Month: July 2024

Kanye West is being sued for copyright infringement over his 2021 album Donda again, according to Billboard. This time, the songs at issue are “Hurricane” and “Moon,” which rights management company Artist Revenue Advocates (ARA) claims illegally interpolate samples of a song called “MSD PT2.”

Intriguingly, ARA admits that Kanye credited the original songwriters — Khalil Abdul-Rahman Hazzard, Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff, and Josh Mease — in the liner notes, but only after the creators initially refused to grant him a license to use the song in the first place. While the lawsuit was prompted by ARA’s inability to collect fees for the past three years, lawyers for ARA wrote, “This lawsuit is about more than defendants’ failure to pay a fee. It is about the rights of artists, musicians, and songwriters to determine how their works are published and used. Intellectual property owners have a right to decide how their property is exploited and need to be able to prevent shameless infringers from simply stealing.”

Donda has already been the subject multiple lawsuits for copyright infringement, as Bishop David Paul Moten filed suit in May 2022 over the use of one of his sermons on “Come To Life,” and a few months later, Boogie Down Productions filed suit in November 2022 over the song, “Life Of The Party,” which apparently interpolates “South Bronx” from Criminal Minded. That same year, Kanye was also sued for a song from Donda‘s follow-up, Donda 2, that sampled Marshall Jefferson’s “Move Your Body.”

We’ve all heard the statistic that “50% of marriages end in divorce” at least once in our adult lives. And considering that many of us probably know a few couples that have gotten divorced (including our own parents) we probably never gave its validity much of a second thought.

But romantics, rejoice! For this cynical statistic is, irrefutably, false. Recently comedian Alex Falcone took to TikTok to debunk this commonly believed myth.

In a now viral video, Falcone begins by saying that “first of all, it’s a dumb thing to measure,” because “until the 1970s, divorce law was very different. So really, it would have been a measurement of what percentage of couples are trapped in bad situations.”

What makes this a “dumb statistic,” Falcone continues, is that it doesn’t consider the duration of any marriage—from “the couple that held hands while the water came in on the Titanic counts exactly the same as someone who got hit by a bus on their honeymoon” to the “overachievers” who are “really good” at getting married and divorced over and over again.

Essentially, “if someone gets divorced five times, they get counted five times,” Falcone says. It’s easy to see how this can set the statistic askew very quickly.

But truly, the biggest Achilles’ heel of this truism is that it’s nearly impossible to truly “track every single marriage that’s ever happened” to accurately determine how they ended, be it divorce or death…not to mention track the ones that are still going strong.

Of course, you don’t have to take Falcone’s word for it. Experts have been debunking this myth for years (of course, they haven’t done it in nearly as entertaining a way as Falcone). According to the New York Times, the highest the divorce rate has ever been was 41%. Elsewhere there are estimates closer to 23%.

And the United States Census Bureau states that divorce rates have been declining over the past decade. We can thank certain societal shifts for this, like people waiting until later in life to get married, and the rise of long term, non-marital relationships.

In 2021, the rate was just under 7%. Again, no tangible ways of getting an accurate assessment, but certainly nowhere near 50%.

So how did this myth come to be in the first place?

The prevailing theory leads back to post-World War II, when the Baby Boomer generation began marrying and starting families, during which there were projections that divorce rates would eventually get that high. So far, they never have.

Bottom line: statistics aren’t always reliable. This is an especially important thing for couples to remember so as to not invoke some kind of self-fulling prophecy. After all, we are far more well-equipped with knowledge and resources to help strengthen our relationships than ever before. So don’t give up on love just yet!

We don’t often get to hear people profess their love unless they’re newly dating or posting about a special occasion on social media. There’s often the old trope of men in long-term relationships or marriages complaining about their partners. It’s written into many movie scripts, painting a mundane and somewhat grim view of marriage.

But surely if men hated being married so much they wouldn’t keep asking women to promise to spend the rest of their lives with them. Turns out some men just needed to be asked the question in order to write beautiful prose about their partners. Luis Olivias asked men on the internet a simple question, “For the boys, go ahead and tell me about her.”

Well, the guys did not disappoint. Their responses to such a simple prompt are leaving some women an emotional mess. It was as if these men were sitting there waiting for someone to ask and then listen to them talk about how much they love their partners.

“She’s sleeping next to me with our beautiful 6 month old boy between us. She’s giving me life a life I never deserved, I am truly blessed,” one man writes.

