This Spotify playlist comprises of 715 songs, handpicked by neuroscientists, and meant to elicit “frisson,“ which means a sudden feeling or sensation of excitement, emotion or thrill in French. Music that increases in loudness or has an abrupt entrance of a new voice or deviations from harmony can often induce "frisson.” Human screams also incite the same response. Which makes sense because one of the songs on the playlist made me increasingly uncomfortable. This article on Big Think will give more background on the ways we experience this profound emotional state. — CD

I use Paypal to send money to strangers (like on Ebay or Etsy); I use Venmo to pay friends; but if I need to send a lot of money (more than several thousand $$$) I use Zelle. Unlike Venmo which holds a reserve in your account that you replenish, Zelle is basically a bank to bank wire transfer – for free. But the interface is person to person. Still can’t do it internationally, but it is very handy for larger peer-to-peer payments in US. Easy to set up. — KK

I’m still wearing a face mask indoors. But my ears are paying the price, especially on long flights when the pressure of the loops against the back of my ears becomes painful. Last week I started using these Velcro face mask extender straps, which pull the loops away from the back of my ears. I should have bought these things two years ago. — MF

What came first: Watts Towers or The Beatles’ Abbey Road? The film Tom Jones or Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits? The Dream by Henri Rousseau or England’s Natural History Museum? This Google quiz asks questions like these (and shows relevant images) and challenges you to click what came first. A faster answer will yield a higher score. — MF

AnswerThePublic takes all the autocomplete data from search engines to report back what questions people are asking all over the world. You can test out the the search engine with 1-2 keywords, which is helpful for anyone doing market research or just nosy like me. You can use it twice a day for free without having to pay a monthly cost. — CD

Author Dan Pink has mastered the art of delivering fantastic advice in 2 minutes or less. His latest Pinkcast is his 5 tips for optimizing travel to a foreign city. I concur with these 100% and do them myself. To save you 2 minutes here they are:

1. Go to the highest point in the city.

2. Buy a local newspaper.

3. Ride public transportation.

4. Go to McDonald’s (Seriously.)

5. Spend an hour in a grocery store.

But you’ll miss Dan’s humor and his persuasion if you don’t watch his pitch. — KK

One of our Cool Tools podcast guests, Jeff Waldman, author of Tools: The Ultimate Guide, turned me onto the best construction screw there is. It’s the GKR R4, used to bolt together wood framing, decking, or cabinets. As he describes in our Cool Tools Show-and-Tell video, the engineering in this tiny piece of metal is amazing. It is designed to be super easy to attach large pieces of wood together very securely very fast. In my experience the GKR R4 screws are stronger and faster than comparable screws. — KK

I only recently learned that you can configure an iPhone to perform an action by double- or triple-tapping the back. You can use it to take a screenshot or go to the home screen, for instance. I use it to open the camera app. Here’s how to do it. — MF

At least once a week, I move a tabletop mirror (similar to this one) onto my desk to help with my sitting posture. I keep it just to the right of me so it’s not distracting and I position it so that if I can see myself in it out of the corner of my eye, I know I’m sitting up straight. — CD

Before oil, empires fought over gold. And before gold, empires fought over spice. There were six spices that opened up the Americas, and bound Asia and Europe together permanently. Kate Humble, a BBC host, journeys to the remote geographical sources of these 6 spices in her series The Spice Trail. The depth of her research and travels are astounding. I am in awe of how ignorant I was about these substances, and now I am grateful how intimate with them her travels made possible. There are 3 sessions available on YouTube: 1) Pepper and Cinnamon. 2) Nutmeg and Cloves. 3) Saffron and Vanilla. History + Travel + Food. Highly recommended. — KK

