Clothing expert explains how Norwegian sweater designs make them warmer than a wool coat

Those patterns are functional as well as beautiful.

By Annie Reneau

Norway is known for the distinct folk art designs of its knitted sweaters, with geometric snowflakes and nature motifs, but did you know that the reason they look the way they do isn't purely aesthetic?

The clothing expert behind The Iron Snail clothing brand shares all kinds of fascinating facts about textiles on the company's social media site, and his video about Norwegian sweaters is particularly fascinating. Anyone who has owned a traditional, authentic Norwegian sweater knows that they are warm. Not like normal sweater warm, but warmer than a full-on coat warm. But why?

Doctor shares a reliable 3-step method to correct someone who constantly interrupts you

Get a word in.

By Erik Barnes

There are times when you end up with that one friend who never lets you get a word in. They constantly cut you off or interrupt. You know they're not intentionally trying to hurt or annoy you, but you still wish you could bring it up in a way that won't cause friction or put them on the defensive.

Fortunately, a behavior researcher has a three-part tip that allows you to raise the issue naturally and without being harsh.

Former lawyer turned self-leadership expert Dr. Shadé Zahrai took to social media to share a simple technique for getting interrupters to slow down and let you finish your thoughts. Here are the three steps she recommends:

Give someone a hug today. 🫶

Woman without arms shares the 3 ‘compliments’ she wished people would stop saying to her

“I could never.”

By Erik Barnes

When she was three years old, Jackie Lopez lost her arms in an accident. Growing into adulthood without those appendages, she has learned and trained to use her legs as arms and her feet as her hands to feed herself, make meals, play video games, wrap Christmas gifts, and any other activity a person could do. Throughout her life, people have remarked about how tough her circumstances are and how strong she is, and to all of those people she has one request: Please stop.

“Because I don’t have arms, I get these comments a lot and a lot of people think it’s a compliment when it really isn’t. It’s so annoying and irritating to see and hear all the time,” Lopez explained on social media.

In her video, Lopez shared the three most common comments she receives as a disabled person that aren’t outwardly or intentionally mean, but annoy and actually hurt her. She prefaced her video saying that, while these comments are mostly her pet peeve and other disabled folks may not mind them, it might be a good idea to not say these things to other disabled people either.

People share their favorite songs sung in languages they don't understand at all

Music really is a universal language.

By Heather Wake

Both science and our intuition tell us that music is a universal language. Sure, cultures express some aspects differently, but by and large, we have a collective sense about what makes a lullaby a lullaby, what makes a love song a love song, and so on.

It’s a big reason why we don’t always need to understand what lyrics are being sung to have a visceral reaction when listening to a piece of music—whether it revs us up, breaks our heart, or something in between.

Sometimes you can credit this to the performers of the song, who put so much of their soul into their work that listeners can’t help but be moved. Other times, these songs are used in iconic movie or television scenes and thus become immortalized in the mainstream. But even still, there’s undeniably something about the sound, not the words, that inspires connection.