“If there’s another lifetime, I would stand where I first saw her hoping to meet her again,” another says.

“She’s that moment of peace when you pass under a bridge during a thunderstorm. Only this moment never ends,” someone else shares.

Lui posted a simple prompt to TikTok that created a flood of love.

And they just kept coming:

“I used to have nightmares, terrible nightmares. The first night I spent with her was the first night in a decade I went to sleep in peace.”

“She honestly felt like home, a feeling I never felt til I met her. There’s a calm surrender in her eyes that can bring you to your knees…everyone has their definition of perfect, mine is her.”

“She’s the peace I sought after spending my entire adult life up to this point at war. She’s the forgiveness I never gave myself.”

“She’s the brightest light in every room she walks in. Every night I think I can’t possibly love her more and then I wake up and I do.”

That’s a lot of love to take in, so take a breath because these men were not even remotely finished expressing their absolute Shakespearean level of love for their partners. Women peeked in on the conversation expecting something other than the tear-jerking gushing of men in love.

“All these men in love, I’m crying tears of happiness to see this amount of love still exist,” a woman says.

Another woman, Megan Rose, made a tearful response video highlighting her favorite comments admitting the comment section left her in a puddle.

@_odriewdlocenotseht_

@Lui I was full snot bubble crying and had to share. WHATS THE OPPOSITE OF A TRIGGER WARNING?! This is that, it’s a 🌻GLIMMER WARNING🌻 #wholesome

The original post, which is only two still pictures, has over 81K comments, over 1 million likes and over 99K shares. It’s truly a post where you can get lost in the comment section forgetting all concept of time.

Hopefully these men share their beautiful sentiments with the women in their lives so they’re aware of how loved they are.

If you’ve ever had a baby that seems allergic to sleep, you know what a sleep-deprived nightmare it can be. How can it be so hard to get a baby to sleep when they’re clearly tired and sleep is a necessity? Isn’t it a natural instinct to sleep when you’re exhausted? Is there some trick to it that you’re somehow missing?

These questions plague countless parents, but sleep therapist Chrissy Lawler says getting a baby to sleep can be done quickly and easily if you stick to a few key principles.

Lawler, a Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant and mother of four, shared her secrets for getting babies to sleep in 30 seconds to two minutes with Good Morning America. Her advice might help some desperate, exhausted parents find some relief.

“I am all about empowering women and parents and families to get good sleep because it benefits everybody’s mental health and happiness,” Lawler begins. She says “it’s so easy if you get the timing right” to get a baby to drift off quickly.

Here are Lawler’s tips:

1. Start putting them to sleep before they’re overtired

“The way that we deal with adult sleep troubles is the exact opposite of how we deal with baby sleep issues,” Lawler says. “So in the adult sleep space, the more tired you are, the better you’ll sleep, and as a result, the biggest mistake that parents make in trying to get their babies to sleep well is assuming if I can get my baby good and tired, then they’ll sleep better.” She says it’s a mistake to think that what will work for us will work for a baby. “But really, with babies, sleep begets sleep,” she says. “The more they sleep, the better they sleep, the more they will sleep.”

Lawler says babies offer subtle cues that they’re starting to get tired, such as getting red around the eyes and eyebrows, gazing off into space, subtle yawning or very early signs of fussing. By the time they are full-on showing classic tired baby symptoms, it will be harder to get them to sleep.

2. If the baby is a newborn, wrap them in a snug swaddle

The swaddle is a classic newborn sleep tool for a reason. “A good snug swaddle is everything,” Lawler says. “We want to focus on doing all of the things that can help them get calm. A good snug swaddle is the first step.” She demonstrates how to do a snug swaddle in the video:

A sleep therapist shares her secrets to putting a baby to sleep in 30 seconds l GMA
Good Morning America/YouTube

(Lawler also has advice on her website, The Peaceful Sleeper, about when to transition out of swaddling.)

3. Bounce and make “Shhh Shhh” sounds

Babies prefer to be on their side to go to sleep, says Lawler, and many like to have something to suck on like a pacifier. But after that, bouncing or swinging motions and making “Shhh Shhh” sounds are key. “You’re not telling them to shush, you’re making a loud whooshing sound like what they used to hear in the womb,” she says.

4. Gently stroke their eyebrows

“One of my other favorite interventions that you can do is a very subtle eyebrow stroke to just help their eyes close naturally,” Lawler says.”You can do this while you’re holding the passy in place and then they can just drift off to sleep.”

