The Human Brain
What are dreams really made of? Are humans the smartest animal? What causes schizophrenia? Travel inside the mind and find out how the human brain works.
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Nothing beats watching a blockbuster on the big screen, but today's home theater systems do an impressive job bringing that experience into your home. In this article, we'll explain how the components of a home theater system re-create the sounds and
Religion is one of the three things you're never supposed to talk about if you don't want your dinner party to turn into a food fight. But what about looking at religion through the lens of science instead of faith? Is there a connection between our gray matters and pray matters?
Once scientists discovered that some members of the great ape family could recognize their reflections in mirrors, academics began to wonder whether these animals were actually conscious of themselves. That debate continues today.
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We'd like to think we're pretty clever, but when you correct for body mass, dolphin brains aren't far off from our own. What cognitive skills do dolphins possess, and could they really be our intellectual equals?
Computers can handle far more calculations per second than the human brain, and can store and retrieve information very reliably. Should we be jealous of these hunks of silicon and metal on our desks?
If you've ever dashed into the grocery store to pick up a tube of toothpaste, you've likely been stopped in your tracks by the sheer number of options available. So why does having more options make it so much harder to make the right choice?
By Tom Scheve
Erosion and weather can combine to make rock formations look like all kinds of things, from human faces to animals. They're called mimetoliths and we've taken a look at four of the most famous.
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We all know what it feels like to be burned out. But does that really mean that our brain is tired? And is it the same as when other muscles tire out?
The Kobayashi Maru simulation puts future Starfleet commanders in a classic "no-win" scenario. It's so accurate, even the U.S. military uses the exercise to test the measure of a good leader.
By Mark Mancini
Whether you're a procrastinator or a workaholic, you can improve your time management. How? With a timer, scheduled breaks and some serious discipline.
Phrenology, the belief that you could determine personality from the shape of someone's skull, was so popular in the Victorian era that phrenology parlors sprang up all over Europe and America. But the trend was soon debunked.
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Heuristics are rule-of-thumb strategies that help us shorten decision-making time and solve problems quickly and effortlessly.
Most people throughout the world are right-handed. So can they teach themselves to use their left hands, too and become ambidextrous?
Do we have a tendency to walk clockwise around the block? Why do sports favor counterclockwise rotation? Does it have anything to do with handedness or driving habits?
An extensive study looks at personal space in 42 countries, and how weather affects preferences.
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Although left-handed people were thought to be "sinister" or "unnatural" in previous eras, we now know that left-handedness is natural for 10 percent of the population. And it can have some advantages over right-handedness too.
By Alia Hoyt
A series of studies showed that including the word 'sorry' in a rejection actually made the rejected person feel worse.
By Alia Hoyt
We often think that if a drug has been studied by scientists and given a favorable outcome, then it must be safe and proven. But many kinds of biases can creep into a study, rendering it less than effective.
A new study shows that belief in perceiving patterns correlated strongly with belief in conspiracy theories and the supernatural.
By Alia Hoyt
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People who hallucinate typically see, hear, feel, smell or otherwise experience things that simply aren't real. Often, these sensory fake-outs indicate a serious medical condition.
By Alia Hoyt
Many of Sigmund Freud's well-known theories have been discredited by modern psychiatry. Does that include the Oedipus complex?
By John Donovan
People often make vision boards at the start of the year. Some swear by vision boards for making their dreams come true. But is there any science to back that up?
By Alia Hoyt
If you engage in constant self-talk, it may surprise you that some people think in pictures instead or do nothing at all. And the number of people truly having an inner monologue may not be as great as you think.
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Sleepwalking is an intriguing phenomenon. How can a person be unconscious but still coordinate his or her limbs? And how do we know when we're really awake?
In the past, applying electricity to the brain was a painful measure of last resort. Now with lower power and electrodes surgically planted deep within the brain, it could be the answer to many debilitating diseases.