Noticed the new Marmite ads? It might have been due to a psychological quirk called pareidolia. This is our tendency to see faces in random objects (like clouds, plugs or, in this case, jalapenos). There’s such an evolutionary advantage in quickly spotting faces that we notice them even when they're not there. (After all, a face could be attached to a predator, a trading partner or an enemy...so very useful to see them quickly). Besides evolutionary theory, there's modern experimental evidence that shows that ads with face-like images get more attention. In a 2018 study led by Gianluigi Guido from the University of Salento, 154 people were shown 36 pairs of print ads. One pair had a face-like image, the other one didn't. Guido found that those with the face-like images captured substantially more attention in 80% of pairs. On top of that, when the ads were only shown for half a second, they outperformed the control 92% of the time. This makes pareidolia a particularly useful technique in ads as generally the audience is distracted. If you’re interested in finding out more about pareidolia and how specifically Marmite has applied it, have a read of my new Marketing Week article from my regular "Why It Works" column. Article here: marketingweek.com/why-it-wor…

I've recently been helping run experiments to reduce accidents at train stations. It's a big issue and many falls are caused by people rushing. But how do you change that behaviour when most people are too frantic to pay attention to messaging? Well we (Joanna Stanley, Anita Brown, Paul Corney at Avanti West Coast and I) decided to build on existing findings on the calming role of music. For example, Charles Spence from the University of Oxford found in a 2024 study with South Western Railway that nature soundscapes (e.g. birdsong, flowing rivers) in the carriage reduced people's stress by 35%. Similarly, in 2014, Marek Franěk from the University of Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic found that downtempo music made people walk 12% slower than an uptempo soundtrack when walking a 2km circuit. We wanted to see if more fleeting exposure could have a positive effect. Our test was at Stoke train station. We picked a subway and used a stopwatch to record how long it took people to walk through it. With no music playing, people took 16.15 seconds on average. Then we rotated four different soundtracks in 30-minute intervals: ⛱️ Relaxing music (528 HZ) 🎻 Slow-tempo classical music 🎙️ Easy listening music 🕊️ Birdsong Every musical intervention slowed people down but playing birdsong had the biggest effect - in that setting, it took people 17.43 seconds to cross the subway. That's 8% slower than with no music. Of course, this study is a one-off, so it needs to be replicated to see if the effect holds. But it sits within a broader body of research on the positive effects of music on public behaviour. This is a fascinating area of research - and one that has the potential for simple, low-cost applications to make public spaces a little safer.

A locomotive struck a septic truck crossing the tracks in Chesapeake, Virginia, sending the truck flying and leaving the driver with life-threatening injuries. abcnews.link/Ta3gLdH

This guy who lives in this block of flats cuts a structural column on the 6th floor of his 20-story building to improve the view

Deadly Dukono eruption update: Two hikers from Singapore who had been missing since the eruption have now been confirmed dead. An Indonesian woman was also found earlier near the crater area. 17 others made it off the volcano alive. Search and rescue teams have been dealing with continuing eruptions, falling ash and terrible conditions on the mountain, making recovery efforts extremely difficult. Officials are now reportedly looking into how climbers were able to enter the area despite restrictions already being in place around the volcano.

🇪🇸🐂😨 El torero Andrés Roca Rey ha sido corneado de gravedad durante su actuación en la Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, Sevilla, en una sobrecogedora cogida que ha dejado un parte médico de pronóstico muy grave: presenta una fuerte cornada con dos trayectorias de 20 y 15 centímetros. Además, se convierte en el segundo torero de la semana en sufrir una cogida de estas características.

🌋 And todays stupid award goes to.... They climbed to the top of Santiaguito Volcano in Guatemala yesterday even though there is a complete ban.

True currency is steadfast friendship