Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2008

From Kennedy to Clinton: Why Everyone Is Thumbs-Up

Seems everyone these days is giving the thumbs-up, no matter the circumstances. Senator Edward Kennedy gave a big thumbs-up as he left the hospital Wednesday, facing a new outlook on life with a potentially deadly brain tumor. Hillary did it just this week at a we're-not-mathematically-defeated-yet campaign rally in Florida....

Apr 30, 2008

Pre-Humans Shuffled Before Walking

There have been many suggestions for how and why our hominid ancestors got out of the trees and started walking. The latest: a prehistoric shuffle driven by an empty belly. This proposal relies on a mathematical model to suggest that shuffling emerged as a precursor to walking, between 4 million...

Apr 30, 2008

Neurologist Explores Music's Healing Power

NEW YORK (AP) - Noted neurologist Oliver Sacks has found common ground with the pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church: Both men believe in the healing power of music. Sacks, the best-selling author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, was to share the church...

Mar 31, 2008

Men More OK with Discrimination Than Women Are

Men are more tolerant of discrimination than women are, but both tend to accept prejudice against some immigrants and Arab-Americans, according to a new study. The results come from telephone and online surveys of more than 3,300 people conducted in 2002 by University of Southern California researchers. Each of the...

Mar 31, 2008

10 Deadly Cults

Cult or Religious Sect? Cultist groups have permeated society ever since people could chat and share ideas en masse, although modern cult experts today often clash about what, exactly, makes a group of people a cult. What's a loony or eccentric organization to one expert is often seen by others...

Mar 31, 2008

Faith in Prayer Kills Children

Last month in Portland, Ore., Carl and Raylene Worthington's toddler Ava got sick with a blood infection and pneumonia. Both conditions were treatable with antibiotics, but unfortunately for little Ava, her parents belong to the Followers of Christ Church, some members of which believe that prayer can cure the sick....

Mar 31, 2008

My Day: A Brain-Sucking Tornado of Endless Decisions

I just can't make up my mind. But I have to, all day long. It starts as soon as I get out of bed, before I'm even conscious. Should I choose the red blouse or the orange sweater, the skirt or the pants. And for God's sake, which shoes? And...

Mar 31, 2008

Metallurgists' Book Blames Rivets for Titanic Tragedy

NEW YORK (AP) -- The tragic sinking of the Titanic nearly a century ago can be blamed on low grade rivets that the ship's builders used on some parts of the ill-fated liner, two experts on metals conclude in a new book. The company, Harland and Wolff of Belfast, Northern...

Mar 31, 2008

Culture Affects How We Read Faces

How people read facial expressions of others says a lot about their cultural upbringing, a new study suggests. While Americans home in on a central figure, Japanese take in facial expressions of an entire group to gauge a person's emotional state. The results could reflect North Americans' rugged individualism and...

Mar 31, 2008

How Culture Makes Us Thin or Fat

The lower house of parliament in France has just passed a law to prevent thinness. My, what a cultural contrast to the Unites States, where two-thirds of all adults are considered overweight or obese and our lawmakers are worried about fatness, not thinness. Problem is, both cultures don't really understand...

Mar 31, 2008

Magician Breaks World Record for Holding One's Breath

CHICAGO (AP) — Magician David Blaine set a new world record Wednesday for breath-holding: 17 minutes and 4 seconds. The feat was broadcast live during “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and the studio audience cheered as divers pulled Blaine from a water-filled sphere. He looked relaxed afterward and said the record...

Feb 29, 2008

If Only Women Ran the World ...

News Flash: Biological anthropologist endorses presidential candidate. The wait is over. After months of speculation, and controversy, biological anthropologist, Dr. Earnest A. Hooton, of Harvard, has finally weighed in on his choice of presidential candidate. The endorsement goes to … a woman, any woman. As a professional student of man...

Feb 29, 2008

Top 10 Battles for the Control of Iraq

2003 AD - Operation Iraqi Freedom An Iraqi mortar crew assigned to 4th Battalion, 21st Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army (IA) Division waits for the rest of their battalion to assault a mock village as Mi-17 helicopters provide aerial security during a battalion live fire training exercise at Forward Operating Base...

Feb 29, 2008

A Closer Look at Racist Conspiracies

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama spent much of the last week distancing himself from controversial comments made by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. In several of his fiery sermons, Wright denounced racism in America and said that on September 11, 2001, God had not blessed but instead damned America....

Feb 29, 2008

Why We Cling to Cars

Here's an interesting way to get to work: Leave the house and forget the car. Instead, walk right out into the middle of the street, without looking left or right for oncoming traffic. When the street dead ends, step into a cigar-shaped, human-powered vehicle and balance, standing up, as it...