Though schools around the globe have different start dates, calendars and traditions, the first day of a new term is an exciting time filled with the prospects of gaining more knowledge, making new friends and building community. Here: Schoolchildren attend their first lesson on Knowledge Day in the town of Turov, Zhytkavichy District, Gomel Region, Belarus on September 1, 2017. Knowledge Day marks the beginning of a new school year in Belarus and is celebrated on September 1. (Photo by Viktor Drachev/TASS via Getty Images)

Elderly women wait for customers as they sell their self-made food products at a street market, with a graffiti depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin on the wall of a house seen in the background, in the town of Kashira, outside Moscow, Russia on October 10, 2017. (Photo by Andrey Volkov/Reuters)

Early morning storms over the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya on August 26, 2016. (Photo by Action Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Among the fish populations that could be harmed by the Xayaburi dam in Laos is the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish, considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the world’s largest freshwater fish. The fish, which grows to 650 pounds and about 10 feet long, is only found in the Mekong River. It is migratory, moving between downstream habitats in Cambodia upstream to northern Thailand and Laos each year to spawn. Some experts fear the Xayaburi dam could block the migration and drive the giant catfish to extinction. (Photo by Courtesy of Zeb Hogan/University of Nevada, Reno)

Once upon a time a myth was born that insects, unlike animals, are just a machines that not capable of learning and survive only based on their instincts. That myth has become the widespread opinion. Of course, this opinion is indeed erroneous, like many other widespread opinions. Let us try to find out which part is a myth and which part is true.

The Disney Fantasy cruise ship is docked for its christening on March 1, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Timbuktu: A UN peacekeeper from Burkina Faso stands guard at the Djinguereber mosque, built in the 14th century, during a visit by a UN delegation on election day in Timbuktu, Mali, July 28, 2013. (Photo by Joe Penney/Reuters)

A man performs ablution using water at an old fountain before performing prayers in the old city of Algiers Al Casbah, Algeria December 3, 2015. The Algiers Casbah is a UNESCO World heritage site that includes the Sidi Ramdane mosque and former fortress, 10 centuries old. Decay from the passing years, as well as earthquake damage in 2003, leads some to consider a move to modern apartments with financial backing from the government. Others refuse to leave a neighbourhood they have called home for decades. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)