Why do we forget information that we just looked up? Why We Forget What We Can Easily Look Up Imagine someone tells you an interesting fact: “The capital of Mongolia…
When a diver holds their breath, the lungs are not the body’s only oxygen reserve. The spleen contracts, releasing stored red blood cells into circulation and temporarily increasing the blood’s…
“Travel” Was Once Hard Work Your vacation may promise relaxation, but the word travel carries the memory of an exhausting journey. It developed from Middle English travailen, meaning “to struggle,…
Human males grow thick facial hair after puberty—even though most of our body hair became relatively fine. That contrast suggests the beard may have evolved as a social signal. A…
Why Is a Wedding Speech Called a “Toast”? A slice of bread and a speech over raised glasses share a name. The connection may once have been sitting inside the…
Why Random Events Don’t Owe You a Correction Why do we think a random event is more or less likely to occur if it happened several times in the past?…
Why We Blame People Too Quickly Why do we underestimate the influence of the situation on people’s behavior? Have you ever seen someone driving aggressively and thought, “What a terrible…
I have noticed something about myself. I argue a lot. Not necessarily because I enjoy conflict. Not because I want to prove that I am smarter than everyone else. And…
For more than two decades, Nicolae Ceaușescu ruled Romania as a communist dictator. His portraits hung everywhere. His speeches dominated television. The secret police watched ordinary citizens. Criticism of the…
The French Revolution began with a powerful promise: Liberty. Equality. Fraternity. By 1793, however, those ideals had taken a terrifying turn. France, which had overthrown its king in the name…