Blogs

7 Hobbies Science Says Will Make You Smarter

The general idea is that the brain can develop further and you can do it on purpose. Different activities stimulate different areas of your brain, so you can work on becoming unbeatable at your strengths as well as improving your weaknesses.

These kids were geniuses — they were just too poor for anyone to discover them

When Speaker of the House John Boehner announced his resignation last last week, the narrative quickly emerged that he was pushed out by conservative members of his own party, those identifying with the Tea Party caucus. And rumor has it that the same group seeks Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell resignation as well.

Why Did the Democratic and Republican Parties Switch Platforms?

During the 1860s, Republicans, who dominated northern states, orchestrated an ambitious expansion of federal power, helping to fund the transcontinental railroad, the state university system and the settlement of the West by homesteaders, and instating a national currency and protective tariff. Democrats, who dominated the South, opposed these measures.

Donald Trump has never been a tactful person, but one quote from a recent Rolling Stone profile is outlandish even by Trump standards. Trump was watching the news during a meal with his staff, and saw a reporter ask a question of fellow Republican candidate Carly Fiorina. Trump, who had been offering snarky critiques of each candidate as they appeared on the screen, said:

New species of extinct human found in cave may rewrite history

The television game show Let's Make a Deal first aired in 1963. Host Monty Hall would give contestants a chance to win a modest prize, then a chance to trade their prize for a better prize. In one scenario Hall presented the contestand with three doors. Behind one of the doors was a big prize, and behind the other two were Zonks, items of little or no value.

Why the Earth Is Heating So Fast: On the Dangerous Difference Between Science and Political Science

In the last two posts, we've looked at how the two sides of the slavery argument appealed to the Bible for support during debates over the morality of slavery. (Part 1: pro-slavery | Part 2: anti-slavery)

Scientists try to replicate climate denier findings and fail

One of the most common problems the researchers encountered was something called “cherry-picking.” Not to be confused with actual cherry-picking (which is now endangered thanks to climate change), data cherry-picking is a big science no-no in which researchers falsify results by including only the data that support those results and not the data that don’t.