Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

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...

Jan 8, 2024

Why do we procrastinate?

The dawn of a new year marks a fresh start and motivates many people to break bad habits. Some are easier to shake than others, however, and the tendency to procrastinate is among the stickiest. Whether it's finishing a piece of work, sending an email or going for a run,...

Feb 5, 2024

Can psychopaths learn to feel empathy?

People with psychopathy often embody traits such as being egocentric, manipulative, violent and probably criminal. But can people exhibiting these characteristics overcome them and learn how to feel empathy? Before diving into this question, it's important to know that the medical definition of psychopathy is incredibly complicated, and experts are...

Feb 29, 2024

Why do people dissociate during traumatic events?

During traumatic situations, people might experience an unexpected wave of emotional numbness or feel like they've detached from reality and are having an out-of-body experience. These symptoms of disconnect describe dissociation, a defense mechanism that separates threatening feelings and ideas from the rest of someone's psyche. But why do our...

Mar 1, 2024

Why do we have leap years? And how did they come about?

Feb. 29 is a date that happens only once every four years, but what are leap years? Why do we need them? And how did they come about? Leap years are years with 366 calendar days instead of the normal 365. They happen every fourth year in the Gregorian calendar...