Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 3, 2023

Why are some people always late?

We all know someone who never seems to be on time, whether it's to a lunch date or a work meeting. But is there a good explanation for why some people are always late? The habit of being tardy probably results from a number of factors, including time perception, time...

Apr 3, 2023

What Is Passover?

What is Passover?Passover is one of the most important holidays in the Jewish calendar. It's an eight-day festival (seven days for Reform Jews and Jews in Israel) celebrated in the early spring, starting on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. The 14th day of Nisan begins...

Apr 6, 2023

Most methods for squashing conspiracy theories don't work, study finds. Here's what does.

Debunking conspiracy theories with counterarguments is often a fruitless effort — but according to a new scientific review, there may be alternative strategies that can successfully fend off conspiratorial beliefs. Having already grown over the past 10 years, interest in conspiracy theories skyrocketed during the pandemic, when failure to comply...

Apr 14, 2023

'Short-term memory illusions' can warp human recollections just seconds after events, study suggests

Human beings can generate false memories of events mere seconds after they have occurred, a new study has found. The phenomenon, which researchers have dubbed short-term memory illusions, shows how easily and rapidly humans reimagine experiences to fit our preconceptions, rather than accurately recording what takes place. The researchers published...

Apr 27, 2023

"The birds and the bees": Meaning and origin of the phrase

The phrase the birds and the bees is a term used to explain the mechanics of reproduction to younger children, relying on the imagery of bees pollinating and eggs hatching to substitute for a more technical explanation of sexual intercourse. It is a way of deflecting the inevitable question that...

Apr 29, 2023

Are some people actually tone deaf?

Sure, not everyone has pipes like Adele. But we all know people who truly struggle to match and comprehend musical pitch, and they're usually labeled tone deaf. But is tone deafness a real condition? And if so, why are some people tone deaf? In short, yes, tone deafness is a...

May 18, 2023

New York's first dinosaur museum was trashed before it even opened. The culprit is not who we thought.

In 1871, vandals with sledgehammers destroyed skeletons and models intended for display in New York's first dinosaur museum before the building was even completed. Contemporary news reports blamed the corrupt politician William Boss Tweed, but researchers have now revealed that the true culprit was likely Henry Hilton, who was seemingly...

May 27, 2023

What is the 'ship of Theseus' thought experiment?

Once upon a time — at least according to the ancient Greek writer Plutarch — the hero Theseus sailed from Athens, Greece, to the island of Crete, where he slayed the half-man, half-bull Minotaur before sailing back to rule Athens. The wooden ship that Theseus sailed on, Plutarch imagined, must...

Jul 4, 2023

13 horrific firework injuries that will keep you cautious on July 4

Nearly 100,000 Americans were injured by fireworks between 2000 and 2010. (Image credit: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)Freedom. Hot dogs. Amputations. It's July Fourth in America, and U.S. hospital visits are about to skyrocket like so many Roman candles. Between 2000 and 2010, U.S. American emergency...

Jul 25, 2023

40 human skulls found in Kentucky apartment linked to national network of body part dealers

FBI agents found 40 human skulls decorating an apartment in Kentucky on July 11 in a search for trafficked human remains — a case that is revealing a network of body part dealers across the U.S. The FBI says that it linked James Nott, the man living with the skulls,...

Aug 21, 2023

190 years after Darwin, 2-year expedition launches to retrace his voyage around the world

Researchers and conservationists have set off on a two-year voyage to retrace Charles Darwin's famous journey across the globe. The expedition comes more than 190 years after the naturalist sailed the world collecting specimens and shaping ideas that would help him formulate his theory of evolution. The expedition, named Darwin200,...

Sep 4, 2023

Hot weather could boost aggression — but only in certain conditions

Decades of research has shown that times of extreme heat are associated with both civil war and personal violence. Despite this consistent finding, there is controversy about why heat and violence go hand in hand. Is heat causing a cascading series of problems, such as crop failure, leading to civil...

Sep 13, 2023

What is pareidolia?

Pareidolia (pronounced par-i-DOH-lee-a) is a brain phenomenon in which a person sees or hears something significant in a random image or pattern. Pareidolia is what causes peoples to see faces in inanimate objects, such as an image of the Virgin Mary in grilled cheese or the man in the moon....

Sep 16, 2023

How wealthy UFO fans helped fuel fringe beliefs

In a 2017 interview with 60 Minutes, Robert Bigelow didn't hesitate when he was asked if space aliens had ever visited Earth. There has been and is an existing presence, an ET presence, said Bigelow, a Las Vegas-based real estate mogul and founder of Bigelow Aerospace, a company NASA had...

Dec 28, 2023

10 controversies that 'broke' science in 2023

There are stories you expect to ruffle some feathers — we're looking at you, aliens — and then there are the ones we never thought would kick up a storm. This year, scientists surprised us with claims of successful room temperature superconductivity, reported sightings of long-extinct species and alternative theories...