It can’t be denied. BB-8 merch has been rolling out to the masses like so many First Order Stormtroopers off a carrier. There’s BB-8 luggage, BB-8 plush, BB-8 Sphero electronic mini toys. Even a $135,000 gold and diamond-encrusted BB-8. And now, with this new BB-8 lamp from ThinkGeek added to the list, one has to ponder, is it possible… to have too much BB-8? Let us turn to science for the answer.

Researchers at Hiroshima University in Japan took it upon themselves to study the power of kawaii, which is Japanese for “cute.” And what they found was that cuteness—literally looking at cute things like puppies and kittens—can increase productivity and powers of concentration. From the paper, which was published in PLOS ONE:

Performance indexed by the number of successful trials increased after viewing cute images (puppies and kittens; M ± SE = 43.9±10.3% improvement) more than after viewing images that were less cute (dogs and cats; 11.9±5.5% improvement). In the second experiment, this finding was replicated by using a non-motor visual search task. Performance improved more after viewing cute images (15.7±2.2% improvement) than after viewing less cute images (1.4±2.1% improvement)… For future applications, cute objects may be used as an emotion elicitor to induce careful behavioral tendencies in specific situations, such as driving and office work.

There you have it, folks. Cute objects help us to focus. And for the sweet love of demasked Darth Vader daddy, what android is cuter than BB-8? Again, we turn to science for the answer; this time, a Mr. Neil deGrasse Tyson and his twitter:

In summary, cuteness increases productivity and focus, and a top scientist says BB-8 is cuter than R2D2—who was already so damn cute—which ipso facto means that no, you cannot have too much BB-8 merch. And yes, this 8.5-inch-tall lamp is sweet. It has three different lighting temperatures, including natural white, amber, and warm white, as well as a dimmer. And for $49.99, can you afford to not have your productivity increased? We’ll let you sleep on it after you turn out your BB-8 lamp.

What do you think about the BB-8 lamp? Do you have enough productivity-inducing cuteness in your life? Let us know in the comments section below!

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Image: ThinkGeek