Lawler demonstrates how she gently strokes the baby right between the eyebrows to encourage them to close their eyes and drift off, and it’s as simple as it sounds.

5. Transfer them to their side before rolling them onto their back

Getting a baby to sleep in your arms is one thing, but transferring them into the crib without waking them up is another. Lawler also shares a trick for that—laying them on their side first. Babies have a startle reflex when you lay them on their back, but if you start them on their side and then gently roll them over onto their back, you can help avoid it.

“Parents, you are the expert for your baby,” says Lawler, “and you can take what you love and leave the rest.”

You can find more baby sleep help on Lawler’s website, The Peaceful Sleeper. You can also follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

(Spoilers from The Boys will obviously be found below.)

Attempting to rank The Boys characters after the fourth season finale was admittedly an exercise in futility because [to quote Eric Draven in The Crow (1994)], “They’re all dead, they just don’t know it yet.” However, we can hope to heck that the show’s arguably most lovable character (yes, even more than Jack Quaid’s Hughie) survives, and that would be Karen Fukuhara’s Kimiko. Seriously, no Kimikos should ever be harmed in the making of anything.

With that said, Kimiko did unfortunately suffer harm in this week’s episode, in which she and Frenchie finally kissed, but also, she finally spoke, and it wasn’t for a positive reason. Kimiko’s muteness sourced from trauma, and that’s how her muteness has ended — while screaming, “Noooo!” in agony after Gen V‘s mind-control Supe, Cate, emerged to separate the pair. “GUT WRENCHING” is an accurate way to describe this awful situation.

Not all hope is lost. Annie January/Starlight and A-Train could team up to save The Boys group, and Butcher could decide to stop being a newfound villain to pitch in, too. Also, don’t forget Ashley, who injected herself with Compound V and might have turned into a Hulk-like entity after she overheard Deep’s plan to take her out for knowing too much. Regardless of the outcome, the wait for the final The Boys season will feel especially long while waiting for Kimiko followup. The People agree:

The Boys‘ fourth season is now available for streaming on Prime Video/Amazon.

The most anticipated sports game release of the last decade finally arrives, officially, on Friday, but fans who bought the Deluxe edition of EA Sports College Football 25 have had their hands on the game since Monday.

That means a lot of hours already have been spent on Dynasty building and Road To Glory. The game isn’t just a place to turn your favorite team (or a completely random one) into a {layoff contender, as it also offers a nice way to get to know the college football landscape before the season. With the actual players in the game this year, EA isn’t just approximating the talent on the field, they’re trying to get as realistic as possible with guys skills. That’s quite the undertaking with 13,000+ players, but they’re leaning on PFF and others to dial in ratings in order to try and deliver that.

The expectation is that they’ll be a bit more dialed on bigger schools, but their stated purpose is to make all 134 teams feel like the real thing. Getting to know all of those teams is difficult, but the game can help you know what every team’s stars are. We went down the list from A to Z (well, W because there’s no Y or Z teams in FBS) and found the best player (or players) for every roster according to EA Sports.

Air Force: Payton Zdroik (DT) 86 OVR
Akron: Darrian Lewis (CB) 82 OVR
Alabama: Parker Brailsford (C) and Malachi Moore (FS) 92 OVR
Appalachian State: Thomas Shrader (LG) 86 OVR
Arizona: Tetairoa McMillan (WR) 94 OVR
Arizona State: Cam Skattebo (RB) 85 OVR
Arkansas: Landon Jackson (LE) 91 OVR
Arkansas State: Jacob Bayer (C) 89 OVR
Army: Tyrell Robinson (RB) 82 OVR
Auburn: Jarquez Hunter (RB) 90 OVR

Ball State: Jon Mucciolo (LG) 83 OVR
Baylor: Caden Jenkins (CB) 84
Boise State: Ashton Jeanty (RB) 91 OVR
Boston College: Donovan Ezeiruaku (RE), Ozzy Trpilo (RT), and Cam Horsley (DT) 85 OVR
Bowling Green: Harold Fannin Jr. (TE) 89 OVR
Buffalo: Shaun Dolac (MLB) 82 OVR
BYU: Tyler Batty (LE) 84 OVR
Cal: Jaydn Ott (RB) 93 OVR
Central Michigan: Donte Kent (CB) 87 OVR
Charlotte: Colin Weber (TE) 84 OVR

