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Science / Human Behavior

According to author Kevin Dutton, psychopaths have a distinct set of personality characteristics. Pictured is Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho.

The Pros to Being a Psychopath

In a new book, Oxford research psychologist Kevin Dutton argues that psychopaths are poised to perform well under pressure

According to the hypothesis, grandmothers can help collect food and feed children before they are able to feed themselves, enabling mothers to have more children.

New Evidence That Grandmothers Were Crucial for Human Evolution

A computer simulation supports the idea that grandmothers helped our species evolve social skills and longer lives

A new study debunks the idea that friendships are influenced by shared genes.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Do We Really Pick Our Friends Based On Genetic Similarities?

A new study debunks the idea that friendships are influenced by shared genes

A new study indicates that fraud in the biomedical sciences occurs but is exceedingly rare.

How Often Do Scientists Commit Fraud?

The evidence says scientists are pretty honest. New techniques could make it easier for scientific fabricators to be caught

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Why Power Corrupts

New research digs deeper into the social science behind why power brings out the best in some people and the worst in others

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Who Needs a Boss When You Have Your Co-Workers?

In a new book, Steven Johnson encourages us to lose top-down hierarchies, typical of companies, and instead organize around peer networks

A new study indicates that having a winning sports team may make us more likely to reelect an incumbent politician.

Is Your Vote Affected By Your Home Team’s Wins and Losses?

A new study indicates that having a winning sports team may make us more likely to reelect an incumbent politician

An artist’s reconstruction of Homo antecessor, a hominid species that butchered and ate its own kind. A new study suggests the cannibalism was a form of territorial defense.

Early Cannibalism Tied to Territorial Defense?

Researchers say chimpanzee behavior may help explain why human ancestors ate each other 800,000 years ago

Viewers of this video were asked to count how many times white-shirted players passed the ball. Fifty percent of them didn’t see the woman in the gorilla suit.

But Did You See the Gorilla? The Problem With Inattentional Blindness

The most effective cloaking device is the human mind

In 1921, a miner found Kabwe 1, also called the Broken Hill Skull.

Five Accidental Hominid Fossil Discoveries

Sometimes finding Neanderthals, australopithecines and other human ancestors is a complete accident

An artist’s vision of a Neanderthal and her baby. If the Neanderthal lived 47,000 to 65,000 years ago, her baby might have been the result of breeding with a human.

Neanderthal and Human Matings Get a Date

New research shows modern humans bred with Neanderthals 47,000 to 65,000 years ago as our ancestors left Africa

Recent studies indicate that the brain's insular cortex may help a sprinter drive his body forward just a little more efficiently than his competitors.

A Single Brain Structure May Give Winners That Extra Physical Edge

An extraordinary insula helps elite athletes better anticipate their body’s upcoming feelings, improving their physical reactions

In his new book, Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, Frank Partnoy claims that when faced with a decision, we should assess how long we have to make it, and then wait until the last possible moment to do so.

Why Procrastination is Good for You

In a new book, University of San Diego professor Frank Partnoy argues that the key to success is waiting for the last possible moment to make a decision

According to one evolutionary biologist, the modern family might look very different had some scrawny male hominids not found a clever workaround to having to physically compete against strong alpha males for mates.

Nerd Love and Why It’s Better For Everyone

In a new study, evolutionary biologist Sergey Gavrilets makes a fascinating claim for how monogamy took root several million years ago

Animal Brains, More Beautiful Than You Could Ever Imagine

More than just eye candy, these images are teaching scientists new insights into how the brain is organized

Robert Soliz, a 31-year-old former Army Specialist, participates in Paws for Purple Hearts, one of four experimental programs nationwide that pair veterans afflicted by PTSD with Labrador and golden retrievers.

How Dogs Can Help Veterans Overcome PTSD

New research finds that “man’s best friend” could be lifesavers for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

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Your Brain, By the Numbers

Somehow, the brain is greater than the sum of its parts

Choking may be most painful in sports, where athletes bungle moves they've spent a lifetime perfecting.

The Science of Choking Under Pressure

With amateurs and pros clamoring for answers, a psychologist who studies screw-ups comes through in the clutch

Scientists are finding the mind gets sharper at a number of vitally important abilities as you get older.

What is So Good About Growing Old

Forget about senior moments. The great news is that researchers are discovering some surprising advantages of aging

Children who are better at pretending could reason better about counterfactuals—they were better at thinking about different possibilities.

Let the Children Play, It’s Good for Them!

A leading researcher in the field of cognitive development says when children pretend, they’re not just being silly—they’re doing science

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