Behaviour

Can a diet cure autism?

Can a diet cure autism?

In the last decade, autism has changed from a rare phenomenon into a common disorder. However, a lot of dubious information is still going around about autism. It is sometimes thought that autism can be caused by wrong eating patterns, and that a change in diet can undo the symptoms of autism. What does science have to say about it?

A pill to help you study?

A pill to help you study?

Ritalin is prescribed to people diagnosed with ADHD so that they can study better. For this reason, students without ADHD have also begun to use Ritalin. But does such a pill work as well for them as it does for students with ADHD?

Am I racist?

Am I racist?

Since May, the protests centered around the Black Lives Matter movement have forced us to gaze into a mirror and ask ourselves this very question. Resultant discussions among friends, in the news, and on social media have shown us that we must no longer ignore racism or remain silently complicit in its propagation. This uncomfortably challenging examination of ourselves and society requires an open mind and honest self-reflection.

We are more creative than we think

We are more creative than we think

The Nobel prize winner Linus Pauling used to say “I think I think harder, think more than other people do” to explain his remarkable creative performances. And he was probably right: not everyone could have unravelled the mystery of how atoms are arranged and bounded together (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1954). Yet, does it mean that creativity isn’t within everyone’s reach? What is creativity really and how can we master it?

This is why we stick to false beliefs even in a pandemic

This is why we stick to false beliefs even in a pandemic

Besides an alarming death toll, a shrinking world economy, and a renewed appreciation for thorough handwashing, the current COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed humans everywhere to another contagion: belief in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Why is it that some people tend to stick to false beliefs?