Don Deane

Ever been told to “grin and bear it” during a rough time? According to a new study by researchers at the University of Kansas, that advice might be more than just an old cliché. In fact, the study says, smiling might just be good for your heart.

In a move destined to make you wish that J.K. Rowling was your mom, the author of the ‘Harry Potter’ series recently won permission to build two massive 40-foot high tree houses in her backyard at a cost of almost $395,000.

During a videotaped message delivered during last night’s Republican National Convention, both former Bush presidents expressed support for Mitt Romney. But the most surreal moment came when the elder Bush recalled comedian Dana Carvey’s well-known impersonation of him.

Main Street Elementary School in South Los Angeles was a scene of confusion and mayhem Wednesday when a 100-year-old driver backed his car onto a sidewalk and injured nine children and two adults at the end of the school day.

Exactly one year ago Thursday, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Mineral, Virginia, rocked the Eastern seaboard, causing tremors from Georgia all the way to New England. Where were you when it happened?

In the U.K., a 40-year-old man recently had a plastic fork surgically removed from his stomach after swallowing it. That’s bad enough, but when you consider that he ingested the item a decade ago, the story reaches all new levels of weird. We’ll never look at cutlery the same way again.

According to a new study published in the journal Psychological Science, wakeful resting — otherwise known as “spacing out” — can actually improve memory. So, the next time somebody accuses you of not listening, just say you’re boosting your memory and there’s science to prove it.

Trampolines in theory seem like a heckuva lot of fun. Given that they’re typically made of fabric pulled tight by an array of coiled springs, what could possibly go wrong? Quite a bit, it turns out.

Five-year-old Evan loves ‘Cars’ so much that he literally wore out the wheels on his Lightning McQueen Power Wheel toy car. So, his dad Sean, an employee at the aftermarket tuning company FFTEC Motorsports, rebuilt the ride from the ground up, even adding a zippy 500 watt electric motor that’s capable of outputting .66 horsepower.

Walt Disney World bills itself as “the happiest place on earth,” but it was anything but for several dozen people who became ill after visiting a nature tour in June.

So far we’ve learned that animals love Adele and that her music may even have magical healing properties. Now, five-year-old Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who plays Lily on ‘Modern Family,’ gets in on the Adele craze by singing ‘Someone Like You’ from the backseat of her mother’s car.

There’s nothing wrong with loving Nicolas Cage (hey, we sure do). But when your appreciation for the notoriously eccentric actor starts creeping into your professional life, it might be time to admit you have a problem.