A great many of our most popular songs are written at just a third-grade reading level. That’s the conclusion reached by an analysis of 225 popular songs.
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The word “rational” needs to be rescued. Tom Stoppard’s new play shows that a major rational parable, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, is widely misinterpreted. Seeing why “rationalists” do worse than Christians can help us avoid losing in evolution’s “negative telos” games.
It’s all about how seriously you take the concept of moral duty.
How the Solar Eclipse of 1919 spelled the end for Newton. “Oh leave the Wise our measures to collate. One thing at least is certain, light has weight. One thing […]
Psychedelics are showing promising results in helping a wide variety of ailments. But can they also result in addiction?
Researchers say it’s the night — not the darkness — that we fear.
What the first American woman in space meant for people everywhere. “Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You […]
It was when FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar — a country that could reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit during match play — red flags went up in the American legal system.
Analysis of skeletal remains suggests we’ve found one of earliest known homicide victims.
Conversation involves taking turns. The challenge comes from the fact that we don’t follow the same pace in taking turns. Something as seemingly simple as taking turns in talk involves […]
Portugal is Europe’s face? Only in a Pessoa poem. And on this map.
Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Deny Evolution If adults want to deny evolution, sure. That’s fine. Whatever. But those adults better not make their kids follow in […]
Researchers say the duration, mode of transportation, and destination, all factor into how much commuting a person can take before they begin to burn out and resent their jobs.
Think you’re contributing 110 percent to a project? Researchers suggest you may be overclaiming.
Researchers from the American Chemical Society finally tackle what makes New York City’s bagels taste so good — it’s all about mixing the right chemical compounds.
How tides, gravity and lava give Io the youngest surface in the Solar System. “The crust, being so thin, must bend, if, over wide areas, it becomes loaded with glacial […]
In a bid to preserve records of atmospheric activity, climate scientists are looking to transport ice from the planet’s mountainous regions, such as the Alps, all the way to Antarctica.
Researchers suggest you may have dropped your old phone on purpose, just so you could justify getting the latest one.
Most people seem to believe MSG is bad for you. In fact, it is far more likely to be good for you.
Are you Homo Curiosus or Homo Definitus?
New robot seeks to bring convenience to your life, and can master new tasks on the fly.
Journalists often hype the most alarming aspects of the news. In the process, they sometimes create and reinforce common fears that far exceed the actual danger.
Alas science does not operate outside the human realm, but as an extension of our natural capabilities — the good as well as the bad ones.
“I would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do what she wanted to do, and as someone who took risks along the way in order to achieve her goals.”
“We need to go back to the discovery, to posing a question, to having a hypothesis and having kids know that they can discover the answers and can peel away a layer.”
Researchers delve into Facebook, looking into what our status updates say about our personalities.
Currently, scientists and physicians have a limited understanding of the complex issue of pain and how to treat it. Pain or numbness is perceived by the brain using signals sent by the peripheral nervous system and it is hard to determine how a person’s nervous-system cells react and respond to stimuli. While it is relatively easy to collect a blood or a skin sample or even a tissue biopsy, it is not possible to sample portions of a patient’s neural system. A recent breakthrough finds a way around this problem.
How many cumulative hours have you wasted waiting for your chat partner to respond to you? A new program created by an MIT Ph.D. student offers an opportunity to make your instant message intermissions as productive as possible.
Birds can differentiate empty peanut shells from full ones — without even cracking them open.
Mavens are defined as experts in their field, and identifying them can help businesses innovate and grow. So, researchers have developed a test to figure out whether someone is a maven.