Cincinnati: Luke Kandra (RG) and Dontay Corleone (DT) 91 OVR
Clemson: Barrett Carter (ROLB) 94 OVR
Coastal Carolina: Matthew McDoom (CB) 88 OVR
Colorado: Travis Hunter (WR/CB) 95 OVR
Colorado State: Tory Horton (WR) 91 OVR
Duke: Jordan Moore (WR) 86 OVR
ECU: Shavon Revel (CB) 88 OVR
Eastern Michigan: Quentavius Scandrett (SS) 79 OVR
Florida: Jason Marshall Jr (CB) 89 OVR
FAU: DaeDae Hill (CB) 86 OVR

FIU: Hezekiah Masses (CB) 84 OVR
FSU: Patrick Payton (LE) 90 OVR
Fresno State: Malik Sherrod (RB) 89 OVR
Georgia: Malaki Starks (FS) 95 OVR
Georgia Southern: Jalen White (HB) 86 OVR
Georgia State: Kevin Swint (LOLB) 83 OVR
Georgia Tech: Romello Height (LE), Jamal Haynes (RB), and Eric Singleton Jr (WR) 85 OVR
Hawai’i: Steven McBride (WR) 85 OVR
Houston: Tank Jenkins (RG) and Donovan Smith (QB) 83 OVR
Illinois: J.C. Davis (LT), Tyler Strain (CB), Terrance Brooks (CB) 84 OVR

Indiana: D’Angelo Ponds (CB) 87 OVR
Iowa: Jay Higgins (MLB) 94 OVR
Iowa State: Jayden Higgins (WR) 88 OVR
Jacksonville State: Clay Webb (LG) 92 OVR
James Madison: Ayo Adeyi (RB) 87 OVR
Kansas: Devin Neal (RB) 92 OVR
Kansas State: DJ Giddens (RB) 88 OVR
Kennesaw State: Donovan Westmoreland (LE) and Donelius Johnson (MLB) 79 OVR
Kent State: Chrishon McCray (WR) and Stephen Daley (LE) 82 OVR
Kentucky: Deone Walker (RE) 93 OVR

Liberty: Kaidon Salter (QB) and Quinton Cooley (RB) 90 OVR
Louisiana: AJ Gillie (LG) 87 OVR
Louisiana Tech: Bert Hale (LG) 85 OVR
Louisville: Quincy Riley (CB) 92 OVR
LSU: Will Campbell (LT) 96 OVR
Marshall: Monroe Beard III (ROLB) and Logan Osburn (C) 83 OVR
Maryland: Ruben Hyppolite II (MLB) 86 OVR
Memphis: Seth Henigan (QB) 89 OVR
Miami (FL): Damien Martinez (RB) 91 OVR)
Miami (OH): Matt Salopek (ROLB) 90 OVR

Michigan: Will Johnson (CB) 96 OVR
Michigan State: Tanner Miller (C) 87 OVR
Middle Tennessee State: Julius Pierce (C), Holden Willis (TE), and Tyrell Raby (CB) 83 OVR
Minnesota: Aireontae Ersery (LT) 93 OVR
Mississippi State: Ethan Miner (C) 89 OVR
Missouri: Luther Burden III (WR) 94 OVR
Navy: Rayuan Lane III (FS) 86 OVR
NC State: Kevin Concepcion (WR) 89 OVR
Nebraska: Tommi Hill (CB) 89 OVR
Nevada: Andrew Madrigal (C) 83 OVR

New Mexico: Andrew Henry (RB) 81 OVR
New Mexico State: Canaan Yarro (C) 86 OVR
North Carolina: Omarion Hampton (RB) 93 OVR
North Texas: Roderick Brown (DT) and Ridge Texada (CB) 84 OVR
Northern Illinois: Antario Brown (RB) 85 OVR
Northwestern: Coco Azema (SS) 86 OVR
Notre Dame: Benjamin Morrison (CB) 94 OVR
Ohio: Jacob Dennison (LT) and Bradley Weaver (LE) 80 OVR
Ohio State: Quinshon Judkins (RB) and Caleb Downs (FS) 95 OVR
Oklahoma: Danny Stutsman (MLB) 91 OVR

