NewsPronto

 
Men's Weekly

.

USA Conversation

The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

Mermaids aren't real – but they've fascinated people around the world for ages

  • Written by Peter Goggin, Associate Professor of English, Arizona State University
imageSuperstition or wishful thinking could trick you into thinking you saw one of these mythical creatures.AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarezimage

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Are mermaids real? – Verona, age 9, Owensboro,...

Read more: Mermaids aren't real – but they've fascinated people around the world for ages

More Articles ...

  1. My university will be getting COVID-19 vaccines soon – here's how my team will get doses into arms
  2. Masks and mandates: How individual rights and government regulation are both necessary for a free society
  3. From the White House to ancient Athens: Hypocrisy is no match for partisanship
  4. Biden's chance to revive US tradition of inserting ethics in foreign policy
  5. What is a neural network? A computer scientist explains
  6. Why do so few clergy serve in Congress?
  7. Arecibo telescope's fall is indicative of global divide around funding science infrastructure
  8. The Marshall Islands could be wiped out by climate change – and their colonial history limits their ability to save themselves
  9. Why paying people to get the coronavirus vaccine won't work
  10. Scientists suggest US embassies were hit with high-power microwaves – here's how the weapons work
  11. Why does the Electoral College exist, and how does it work? 5 essential reads
  12. Why shielding businesses from coronavirus liability is a bad idea
  13. 5 years after Paris: How countries’ climate policies match up to their promises, and who's aiming for net zero emissions
  14. Oregon just decriminalized all drugs – here's why voters passed this groundbreaking reform
  15. Why do scientists care about worms?
  16. America's hidden world of handmade pornography
  17. Why we're so bad at counting the calories we eat, drink or burn
  18. Why the Virgin of Guadalupe is more than a religious icon to Catholics in Mexico
  19. Latinos are especially reluctant to get flu shots – how a small clinic in Indiana found ways to overcome that
  20. We discovered a 115,000-year-old iguana nest fossil in the Bahamas
  21. Kids want to learn more about mental illness and how to cope with parents who live with it
  22. Foreign policy is Biden's best bet for bipartisan action, experts say – but GOP is unlikely to join him on climate change
  23. Workers are looking for direction from management – and any map is better than no map
  24. Bitter battles between stinkbugs and carnivorous mice could hold clues for controlling human pain
  25. Fragments of energy – not waves or particles – may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe
  26. The Electoral College system isn't 'one person, one vote'
  27. Daily DIY sniff checks could catch many cases of COVID-19
  28. 4 ways to close the COVID-19 racial health gap
  29. Computer science jobs pay well and are growing fast. Why are they out of reach for so many of America's students?
  30. When can children get the COVID-19 vaccine? 5 questions parents are asking
  31. Can Joe Biden win the transition?
  32. In 'The Queen's Gambit' and beyond, chess holds up a mirror to life
  33. The iconic American inventor is still a white male – and that's an obstacle to race and gender inclusion
  34. Nigerians got their abusive SARS police force abolished – but elation soon turned to frustration
  35. The Taliban are megarich – here's where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan
  36. How remote learning is making educational inequities worse
  37. Peatlands keep a lot of carbon out of Earth's atmosphere, but that could end with warming and development
  38. Genetic engineering transformed stem cells into working mini-livers that extended the life of mice with liver disease
  39. We scanned the DNA of 8,000 people to see how facial features are controlled by genes
  40. From permafrost microbes to survivor songbirds – research projects are also victims of COVID-19 pandemic
  41. Substack isn't a new model for journalism – it’s a very old one
  42. New electoral districts are coming – an old approach can show if they're fair
  43. Racism at the county level associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths
  44. How sensors monitor and measure our bodies and the world around us
  45. Donors grow more generous when they support nonprofits facing hostile environments abroad
  46. Brazil's president rejects COVID-19 vaccine, undermining a century of progress toward universal inoculation
  47. The Atlantic: The driving force behind ocean circulation and our taste for cod
  48. Why Biden will find it hard to undo Trump's costly 'America first' trade policy
  49. Intimate partner violence has increased during pandemic, emerging evidence suggests
  50. How do archaeologists know where to dig?