Health Tips Line

Every reader has a shelf that feels like home. Mine has always been fantasy . My childhood library checkouts were filled with Magic Tree House , Edward Eager’s Half Magic series, Percy Jackson and Eragon . These days, I’ve traded them for sprawling adult fantasy epics, but the feeling hasn’t changed. As a health editor, that made me wonder: Why are some of us drawn to fantasy while others devour thrillers, memoirs or beach reads ? And what, exactly, happens inside our brains when we become completely absorbed in a story? Is it different for my fantasy-obsessed brain than one that goes crazy for Stephen King or Elin Hilderbrand? To get inside our heads, I spoke with two researchers who study the power of imagined experiences: Raymond A. Mar, PhD, a psychology professor at York University, and Melanie C. Green, PhD, a SUNY distinguished professor and the chair of communication at the University at Buffalo. Read on to find out what your favorite reads do to your brain...

I want to believe. Yes, that’s the tagline for The X-Files , the ’90s television phenomenon that I have watched in its entirety more times than I care to admit. But it’s also a credo of sorts, not just for Fox Mulder, but for tons of people all over the world who have had a close encounter with an unidentified flying object (UFO), now known by the way-less-catchy “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or UAP. Have you seen one? I’m still waiting—as far as I know—but I’m not nearly as cranky about the idea as Agent Scully. Our current government is all over it: Since January 2026, they’ve released millions of files collected since 1950 under a new program called PURSUE, or the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. The fifth bulk file release just dropped on Aug. 7. Coming up, I’ll take you through what to do if (uh, when!) you see a UFO or UAP and tell you how you can report your sighting to authori...

There’s a lot to be concerned about when you’re a parent —not least keeping your kids fed, safe and happy—and that’s before the additional worries that come with raising a future king. Every parent wants to believe they’ve done a good job and shaped their children to be polite, confident and well-balanced, but most of our little princes and princesses don’t regularly meet world leaders! Safety is always front of mind—balancing the need to give your kids freedom as they hit their teens and making sure they’re shielded from harm, in real life and online. And that’s something William and Kate have taken very seriously, wanting George, Charlotte and Louis to have as “normal” an upbringing as possible, while understanding their situation is anything but normal. However, there’s one issue above all others that’s worrying William and Kate, and parents everywhere will surely relate. Read on to learn their bigge...

Raise your hand if you’ve ever left the grocery store, looked at your receipt and thought, Wait … I spent HOW much?! Same. With grocery bills taking a serious bite out of our budgets, we want to know the store we’re shopping at has quality food, fair prices and products we can feel good about feeding our families . (Is that really too much to ask?) So, which grocery store has earned shoppers’ trust the most? With so many options—from major chains like Aldi, Costco, Trader Joe’s and one of my personal go-to’s, Whole Foods—choosing where to fill your cart isn’t always easy. Luckily, there’s a new ranking that helps narrow it down. Newsweek and the research firm BrandSpark International teamed up to reveal the results of the 2026 BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards, an annual ranking recognizing the brands Americans trust most. When it comes to grocery stores, one retailer came out on top. Read on to find out America’s most tr...