Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

May 31, 2015

Water Fights and Grown-Up Talk: How Dads Do It Differently

Dads toss their kiddos in the air, they roughhouse, and they're always game for a water-balloon fight. Those may be stereotypes about Daddy's brand of parenting, but they have some basis in reality, at least according to research. Thousands of studies have found differences, on average, in how dads and...

May 31, 2015

Universal Rhythm: People Dance to Same Beat Across the Globe

Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called music the universal language of mankind. Now researchers may know why. A new analysis of music from diverse cultures around the globe reveals that regardless of whether it's hip-hop or classical or alternative rock, all music shares certain universal features, such as having a simple...

Apr 30, 2015

Royal Baby: Second Siblings Who Changed the World

This story was updated on Monday May 4 at 10:15 a.m. E.T. Princess Kate Middleton and Prince William just welcomed their second child, a baby girl, into the world — and into the growing queue to the British throne. Based on custom, the baby girl will be fourth in line...

Mar 31, 2015

Bizarre Syndrome Makes Visitors to Jerusalem Go Crazy

As Christians and Jews around the world prepare to celebrate the holidays of Easter and Passover, many will flock to the city of Jerusalem. Since ancient times, the city has been a magnet for religious pilgrims from some of the world's largest faiths — namely, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But...

Mar 31, 2015

This Country Is the Happiest in the World

This story was updated April 27 at 8:10 a.m. EDT. The happiest country in the world isn't in the tropics, as you might expect, but is known for its snow-covered peaks and delicious chocolate: Switzerland took the top spot in the 2015 World Happiness Report, a ranking of 158 countries...

Jan 31, 2015

Getting Tattooed & Eating Human Ashes: 6 Strange 'Addictions'

Many people get cravings for a cigarette or a glass of wine. But what about a potent desire to get tattoos or eat human ashes? Merriam-Webster defines an addiction as a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble), or...

Jan 31, 2015

Online Dating Tips to Help You Find 'The One'

Attention, online daters: If you want to get lucky in love, it's better to go with the screen name AdorableAnnie, rather than ZoltantheDestroyer. That and other insights come from a large new review of online dating tactics and their success levels. Among the findings: picking a screen name that starts...

Jan 31, 2015

5 Things a Man's Finger Length Says About Him

Man's finger length A peach against a blue sky background. (Image credit: Shutterstock)Men, take a look at your right hand. Is your index finger shorter than your ring finger? The ratio of these digits' lengths could hint at everything from personality to intellect to physiology, a number of studies suggest....

Dec 31, 2014

The Story Behind the Leap Second

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Most people would feel they can count on one day comprising the same number of hours, minutes and seconds as the next. But this isn’t always the case –...

Dec 31, 2014

Women Can't Be Geniuses? Stereotypes May Explain Gender Gap

The gender gap in certain academic fields may be due to those fields' emphasis on brilliance (rather than hard work, for example) and stereotypes that hold that women can't be geniuses, new research suggests. Researchers surveyed 1,820 people working in academia in the U.S. in 30 disciplines, ranging from computer...

Dec 31, 2014

Mummy Mask May Reveal Oldest Known Gospel

This story was updated at 9:54 a.m. ET on Feb. 9. A text that may be the oldest copy of a gospel known to exist — a fragment of the Gospel of Mark that was written during the first century, before the year 90 — is set to be published....

Dec 31, 2014

After Narcosub, Are Drug Drones a Surprise? (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. It will come as no surprise to anyone that drugs are big business, so when a drone crashed in a car park of a US border town weighed down...

Nov 30, 2016

Smallpox Found in Lithuanian Mummy Could Rewrite Virus' History

The mummy of a child discovered in a crypt beneath a Lithuanian church harbors the oldest sample found to date of the virus that causes smallpox, a new report said. But the researchers' analysis of the virus, called the variola virus, suggests that smallpox first appeared in humans much more...

Nov 30, 2016

Why Is Santa Always White?

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. It is that time of year again: People are dusting off their holiday decorations in order to make their homes and public spaces festive. It is also the time...

Nov 30, 2016

8 Things We Learned About Human Nature in 2016

8 Things We Learned About Human Nature in 2016 (Image credit: Sonpichit Salangsing | Shutterstock.com)Does telling one lie make you more likely to tell another? During which season are couples most likely to divorce? And what prompts the victims of long-ago sexual assaults to finally speak out? This year, researchers...