Author: TECH

Americans across the board are seeing the cost of living rise as the war with Iran drags on despite the ceasefire. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have throttled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime chokepoint where a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas travels through along with other vital resources.This has helped drive up the cost of everything, taking a toll on American household finances. This is something felt acutely by those on fixed incomes like seniors. That higher inflation though will have a knock-on effect that could alleviate some of the pain, an outsized cost-of-living-adjustment.The…

Do retirees feel like a dollar doesn’t quite stretch as far this year? Each year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) evaluates economic data and issues a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) intended to account for rising living expenses. The COLA from this past October was 2.8%, bumping the average monthly retirement benefit to $2,071 as of January 2026, a $56 increase. But the world has changed a lot since October, and it’s fair to wonder whether your Social Security benefit is actually keeping up with what you’re spending right now. Image source: Getty Images. How is the COLA calculated? The SSA calculates…

You ever notice how some decisions feel heavier than they should? Like choosing a direction in life, setting a boundary, or even speaking up in a simple conversation turns into a full mental spiral. You replay things, question yourself, maybe ask a few people for advice, and somehow end up even less certain. It’s frustrating in a way that’s hard to explain, especially when other people seem to move through decisions so easily. A lot of people write this off as just “who they are,” but that’s rarely the full story. Self-trust isn’t something you’re born with; it’s something you…

If we eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats it can help our heart and our mind. We should try to limit caffeine and processed foods as they can make us feel anxious and increase our heart rate.We need to learn how to pause and take a break. In today world everyone is always busy. It is essential to take a mins to breathe deeply and calm down. This can help our heart rate slow down and our blood pressure go down.Mindfulness, meditation and silence can also help us reduce stress. These things are not just…

                                Compliance Corner A key part of many workers’ compensation claims is calculating an injured worker’s wages. As Simply Research subscribers know, Wisconsin determines earnings as follows. Basics The average weekly earnings for temporary disability, permanent total disability, or death benefits for injury in each calendar year on or after Jan. 1, 1982, shall be not less than $30 nor more than the wage rate that results in a maximum compensation rate of 110 percent of the state’s average weekly earnings as determined under s.…

In 2023, two scientists from the Forest Research Institute and the Regional Museum of Natural History set out to study Himalayan forest ants in the mountains of Uttarakhand, India.Instead, they stumbled across an entirely new species — a spider with marks on its abdomen that resembled a cheerful grin. Strangely enough, the scientists felt like they had seen it before. It bore an uncanny resemblance to another species over 7,000 miles away: The Hawaiian happy-face spider, a “biological curiosity” that exists only in the Hawaiian Islands. “The discovery was accidental because our survey was on ants,” co-author of the study Devi Priyadarshini…

MASSILLON – The city and a pair of Stark County organizations are teaming up on a mission to help prevent suicides by offering people an avenue for personal support.Stark County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery, Stark County Suicide Prevention Coalition and the city have placed a series of 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline signs throughout the community.The awareness campaign aims to help people struggling with thoughts of suicide, mental heath or emotional issues and those just needing someone to talk to.Over the past five years, the coalition has identified the Massillon 44646 ZIP code as having one of the highest…

Have you been feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stuck in the same routine lately? Whether you are balancing a career, managing a household, raising children, or trying to juggle everything at once, it is easy to put your own interests and happiness on the back burner. Over time, constantly caring for everyone else can leave you feeling drained and disconnected from yourself. That is why having hobbies is so important. Hobbies give you a chance to recharge, explore your creativity, learn new skills, and reconnect with the things that bring you joy. They provide valuable “me time” that can help reduce…

Northern gannets on Bonaventure Island – credit, CC 3.0. BY-SA Bodoklecksel Content of several “forever chemicals” in seabird eggs were found to have sharply decreased over the last 55 years by a team of scientists. While first rising exponentially from during the 1960s, the chemicals, classed as PFAS, peaked in the 1990s before decreasing in line with regulatory oversight by North American governments. PFAS are a class of chemicals that form water, stain, and heat-resistant coatings in multiple products which substantially contaminate environments around the world, and are linked to multiple detrimental health outcomes. A study published in the journal…

Have you ever considered why we want to be happy? Is it because happiness feels so good? Because science keeps revealing its wealth of benefits? Or perhaps because we are convinced that happiness is the paramount variable in a good life; the sine qua non of making the most of the time we’ve been given; the fairy godmother whose presence, we presume, will cast a veil of satisfaction over everything else? The pursuit of happiness has become such a prevalent undertaking for our species that we are inclined to do just about anything to experience it, to optimize it, to…