I stopped using mood tracking apps a while back, because I got better at recognizing slight mood shifts and anticipating my own needs in the moment — whether that’s asking for space, taking a screen break, or hugging my dog. But now I’m back on the mood tracking app bandwagon, because How We Feel is more than just a mood tracker — it’s created by scientists, therapists, designers and engineers, so not only does it help you find the right word for your feelings, it helps you understand the science behind emotions and provides strategies to regulate your mood with elegantly produced videos, and the analytics of your mood over time are displayed in beautifully-designed patterns and colors. It’s free and I believe it’s in beta, so it will only get better. — CD

I played Ransom Notes with my family a couple of weeks ago and we laughed ourselves to tears. Each player grabs a handful of about 75 words printed on magnetic strips (they look like refrigerator magnets) from the inventory. Someone draws a card from the deck and reads the instructions. Example: “Tell someone you’ve clogged their toilet during a party.” Each player has to use their word magnets to form an answer on a small metal plate. Example, “I have elaborate booty chaos please not mad,” or “did dump tough disappear.” You are supposed to vote on the “best answer,” but we were too busy laughing hysterically to keep score. — MF

David Allen’s Getting Things Done changed my life when I read it almost 20 years ago. It describes how to create a process you can trust to capture everything you need to do, and then create physical actions to complete those tasks. The benefit is that you can stop using your brain for remembering what to do and instead use it to focus on what to do next. The book is worth reading, but everything you need to know about practicing GTD can be found on this webpage, GTD in 15 Minutes - A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done. For me, it was a valuable refresher. — MF

Freelearninglist.org is a directory for finding the best education resources on the internet — including links and descriptions to free courses, YouTube explainer channels, podcasts, subreddits, effective thinking newsletters, how-to websites and more. Each listing is scored on effectiveness, design and popularity. It makes me want to never waste time on the internet with so many mind-enriching resources like this available. — CD

I am a convert to Apple AirTags. I hide these tiny buttons in my luggage to keep track of where it is. On a recent walk in England our luggage was forwarded each day, and with the AirTag I could track their whereabouts. If I stray too far from my daypack (as if I had forgotten it) I get an alert on my phone. And attached as a fob on our car key, I can track where in the house the keys were left using my phone. I have a friend who slips one in critical packages he ships. I am putting one in all my bicycles. Each AirTag is $29, and its replaceable battery lasts about a year. — KK

Take the legendary Planet Earth TV series and marry it to Jurassic Park technology times one million and what you get is the fantastic new nature series narrated by David Attenborough, Prehistoric Planet. It’s about the life of dinosaurs 66 million years ago. It employs state of the art synthetic beings and the latest scientific understanding to depict everyday dino life with stunning veracity and clarity. It genuinely tracks like an intimate nature documentary. Streaming on Apple TV. — KK

Unlike regular jigsaw puzzles, which have pieces that don’t match up with the artwork, this puzzle’s 40 large pieces are cut in the shape of the black and white creatures from artist M.C. Escher’s 1957 lithograph Mosaic II. The puzzle is a lot harder to solve than you may think. It’s out of print, but used ones are available on eBay and Etsy. — MF

There’s rarely a day that goes by that I don’t listen to my Meditative Mind: Music & Sleep app. There are hundreds and hundreds of soothing and immersive soundscapes, chants, mantras, nature sounds and world music to choose from. I use it when I need to focus, meditate or sleep. The app is free to download and try out, but I happily pay the $38 annual subscription for access to their full library, unlimited downloads and an ad-free experience. There is also a YouTube channel with lots of long-format music tracks added almost daily. — CD

How to say no is a collection of email templates that you can use to decline social events, meetings, dates, phone chats and other work-related requests you might get. Some of these are examples given by notable productivity experts like James Clear and Tim Ferris. You can even download these canned templates and install them into your gmail. — CD

The 6-part Netflix series Babies changed my ideas about human babies. Babies are far more smarter and adaptable than they appear. This series uses video from scientific experiments on babies to demonstrate their remarkable intelligence and stunning development. I look at them with renewed wonder now. The series is a remarkable work of science communication. I strongly recommend to any parent or grandparent. — KK