Oklahoma State: Ollie Gordon II (RB) 96 OVR
Old Dominion: Jason Henderson (ROLB) 91 OVR
Ole Miss: Walter Nolen (DT) 93 OVR
Oregon: Dillon Gabriel (QB) 92 OVR
Oregon State: Joshua Gray (LG) 89 OVR
Penn State: Kevin Winston Jr (SS), Nicholas Singleton (RB), and Abdul Carter (RE) 91 OVR
Pitt: Javon McIntyre (FS) 85 OVR
Purdue: Gus Hartwig (C) and Dillon Thieneman (FS) 90 OVR
Rice: Dean Connors (RB) 88 OVR
Rutgers: Kyle Monangai (RB) 90 OVR

Sam Houston: Kavian Gaither (ROLB) 83 OVR
San Diego State: Myles Murao (RG) 85 OVR
San Jose State: Nick Nash (WR) 85 OVR
SMU: Logan Parr (LG) 91 OVR
South Alabama: Jaden Voisin (FS) 86 OVR
South Carolina: Raheim Sanders (RB) 88 OVR
Southern Miss: Rodrigues Clark (RB) 81 OVR
Stanford: Collin Wright and Elic Ayomanor (WR 88 OVR)
Syracuse: Oronde Gadsden II (TE) 91 OVR
TCU: Savion Williams (WR) 86 OVR

Temple: Wisdom Quarshie (RG) 82 OVR
Tennessee: James Pearce Jr (RE) 95 OVR
Texas: Kelvin Banks Jr (LT) 94 OVR
Texas A&M: Nic Scourton (LE) 90 OVR
Texas State: Ismail Mahdi (RB) 89 OVR
Texas Tech: Tahj Brooks (RB) 92 OVR
Toledo: Maxen Hook (SS) 88 OVR
Troy: Daniel King (RG) 87 OVR
Tulane: Makhi Hughes (RB) 90 OVR
Tulsa: Kamdyn Benjamin (WR) 86 OVR

UAB: Brady Wilson (C) 86 OVR
UCF: RJ Harvey (RB) 91 OVR
UCLA: J. Michael Sturdivant (WR) 88 OVR
UConn: Chase Lundt (RT) and Jelani Stafford (DT) 81 OVR
UL Monroe: Elijah Fisher (LG) 84 OVR
UMass: Tyler Rudolph (FS) and Dominick Mazotti (TE) 81 OVR
UNLV: Ricky White III (WR) 89 OVR
USC: Jonah Monheim (C) 92 OVR
USF: Sean Atkins (WR) 87 OVR
Utah: Brant Kuithe (TE) 90 OVR

Utah State: Ike Larsen (FS) 88 OVR
UTEP: Maurice Westmoreland (RE) 86 OVR
UTSA: De’Corian Clark (WR) and Oscar Cardenas (TE) 85 OVR
Vanderbilt: CJ Taylor (SS) 88 OVR
Virginia: Jonas Sanker (SS) 92 OVR
Virginia Tech: Dorian Strong (CB) 91 OVR
Wake Forest: Jasheen Davis (LE) 89 OVR
Washington: Kamren Fabiculanan (SS) 88 OVR
Washington State: Kapena Gushiken (CB) 83 OVR
West Virginia: Wyatt Milum (LT) 90 OVR

Western Kentucky: Anthony Johnson Jr (CB) 88 OVR
Western Michigan: Jacob Gideon (C) 88 OVR
Wisconsin: Ricardo Hallman (CB) 91 OVR
Wyoming: Harrison Waylee (RB) 89 OVR

Back to school is right around the corner, meaning that now is the time to utilize all of your student discounts before you have to enter the real world and pay full-price for a movie ticket like the rest of us adults. HBO Max is offering college students a new discount, so you and all of your college roommates can watch The Sopranos until 4:00 am, as David Chase intended.

College students will be able to get a rare 50% discount on their ad-supported monthly plan, bringing the cost down from $9.99/month to $4.99/month. This is nothing compared to that $200 textbook that you will inevitability lose under your bed.

In order to qualify for the discount, college-enrolled students must register for UNiDAYS, a company dedicated to bringing deals to college students. After singing up, users will receive a discount code to use for Max. The offer is good for up to 12 months, after which students are encouraged to re-apply.

This is a pretty smart move for Max, especially since Peacock and Hulu both already offer student discounts on subscriptions. Max just raised prices last month, so this might get more people on board.

Meanwhile, Netflix doesn’t have any type of student deal, but the streamer did recently top 277 million subscribers, so those prices will probably stay the same. For now.

