Now you know

I remember the days of watching "Bill Nye the Science Guy" on PBS and in my elementary school science classes. He typically had a segment called "Now you know" when an announcer would list off a few interesting facts about the day's show's topic in a deep, booming voice.

Well readers, just imagine you're hearing these interesting (at least interesting to me) facts in a deep, booming voice. The facts for today are a selection from one or two articles I read this week.

NOW YOU KNOW:

Humor can improve your memory. Actually you might already know that. When was the last time you remembered a car insurance commercial during which a seemingly randomly selected person stood there and talked to you about how you could get a better deal by switching to their company? When was the last time you remembered a car insurance commercial during which a talking, computer-animated lizard made jokes and introduced you to a new brand of car insurance? Yeah. That's what I thought.

They have casinos in Seattle. Yeah I was suprised too. Random.

What "off-label drugs" are. When I first read this article I thought it meant some variation of off-brand drugs. You know, the non-brand name drugs that are usually a lot cheaper than the most popular ones and they're supposed to do the same thing. But no. Off-label drugs are drugs that people use for purposes other than what's prescribed on the label. Off-label drugs are used by non-impaired people, like people who take Adderall when they need to pull an all-nighter. Or new memory drugs being marketed not to people with memory problems, but to lawyers who want to remember more about their clients or real estate agents who want to remember more about the property they're selling. Scary, isn't it?