In this column, we provoke fresh thinking and round up some of the weird, wonderful, quirky, surprising – and shocking – stories out there

  Smiley faces Facial movements do influence feelings of happiness, suggests research carried out in 19 countries. Research into whether facial movements influence happiness has hitherto produced mixed results, prompting a global group of researchers to join forces to form the Many Smiles Collaboration. Some of the researchers were for the hypothesis, some against it, and some were neutral. Their study, carried...