Men are from Mars and women are from Venus—or so the saying goes. Well, there’s now research to back it up: a new study out of the University of Southern California shows that women’s eyes and attention wander in very different ways from men’s.

 The upshot isn’t that men or women are superior, just that we’re not all the same. Which is a helpful thing to keep in mind when you’re trying to communicate with anyone else, regardless of gender.

 Chances are you’ve received gossip via email—and sent it, too. A recent study out of Georgia Tech of hundreds of thousands of emails from the former Enron corporation found that one out of every seven messages (almost fifteen percent!) contained gossip.

 Gossip plays a pivotal role in communication: it’s how we learn about each other, share social information, and gain intimacy. When women communicate with other people, our levels of the feel-good brain chemicals serotonin and oxytocin surge. Slander aside, a little harmless banter about your coworker next door might be just the ticket to get you over hump day.