Have you ever felt carsick on a long, bumpy drive? If so, music might help!
Researchers from Southwest China University recently placed 30 volunteers in a driving simulator—a machine that mimics the motion of a car. When the riders started feeling queasy, scientists stopped the simulator and had the volunteers either sit in silence or listen to one minute of music.
The team found that soft or cheerful songs cut volunteers’ nausea by nearly 60 percent! Sad tunes, meanwhile, were less effective than simply resting. “These findings could help people manage motion sickness in planes and boats too,” says Qizong Yue, the study’s senior researcher.