Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

Mar 31, 2018

Wait For It...The First 'April 23rd Doomsday' Was Predicted in 1843

Call it the recycled doomsday: A new prediction for the end of the world sets the apocalypse date as Monday, April 23, based on a mishmash of old numerology, re-readings of the biblical Book of Revelation and rehashed conspiracy theories about a rogue Planet X. Even the calendar date of...

Mar 31, 2018

Knife-Armed Man Leaves World's Coolest Skeleton

Fifteen-hundred years ago, a single mighty blow crashed down upon a man in Italy, severing his right hand. The wound should have killed him — if not from immediate blood loss, then from an infection for which there were no antibiotics. But he survived. The man's severed bones healed. He...

Feb 28, 2018

Can Sound Be Used As a Weapon?

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Editor's note: Government and academic investigators continue to probe reports from Cuba that, starting in 2016 and continuing through 2017, U.S. and Canadian diplomats and tourists may have been...

Feb 28, 2018

What were George Washington's teeth made of? (It's not wood)

The myth of George Washington's wooden chompers is as enduring as the tall tale of the time the young future president chopped down a cherry tree and came clean about his crime. It's also just as false. In fact, Washington had multiple sets of dentures, and they were made of...

Feb 28, 2018

This Futuristic Flying Car Requires Zero Piloting Skills

A flying car company funded by Google co-founder Larry Page seems to finally have a prototype that looks something like a personal aircraft people might actually use. The company, Kitty Hawk, released a video and statement debuting the vehicle, called Cora, today (March 13). Cora looks a bit like a...

Feb 28, 2018

This Hidden 'Royal' Jewel, Taken from India, Will Sell for Millions of Dollars

A very fancy, expensive diamond is about to be openly sold for the first time in its 300-year history. According to Mining.com, the 6.16-carat, dark grey-blue Farnese Blue diamond, which comes from India, was extracted early in the bloody, brutal British colonization of the subcontinent in the 18th century. It...

Feb 28, 2018

Where Did the Easter Bunny Come From? Ask This Dead German Scientist

Depending on the age of the observer, Easter either celebrates the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, or the miracle of a bipedal rabbit hatching and hiding a litter of chocolate eggs in the nooks and crannies of your home. Where did the Easter Bunny come from, and how...

Jan 31, 2018

If Football Is Deadly, Why Do We Still Watch?

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. During the second quarter of Super Bowl LII, the party stopped, if just for a second. Tom Brady found Patriots wide receiver Brandin Cooks downfield with a 23-yard completion....

Dec 31, 2017

How Do You Survive Nuclear War? The CDC Is About to Tell You

Jan. 16 update: The CDC's nuclear detonation webcast has been postponed. In its place, the CDC will discuss this season's severe flu. Live Science's original story about the webcast is below. Do you know what to do in the event of a nuclear detonation? If not, don't worry: The Centers...

Nov 30, 2019

Inbreeding Caused the Distinctive 'Habsburg Jaw' of 17th Century Royals That Ruled Europe

Many of the kings and queens of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, which ruled across Europe from the 16th to the start of the 18th century, had a distinctive facial deformity: an elongated jaw that later became known as the Habsburg jaw. Now, a new study suggests this facial feature was...

Nov 30, 2019

Why Are So Few Babies Born on Christmas Day?

Christmas and New Year’s are days of celebration in many parts of the world when people gather with family and friends. One thing many typically don’t celebrate on those days is a birthday. That’s because Dec. 25 is the least popular day in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand to...

Nov 30, 2019

Why Do We Have Fingerprints?

In 1910, Thomas Jennings fled a murder scene, but he left behind a clue that would seal his fate: a perfect impression of his fingerprints in the drying paint of a railing, outside the house where he'd committed the crime. Jennings' fingerprints were the first ever to be used as...

Oct 31, 2019

What If the Berlin Wall Had Not Fallen in 1989?

On Nov. 9, 1989, the barrier between East and West Berlin — and the real concrete structure symbolising the Iron Curtain of the Cold War — was brought crashing down. The fall of the Berlin Wall came to symbolize the collapse of the Soviet Union, signaling the end of a...

Oct 31, 2019

Can People Really Learn to 'Speed Read'?

There never seems to be enough time to read these days. With so many books and articles — especially all those shared on social media (maybe even this one) — the ability to read faster could be a life-changer. Which is why so many classes, books and apps claim they...

Sep 30, 2019

4,000-Year-Old Mummies Showed Early Signs of Heart Disease

Four-thousand-year-old mummies have cholesterol buildup in their arteries, suggesting that heart disease was likely more common in ancient times than once thought, according to a new study. Prior studies have examined arterial calcium accumulation in mummified human hearts and arteries using dissection and X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning. But these...