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From TV and advertising to books and music, the ape-like mythical creature Bigfoot is everywhere – it’s even become an emoji. Yet nobody has ever managed to prove its existence. A growing group of Americans are therefore taking to the woods where they’re spending valuable time and resources looking for evidence of the creature. But given there’s nothing to suggest Bigfoot actually exists, what ultimately drives them?
That’s what sociologists Jamie Lewis and Andrew Bartlett wanted to find out as they embarked on a quest to interview more than 130 so-called Bigfooters. In an in-depth interview with The Conversation, they talk about the personality traits of this community, their arguments and evidence – and reflect on their own prejudice about them. Are the Bigfooters ultimately doing science?
Meanwhile with Valentine’s day approaching, a psychologist examines the popular idea that asking a potential partner 36 certain questions can make them fall in love with you. And if you’re not keen on Valentine’s, take comfort in the fact that Aristotle would have been on your side. His five steps to love don’t include any chocolate boxes or roses.
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Miriam Frankel
Senior Editor, Science Insights
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Frame 352 from the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film in 1962.
wikipedia
Jamie Lewis, Cardiff University; Andy Bartlett, University of Sheffield
In this Q&A with the authors of a recent book about Bigfoot hunters, they admit these people are neither anti-science nor irrational.
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LightField Studios/Shutterstock
Viren Swami, Anglia Ruskin University
What psychology says about whether these questions could make you fall in love.
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Canva
Janset Özün Çetinkaya, University of Nottingham; Ian James Kidd, University of Nottingham
For Aristotle, the true form of love wasn’t about intense passion or grand gestures on one day of the year.
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World
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Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo Metropolitan University; Lea Hellmueller, City St George's, University of London
Trump’s second term has seen an intensifying of attacks on media freedom.
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Garbi Schmidt, Roskilde University
Denmark’s ‘parallel societies’: how the Nordic welfare state came to label its housing estates ‘ghettos’.
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Politics + Society
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Stefan Stern, City St George's, University of London
Members of the cabinet are said to want Streeting gone. But confident leaders keep rivals close.
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Arts + Culture
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Belinda Zakrzewska, University of Birmingham; Flavia Cardoso; Jannsen Santana, TBS Education
Bad Bunny’s performance demonstrated how authenticity can be produced through anti-colonial activism.
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Tamsin Johnson, Nottingham Trent University
The image of skiing – both as a sport and leisure activity – has long held associations with glamour.
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Kelly Hignett, Leeds Beckett University
Many couples were forced to undertake dangerous, daring escape attempts to overcome their separation.
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Natalia Rodríguez Vicente, University of Essex
The performance was full of meaningful visuals that contributed to a wider message about the multicultural soul of America today.
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Education
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Karl Kitching, University of Birmingham; Aslı Kandemir, University of Birmingham; Shajedur Rahman, University of Birmingham
Young people learn online, but are cautious about sharing their own views.
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Environment
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Ravindra Jayaratne, University of East London; Maciej Pawlik, UCL
London has lost the natural buffer that used to help water drain away. As the sea level rises and storm surges get more prevalent, chances of flooding are greater.
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Paolo Aversa, King's College London
Heavy demands for energy and water risk locking ski resorts into a model that climate change will ultimately make unviable.
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Health
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George E. Barreto, University of Limerick; Miguel G. Borda, Universidad de Navarra
As dementia rises, scientists are exploring whether menopause hormone therapy could support brain health as well as relieve symptoms.
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Arshad Majid, University of Sheffield
Slow breathing and cold plunges promise calm. But real vagus nerve treatments are more complex and still under study.
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