Scientists at Centre College in Kentucky have done a double-blind experiment to measure the effect of 5-Hour Energy, and it turns out everyone's favorite tiny energy drink might be no more effective than coffee. The researchers looked at the drink's effect on a specific brain wave, P300 (aka "the workhorse of visual attention research"), which increases in amplitude when stimulated by caffeine.

Perhaps surprisingly, 5-Hour Energy was no better at increasing P300 activity than the caffeine you can get free at your office’s coffee machine, suggesting that while you might feel more productive with your heart thrashing around thanks to all those added stimulants like taurine, it’s not keeping you more alert — it’s just stressing your system.

"Man of Steel" hasn't even hit theaters, but it can already count on $160 million from product placement alone. Advertising Age took a closer look at the deals struck between Warner Bros. and a slew of companies around the world and found a staggering amount of tie-ins. Some seem clever enough, like hip eyeglasses company Warber Parker offering frames in the style of Clark Kent, but others are the kind of thing that seem totally foreign to most people, like special edition cars from Chrysler U.K. Of course, product placement is nothing new; the first film to reportedly feature product placement was 1927's "Wings." This year's "The Great Gatbsy" had plenty of tie-ins, though those were more to signify to modern audiences just how lush a life Fitzgerald's characters were living. After all, the average movie-goer doesn't down bottles of the cheapest champagne on a regular basis, much less Moët & Chandon.

"The Lorax" probably took the most heat for its many, many promotional tie-ins in 2012, but mostly because they went against the story's original eco-friendly message. (The movie had 70 promotional partners, while "Man of Steel" has 100 around the world.) Meanwhile, "Battleship" snagged $50M from partners around the world. That makes the sometimes garishly obvious placement in "Skyfall" a little easier to swallow. These deals aren't going anywhere any time soon, so you might as well sit back and learn how Superman shaves (sponsored by Gillette, of course).

Keep it in your pants. Leaving your cell phone out on the table during a date could ruin your chances of making a serious connection, finds new research in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Measures of relationship quality, trust, and empathy dropped roughly 20 to 35 percent among study participants when a cell phone was present and visible during meaningful, personal conversations. Another experiment revealed feelings of closeness also suffered significantly if a cell phone was left out in the study room.

Why? It’s possible the sight of your phone primes you and your date to think about your broader social networks, explains study coauthor Andrew Przybylski, Ph.D., of the University of Essex. Thinking about your friends or coworkers distracts both you and your date from the “here-and-now” of your conversation, and so messes with your ability to bond, Przybylski says. So keep your cell or any other communication devices out of sight during a date—whether it’s your first or 50th, Przybylski advises. Do this, and you’ll send the woman you’re with the message that she’s your number one priority, he adds.

photo courtesy: Facebook

Hopefully not all of Taco Bell’s workers love the shells as much as it appears one of its California employees does.

The company Monday was reacting to a picture posted on Facebook that appears to show a Taco Bell employee licking a stack of taco shells.

Give me your best caption for this photo.