Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2017

Why Is the Flag at Half-Staff Until Noon on Memorial Day?

For 149 years, Americans have taken the last Monday in May to remember those who have died in our wars. Like all deaths honored by the state, flags fly at half-staff. However, on Memorial Day, the U.S. flag flies at half-staff only for the first half of the day, and...

Feb 28, 2017

Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Your Head?

There are some songs that just beg to become embedded in your brain. It's a Small World. My Sharona. YMCA. Even a die-hard Village People fan is bound to get a little annoyed the 70-millionth time It's fun to stay at the Y, M, C, A! screeches through their skull....

Feb 28, 2017

What's Behind Phantom Cellphone Buzzes?

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Have you ever experienced a phantom phone call or text? You're convinced that you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, or that you heard your ring tone. But...

Feb 28, 2017

What the Heaven's Gate Suicides Say About American Culture

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Heaven's Gate — also known as the UFO cult — burst into American consciousness 20 years ago this month, when, on March 26, 1997, law enforcement discovered 39 decomposing...

Oct 31, 2018

Help Put a Scientist's Face on the UK's New £50 Bill!

Pardon me, do you have change for a Hawking? English business owners may soon have to answer this question, or one like it — Can you break a Lovelace for me? — thanks to a new competition to put a U.K. scientist on the United Kingdom's next £50 bill. Who...

Oct 31, 2018

The Real Reason the Pilgrims Survived

Sometime in the autumn of 1621, a group of English Pilgrims who had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and created a colony called New Plymouth celebrated their first harvest. They hosted a group of about 90 Wampanoags, their Algonquian-speaking neighbors. Together, migrants and Natives feasted for three days on corn, venison...

Sep 30, 2018

Tiny Hawaiian Gecko Accidentally Calls 'a Bazillion' People from Hospital Phone, Wins the Internet

If you have never been prank-called by a lizard, you probably don't live in Hawaii. Dr. Claire Simeone, the director of the Kei Kai Ola hospital for Hawaiian monk seals, definitely does. Earlier this week, Simeone had just left work for lunch when her phone started ringing. A lot. I...

Sep 30, 2018

Giant, Prehistoric Bird Chowed Down on This Neanderthal Child's Bones

One Neanderthal child had a very bad day about 115,000 years ago. The child died — that much is certain — and the bones were gulped down and digested by a giant, prehistoric bird, according to archaeologists in Poland. However, it's unclear whether the giant bird killed the child before...

Sep 30, 2018

Why Do Some People Feel More Pain Than Others?

Anyone who came of age in the 1990s remembers the Friends episode where Phoebe and Rachel venture out to get tattoos. Spoiler alert: Rachel gets a tattoo and Phoebe ends up with a black ink dot because she couldn't take the pain. This sitcom storyline is funny, but it also...

Jul 31, 2018

Photos: Cropmarks Reveal Traces of Lost Civilizations in England

Neolithic Cursus (Image credit: Damian Grady/Copyright Historic England)The rectangle cropmarks found near Clifton Reynes, Milton Keynes reveal two Neolithic cursus monuments that likely date to between 3600 and 3000 B.C. Though the monument to the left was recently found as part of another project, the one on the right was...

Jun 30, 2018

Why Are There 9 Supreme Court Justices?

Supreme Court justice Anthony Kenneday said he's retiring at the end of July, meaning the court will hold just eight justices until a new nominee gets confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Eight justices also manned the court between February 2016 when Justice Antonin Scalia died and Neil Gorsuch was confirmed...

Apr 30, 2018

You Have a Second Immune System, and It Might Be Ruining Your Love Life

To bae or not to bae? That is the question of dating. And while you might believe the answer hinges mostly on chemistry or mutual interests, a team of psychology researchers from McGill University in Montreal suggests that there's an unlikely judge ultimately making the call: your behavioral immune system....

Apr 30, 2018

The Jerusalem Quandary: Why Trump's Embassy Move Is Problematic

The new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will open Monday, the Associated Press reported today (May 11). The embassy, which will open with an initial staff of 50 people, will be housed in part of a pre-existing American visa-and-passport facility, according to the AP. President Trump first declared his intent to...

Apr 30, 2018

Diwali: Hindu Festival of Lights

Diwali, also known as Deepawali, is the Hindu festival of lights. It is celebrated for five days across India and other parts of southern Asia, as well as in many other places around the world. It is the biggest Hindu festival and most important Hindu holiday of the year. During...

Mar 31, 2018

Camelot, King Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table

Camelot was a mythical castled city, said to be located in Great Britain, where King Arthur held court. It was the center of the Kingdom of Logres and in Arthurian legend would become the location of the round table that held 150 knights. French originsStories about King Arthur are known...