Uncommon Science Archives

Eye-opening scientific findings and impressive technological advances. Interesting facts and thought-provoking theories about Human, Earth and the Universe

12 Interesting Word Origins You Had No Idea about

By Janey Davies, B.A. (Hons)|2020-06-16T14:13:37+03:00June 16th, 2020|Categories: Food for thought, History & Archaeology|Tags: history, vocabulary, words|

Our use of language makes us human. Yet, we pay little attention to where words come from. Well, here are 12 interesting word origins you may have had no idea about. 12 Interesting Word Origins Vaccine (Latin) The word 'vaccine' has been in the news a lot recently. But where did the word originate from? [...]

This June, We Will Have Both a Lunar and Solar Eclipse!

By Sherrie Hurd, A.A.|2020-07-08T10:41:21+03:00May 29th, 2020|Categories: Universe, Uncommon Science|Tags: eclipse, Moon, skywatching, Sun|

All eclipses documented between 1900 and 2199 did provide or will provide over 2 centuries of amazing celestial beauty. Our next opportunity for a lunar and solar eclipse is next month! No summer would be complete without the mesmerizing beauty of both a lunar and solar eclipse. Wouldn't you agree? Gazing at the stars is [...]

False Awakening in Regular and Lucid Dreams: Causes & Symptoms

By Janey Davies, B.A. (Hons)|2020-06-01T20:34:33+03:00May 20th, 2020|Categories: Dream Interpretation, Human Brain|Tags: altered state of consciousness, consciousness, dreams, sleep, subconscious|

Have you ever been convinced that you’d woken up from sleep, but in fact, you were still dreaming? If so you might have experienced a false awakening. A false awakening happens when the dreamer wakes up during their dream only to realise they are still dreaming and wake up later on. While the dreamer believes they [...]

Tree-Hugging Encouraged in Iceland as a Way to Cope with Isolation

By Lottie Miles, M.A.|2020-06-01T20:49:12+03:00May 4th, 2020|Categories: Earth, Psychology & Mental Health, Uncommon Science|Tags: coronavirus, mental health, nature|

The citizens of Iceland have been encouraged by the forestry service to hug trees every day for five at least minutes. This is being encouraged to help people cope with social isolation, but does it really work? In this post, we will look at research showing the surprising benefits of hugging trees and explore why [...]

Stockdale Paradox: How It Can Help You Survive the Worst

By Janey Davies, B.A. (Hons)|2020-06-01T22:14:38+03:00April 16th, 2020|Categories: Food for thought, History & Archaeology|Tags: history, society|

Would you describe yourself as an optimist or a pessimist? Perhaps you’re more of an idealist? Maybe you think it’s important to see the reality of a situation? In any case, is it better to be one or the other? The Stockdale Paradox states that a mixture of realism and optimism is the best way [...]

How Will Coronavirus End? Here Are 4 Possible Scenarios

By Janey Davies, B.A. (Hons)|2020-06-01T22:41:53+03:00April 3rd, 2020|Categories: Food for thought, Medicine & Genetics, Uncommon Science|Tags: coronavirus, global issues, humankind, mental health, society|

It seems as if we’ve been dealing with coronavirus for years. However, three short months ago, no one had even heard of COVID-19. Now, terms such as self-isolate, flatten the curve and social distancing are all common parlance. But do we know how coronavirus will end? The Beginning, the Middle and the End of Coronavirus? [...]

The Unknown History of April Fools’ Day: Origins & Traditions

By Sherrie Hurd, A.A.|2020-06-01T22:45:09+03:00April 1st, 2020|Categories: History & Archaeology|Tags: culture, history, humor|

Tricking people has become a normal pastime on the first of April. However, the history of April Fools’ Day is more interesting than that. For as long as I can remember, my friends and family have been playing tricks and lying to me on the first of April. Some of these tricks have been pretty shocking [...]

Hindsight Bias: Why We Overestimate Our Ability to Predict Events

By Janey Davies, B.A. (Hons)|2020-06-01T22:45:54+03:00April 1st, 2020|Categories: Human Brain, Psychology & Mental Health, Self-Improvement|Tags: cognitive bias, decision making, perception|

They say hindsight is a wonderful thing, but don’t you just hate it when people say things like ‘I told you that would happen’ or ‘I just knew it all along’? Are they particularly gifted in their ability to see into the future or predict the past? I’m afraid not. They are more likely to [...]

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