call their friends and try to track them down.”

Christakis and Fowler used the social data to study changes in the population over time. They constructed networks of the volunteers social connections to see how these connections affected any changes. The findings? Some behaviors are contagious. Social connections with up to three degrees of separation influence whether we quit smoking or become fat. And even happiness is contagious, both online and offline. The social connections of the Framingham volunteers are graphically illustrated at Wired. Link

Statistical analysis of men rating women indicated that, even though both the body and face ratings were significant positive predictors of the ratings given to the combined images, the face ratings were stronger predictors of the combined ratings. It was also observed that the ratings for combined images was slightly higher for short term relationships as compared to long term relationships. One other significant observation – when the short term and long term relationship data were analyzed separately, the body ratings stood as more significant predictors to the combined ratings than face ratings, for short term relationships. In the case of females rating men, similar to men – the body and face ratings were both significant predictors with the face ratings being very strong predictors as compared to the body ratings. However, females ratings for men did not show any difference under the short term and long term decisions.

This only makes sense, as we tend to cover our bodies most of the time, but you have to look at that face a lot. Link -via Digg

Virginia Beach, Virginia
Madison, Alabama
San Jose, California
Overland Park, Kansas
Boston, Massachusetts
Denver, Colorado
Rochester, Minnesota
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Plano, Texas
Edison, New Jersey

The advantages of each city are listed in the story and slide show. Link -via Digg

AskMen has just released the results of their second annual Great Male Survey, involving more than 50,000 of their readers worldwide, to find out what the modern man is thinking about.

As with their first survey last year, some results are interesting and some are quite unexpected. For instance, here are the top 100 most interesting answers:

10. 38% – Own more than seven pairs of shoes
9. 78% – Require more than $1 million to retire comfortably
8. 77% – Think moral standards in business are on the decline
7. 84% – Think it’s important that a girlfriend have "wife potential"
6. 83% – Are actively environmentally friendly
5. 48% – Would dump a girlfriend if she became fat
4. 78% – Exaggerate in the sex stories they tell to friends
3. 36% – Are scared of terrorists
2. 83% – Surf the web on their phone
1. 91% – Believe in marriage

Check out the full survey result here: Link – Thanks Daniel!

The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified — more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

Link

(Photo: sduffy [Flickr])

What profession is found to be the sexiest by women? A survey done by a London dating agency Drawing Down the Moon (date unknown, this has been floating on the Web since 2005) revealed that architects get all the ladies:

Architects are seen as being "balanced and rounded individuals who combine a creative approach with a caring, thoughtful disposition," the survey found. It concluded: "Their ability to cope with pressure of work in a relaxed manner was also deemed to be a significant plus."

Male architects beat stockbrokers, doctors, film directors and teachers to the top spot.

Link – via Swiss Miss

*a total of 30 percent overall — admitted stealing from a store within the past year.

*More than two of five (42 percent) said that they sometimes lie to save money.

*A substantial majority (64 percent) cheated on a test during the past year

*More than one in four (26 percent) confessed they lied on at least one or two questions on the survey.

*A whopping 93 percent said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character

The report released yesterday covered honesty and integrity. A later report will have survey results on drug use and violence. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!