Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 31, 2005

Land of Homer's 'Odyssey' Said Found

LONDON (AP) -- Homer's legendary hero Odysseus wandered for 10 years in search of his island kingdom, Ithaca. Now, a British amateur archaeologist claims to have ended the ancient quest to locate the land described in The Odyssey.'' Although the western Greek island of Ithaki is generally accepted as the...

Jul 31, 2005

Masculinity Challenged, Men Prefer War and SUVs

Men whose masculinity is challenged become more inclined to support war or buy an SUV, a new study finds. Their attitudes against gays change, too. Cornell University researcher Robb Willer used a survey to sample undergraduates. Participants were randomly assigned feedback that indicated their responses were either masculine of feminine....

Jul 31, 2005

Scientists' Belief in God Varies Starkly by Discipline

About two-thirds of scientists believe in God, according to a new survey that uncovered stark differences based on the type of research they do. The study, along with another one released in June, would appear to debunk the oft-held notion that science is incompatible with religion. Those in the social...

Jul 31, 2005

26,000-year-old Arch Supports?

The first supportive footwear was probably modest, but it definitely predates the Nike Empire. Erik Trinkaus at Washington University in St. Louis says the first shoes designed to do more than insulate and cushion were worn between 26,000 and 30,000 years ago in Eurasia. He has no old shoes to...

Jun 30, 2005

Doctors Poisoned Crazy King George, Study Finds

King George III (1738-1820) held the throne of the British monarchy during the American Revolution and the defeat of Napoleon, and he was rather crazy. His long reign was punctuated by severe bouts of mental derangement. A new hair analysis suggests that the king's doctors may have exacerbated his illness...

Jun 30, 2005

Voice of Reason: 'War of the Worlds' Truths and Myths

The recent Hollywood movie War of the Worlds by Steven Spielberg is garnering much attention, but it's nothing like that accorded the 1938 radio version of H.G. Wells' novel. Although the extent of the panic that broadcast caused is still debated, along with the claim that it was intended to...

Apr 30, 2005

Tech Firms Owe Debt to 'Star Wars' Creator

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ After filming the first Star Wars'' movie with special effects far from special, George Lucas spent millions to develop a complete digital editing system to populate his sequels with armies of X-wing fighters and Gungan warriors. Then, he virtually gave it away. We were 10 years...

Apr 30, 2005

Pre-K Kids Kicked Out of Schools Across the Country

Johnny is causing headaches in classrooms across the country even before the spit wads of grammar school start flying. A new study finds pre-K students are expelled three times more often than K-12 children in general. The problem appears to have more to do with a lack of teacher resources...

Mar 31, 2005

When Money Does Buy Happiness

Invoke the old clich? as you wish, but for disabled people, money seems to buy a measure of happiness. For others, well, the price hasn't changed. A survey of 478 Americans over nine years, before and after they became disabled, found that wealth generally allowed substantially better well-being, and less...

Mar 31, 2005

High-tech Probes Sneak Inside Your Cells

The newest generation of nano-sized probes should give scientists a look into the secret lives of nuclei within your body, researchers say. The tiny probes, called quantum dots, are a melding of biology and technology. The crystalline semiconductors with a biological protein coating are no larger than a few hundred...

Feb 28, 2005

Mama's Boys Get Better Milk

The tendency of some mothers to coddle their sons may be ingrained, at least in species where males compete for mates. A recent study of Iberian red deer on a research farm has shown that mothers produce more milk of higher growth-potential for a male calf than a female one....

Feb 28, 2005

Laser's Co-inventor Wins $1.5 Million Religion Prize

NEW YORK (AP) -- Charles Townes, co-inventor of the laser and a Nobel Prize-winner in physics, was named Wednesday as the recipient of a religion award billed as the world's richest annual prize. Townes, 89, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, won the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward...

Feb 28, 2005

Scientists Build 'Frankenstein' Neanderthal Skeleton

Anthropologists have built a Frankenstein Neanderthal skeleton, the first and only full-body reconstruction of the species. The result, announced today, is a shape no one expected. It's almost like making my own fossil discovery, said Gary Sawyer, one of the skeleton's architects. Sawyer, an anthropologist at the American Natural History...

Feb 28, 2005

IMAX theaters Reject Science Shows under Religious Pressure

Some IMAX theatres are refusing to show movies that mention evolution or the Big Bang because of protests by religious groups who say the ideas contradict the Bible. While the number of protests is small -- perhaps a dozen or fewer IMAX theaters -- the effect could be significant because...

Feb 28, 2005

Sports Injuries... After the Game

Sports injuries are common. It's what happens after the game that might come as a surprise. Residents of a city in Wales take a post-game beating, especially when the locals wins. Soccer and rugby are popular in Cardiff, the largest city in Wales. Matches often attract more than 70,000 fans....