Science confirms viral theory about inheriting your mom's nervous system—and it explains a lot

“My mom really said, ‘Double it and give it to the next person.’”

Think about the last time your mom—whom you love and cherish—handled a situation poorly. Maybe she lost her temper while waiting to "speak to a representative" on the phone, or raised her voice in a moment that didn't warrant it.

To be clear, mothers are not the only ones who lose their cool (we'll save analyzing your other family members' questionable behaviors for another time). But since they contribute 50% of our DNA, their unique responses to stress—their triggers, defense mechanisms, and attempts at self-soothing—deserve a second look. Because, as hoards of people on TikTok are now discovering, we inherit far more than just eye color and a winning smile from our moms.

Smitten woman bought a 'love spell' from a witch on Etsy and it backfired spectacularly

This story has ethical conundrums galore.

Unrequited love—we've all been there, right? Rejection sucks, even when it's self-rejection in the form of being too afraid to tell someone you have feelings for them. It hurts to keep it inside, and it hurts to get shot down. If only there was a better way!

Some people believe that there might be. While it may not be possible to just snap your fingers and make someone fall in love with you, potions, spells, and other forms of witchcraft promise to bring you basically the same result. What's great is that, in 2025, you can hire a witch to do your romantic bidding on the Internet from the comfort of your own home!

5 small things that made us smile this week

We're giving you the small things that make us smile, every single week

Hey, have you heard? Life is kind of stressful. Between a news cycle that just won’t quit and the never-ending temptation to doom-scroll, finding small moments of joy throughout the day has become more important than ever. That's where we come in. 

Ready to laugh? Have your heart melted? Cry happy tears? Let's get into it.

For scrumptious snacks that add an extra boost of joy to your day, be sure to check out All In.

16 nostalgic sounds only people over 30 will recognize

Most of these will never be heard in their natural habitat again.

Is it just me or has the world become increasingly silent? Don't get me wrong, we're certainly bombarded by things fighting for our attention—ads, content distributed by algorithms, notifications. But it's mostly visual noise. The more time goes on, the more it feels like there are fewer and fewer real, tactile sounds in our life.

Even the relatively iconic "iPhone ringtone" is a thing of the past, as is the text message "ping." A majority of people keep their phones on silent, even going so far as to watch YouTube and social media videos without sound. After all, auto-captions are far less intrusive when out and about.