Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

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...

Jan 31, 2008

Settlement of Americas a 3-Act Play

The epic journey by which the Americas were first settled has been a great mystery for centuries. Did it happen by land or by sea? Did it happen one dozen or so millennia ago or three dozen? The answer might be yes. New findings reveal the settling of the New...

Jan 31, 2008

Man's Other Best Friend: Shorn, Worn and Eaten for Dinner

Dogs may be the first domesticated animal and man's best friend, but humans owe a lot more to the second domesticated animal — sheep. The domestication of animals occurred at the same time people started to settle down and grow their own food, about 12,000 years ago. Once they planted...

Dec 31, 2007

Secrets Behind Oscar Nominations Revealed

Movie star Cate Blanchett’s recent stirring performances may not have been the only reason she got two Oscar nods this week. Academy Award nominations tend to go to performers in dramas, who are female, who have been nominated in the past and who command a high rank in the movie-credit...

Nov 30, 2009

Conquering the Digital Data Overload

If you're feeling a little overwhelmed by all the information you have to keep track of, you're not alone. Between the proliferation of 'smart' devices — ranging from phones to power grids — and the ever-growing Internet, the world is drowning in data. But not to despair, computer scientists like...

Nov 30, 2009

Survey: The Worst Decade in 50 Years

When asked what they thought about the past decade, Americans by a 2-1 margin rated it negatively. In contrast, they rated every other decade since the 1960s positively. The results could be at least in part due to rose-colored glasses. The passage of time may affect the way people view...

Oct 31, 2009

For Football Fans, Almost Losing Is Ideal

The most exciting football games are those your team almost loses. No big news there. But a new study looked into the complex emotions of being a fan and reached some interesting conclusions. Researchers studied fans of two college football teams as they watched the teams' annual rivalry game on...

Sep 30, 2009

Balloon Boy Saga Offers Lesson in Eyewitness Testimony

A six-year-old boy named Falcon Heene was thought by many to have been floating alone through Colorado skies on Thursday in a silvery weather balloon created by his inventor father. It turned out that he was safe at home hiding from his parents (so goes one story), but the news...

Sep 30, 2009

Why Extremist Views Dominate

For many people — more than you might think — public and political dialogue seems dominated by extreme views that don't resonate. A new study suggests a possible reason: People with extreme views seem more willing to share their opinions than others, but only if they believe, even falsely, that...

Aug 31, 2009

Do Scientists and Journalists Get Along?

Do they even talk? I just ran across new study that suggests they do. First, my own observations, which as any scientist will tell you are very unscientific by virtue of being anecdotal: Scientists are, in general, interested in discussing their work and patient with our questions, which can range...

Aug 31, 2009

The Science in ‘Fringe’ 2nd Season

WASHINGTON -- Injecting the same dye used to make M&Ms and Gatorade blue into injured people to repair spinal injuries sounds more like something from a tale of science fiction than an idea coming straight out of a scientific journal. Yet this and other seemingly unlikely ideas from scientific journals...

Aug 31, 2009

Children Who Get Spanked Have Lower IQs

Spanking can get kids to behave in a hurry, but new research suggests it can do more harm than good to their noggins. The study, involving hundreds of U.S. children, showed the more a child was spanked the lower his or her IQ compared with others. All parents want smart...