(Via Variety)

This is a story about a singer named Halsey.

Earlier this month, Halsey teased a new single, “Lucky,” which is heavily inspired by the Britney Spears song of the same name. “When I was 5, it always felt like Britney was singing directly to me,” they wrote in an Instagram post. “24 years later, these words hit different. love you forever.”

“Lucky” comes out July 27, but before Halsey could think about releasing the song, they reached out to Britney for permission. In response to an X follower who asked, “Has Britney reacted to your song yet!? Have you involved her at all?” the MaXXXine star replied, “yes of course! I wouldn’t even dream of doing it without her blessing!”

“Lucky” is the second single from Halsey’s still-untitled fifth album, following “The End.” They described the vibe of the album as “all over the place. when I started writing it, I thought it might be the last album I ever got the chance to make. so I tried to do whatever I’d been wanting to do, but hadn’t tried yet.” In a separate tweet, Halsey added, “I wrote a lot about what I was going through. I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone, though it was mostly my choice to not. but the weight of it all and looking at my life wondering if I was happy with who I was. While simultaneously changing against my will. more on that later lol.”

You can listen to the chorus of “Lucky” below.

Megan Thee Stallion faced some pretty traumatic times after she was shot in the foot by Tory Lanez. Still, there are those out there who are on Lanez’s side, and when some of those folks tried to rattle Meg recently, she didn’t give them the satisfaction.

In a video that can be seen here, Megan is leaving some sort of public establishment as people around her say/shout, “Free Tory.” Meg, though, was seemingly unbothered as she put her hand over her mouth and made a sassy grimacing facial expression.

In her statement for Lanez’s sentencing in 2023, Meg wrote to the judge in part, “I want you to know that since I was viciously shot by the defendant a little over three years ago, I have not experienced a single day of peace. I have been tormented and terrorized in every degree by the defendant. He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. […] He treated my trauma like a joke when I could have died that day. […] Today I beg this court to send a message to every victim of violence and fully hold the defendant accountable for his criminal conduct. This is a statement for all survivors that their lives matter and there is zero tolerance for the torture that accompanies violence. His crime warrants the full weight of the law.”

Learning a new skill, such as playing an instrument, gardening or picking up a new language, takes a lot of time and practice, whether that means scale training, learning about native plants or using flashcards to memorize new words.

To improve through practice, you have to perform the task repeatedly while also receiving feedback so you know whether you’re doing it correctly or not. Is my pitch correct? Did my geraniums bloom? Is my pronunciation understandable?

However, a new study by researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon shows that you can speed up the processes by adding a third element to practice and feedback: passive exposure. The good news is that passive exposure requires minimal effort and is enjoyable.

“Active learning of a… task requires both expending effort to perform the task and having access to feedback about task performance,” the study authors explained. “Passive exposure to sensory stimuli, on the other hand, is relatively effortless and does not require feedback about performance.”

A woman listening to music in bedvia Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

So, if you’re learning to play the blues on guitar, listen to plenty of Howlin’ Wolf or Robert Johnson throughout the day. If you’re learning to cook, keep the Food Network on TV all day to absorb some great culinary advice. Learning to garden? Take the time to notice the flora and fauna in your neighborhood or make frequent trips to your local botanical garden.

If you’re learning a new language, watch plenty of TV and films in the tongue you are learning.

The scientists add that auditory learning is especially helpful, so listen to plenty of audiobooks or podcasts on the subject you’re learning about.

Researchers learned the tremendous benefits of passive exposure after conducting a study with a group of mice. They trained them to find water, using various sounds to give either positive or negative feedback, like playing a game of “hot or cold.” Some mice were passively exposed to these sounds when they weren’t looking for water. Those who experienced this additional passive exposure and their active training learned to find the water reward faster.

A woman reading a book about house plants.via cottonbro studio/Pexels

“Our results suggest that, in mice and in humans, a given performance threshold can be achieved with relatively less effort by combining low-effort passive exposure with active training,” James Murray, a neuroscientist who led the study, told University of Oregon News. “This insight could be helpful for humans learning an instrument or a second language, though more work will be needed to better understand how this applies to more complex tasks and how to optimize training schedules that combine passive exposure with active training.”

The great news about the story is that in addition to giving people a new way to approach learning, it’s an excuse for us to enjoy the things we love even more. If you enjoy listening to blues music so much that you decided to learn for yourself, it’s another reason to make it an even more significant part of your life.