Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 28, 2006

Republicans Happier than Democrats

Overall happiness among U.S. residents has not changed much over the years, according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center that finds 34 percent of adults are very happy. Among 3,014 telephone respondents, half reported being pretty happy, and 15 percent said they are not too happy. The...

Feb 28, 2006

Cheating on Spouse or Taxes Morally Acceptable for Many

Nearly one in five Americans think cheating on taxes is morally acceptable or is not a moral issue. Some 10 percent are equally ambivalent about cheating on a spouse. In a survey by the Pew Research Center released today, 88 percent of respondents said it was morally wrong to have...

Jan 31, 2006

Ancient Cave Art Full of Teenage Graffiti

Many art historians and anthropologists believe Paleolithic cave wall art was done by accomplished shaman-artists, but mixed in with the finer paintings are graffiti-like scenes of sex and hunting. An analysis of thousands of paintings from the late Pleistocene epoch suggests the graffiti artists back then were likely the same...

Jan 31, 2006

First Americans May Have Been European

ST. LOUIS—The first humans to spread across North America may have been seal hunters from France and Spain. This runs counter to the long-held belief that the first human entry into the Americas was a crossing of a land-ice bridge that spanned the Bering Strait about 13,500 years ago. The...

Jan 31, 2006

Scientists to Bury Blackbeard's Ship

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)—Authorities are resorting to a risky new method aimed at helping preserve what is believed to be the sunken flagship of the pirate Blackbeard. The Army Corps of Engineers is creating an underwater sand dune to shelter the Queen Anne's Revenge, which sits about 26 feet underwater off...

Jan 31, 2006

Planet's Population Hit 6.5 Billion Saturday

A population milestone is about to be set on this jam-packed planet. On Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7:16 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the population here on this good Earth is projected to hit 6.5 billion people. Along with this forecast, an analysis by the International Programs Center at the U.S....

Dec 31, 2005

Mozart's Skull Possibly Found

VIENNA, Austria (AP) —Have scientists found Mozart's skull? Researchers said Tuesday they'll reveal the results of DNA tests in a documentary film airing this weekend on Austrian television as part of a year of celebratory events marking the composer's 250th birthday. The tests were conducted last year by experts at...

Dec 31, 2005

Earliest Maya Writings Found

Newly discovered hieroglyphs show that the Maya were writing at a complex level 150 years earlier than previously thought. The glyphs, which date to about 250 BC, were found on preserved painted walls and plaster fragments in the pyramidal structure known as Las Pinturas, in San Bartolo, Guatemala. Las Pinturas...

Nov 30, 2007

Huckabee: Question on Teaching Creationism 'Irrelevant'

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)—Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist preacher who has surged in Iowa with evangelical Christian support, bristled Tuesday when asked if creationism should be taught in public schools. Huckabee—who raised his hand at a debate last May when asked which candidates disbelieved the theory of...

Nov 30, 2007

Rare 'Upside-Down' Stamp Sells for $825,000

DALLAS (AP)—A collector from New York has purchased a rare 24-cent stamp depicting an upside-down airplane for $825,000, according to an auction house. The unidentified buyer of the Inverted Jenny stamp was described as a Wall Street executive and longtime coin collector by Heritage Auction Galleries, which announced the sale...

Oct 31, 2007

How Monsters are Made

Two of America's mysterious creatures have recently reared their furry heads: Bigfoot and the goat-sucking chupacabra. On Sept. 16, 2007, a hunter in the Allegheny National Forest got photos of what some claim is a Bigfoot. The hunter had fastened a remote-trigger camera to a tree and when he returned...

Oct 31, 2007

What Humans Should Really be Thankful For

In this season of thankfulness, it's a good idea to move beyond being thankful for more food than we could ever eat and more family than we could ever argue with and take stock of other issues in our lives that deserve a nod. We are humans, and this species...

Oct 31, 2007

First Americans All from Siberia, Study Confirms

Humans somehow made their way into the Americas from distant lands, but knowing precisely when and from where they made the journey are matters of heated scientific debate. New genetic evidence, however, backs up a chilly northwestern arrival to North America from Siberia about 12,000 years ago, via a temporary...

Sep 30, 2007

Vatican Publishes Knights Templar Papers

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- It's not the Holy Grail, but for fans of The Da Vinci Code'' and its tantalizing story line about the Knights Templar, it could be the next best thing. Ignored for centuries and found in the Vatican secret archives in 2001, a parchment about the early...

Sep 30, 2007

Voters Make Quick, Shallow Decisions, Study Suggests

Voters can judge a politician's competence in the blink of an eye—or so they think they can, a new study suggests. Previous research hints that voters go for the most competent candidates, but the new analysis reveals people can forge steadfast opinions simply by glancing at a candidate's picture. The...