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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

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

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Man or Computer? Can You Tell the Difference?

Could you be fooled by a computer pretending to be human? Probably

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

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Your Brain, By the Numbers

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

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

Olympic organizers plan to conduct 5,000 drug tests—an unprecedented number—during the London Games.

The Top Athletes Looking for an Edge and the Scientists Trying to Stop Them

Behind the scenes there will be a high-tech, high-stakes competition between Olympic athletes who use banned substances and drug testers out to catch them

The high-tech arms race between cheaters and testers has pushed both sides to the cutting edge of science.

The Future of Cheating in Sports

As technology advances, so will access to ingenious—and troubling—new techniques

Facebook is building its first European data storage facility—60 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Lulea, Sweden.

Where Do All Those Facebook Photos Go?

On the outer boundaries of the Arctic Circle lies a massive construction project funded by Facebook: the future home of thousands of server farms

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

The lifestyles of the modern-day prospectors are not so far removed from that of the forty-niners.

There’s a New Breed of Forty-Niners Rushing to the Pacific

Lured by the soaring price of the precious metal, prospectors are heading for the California hills like it’s 1849 all over again

There are few soccer players better suited to play goalie than the perfectly named Hope Solo. A self-described loner, she is the best player on the U.S. women's soccer team, and its most outspoken.

Hope Solo Drops Her Guard

As her controversial new memoir will show, the leader of the U.S. women’s soccer team has always defended her turf

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The Conversation

Readers Respond to the June Issue

Muhammad Ali used this headgear before winning Olympic gold in 1960.

The Collections of the African American History and Culture Museum Await Their New Home

Objects from Muhammad Ali’s headgear to Nat Turner’s Bible sit in a holding facility in Maryland, ready to be put on display

Barbara Kruger photographed in her New York studio.

Barbara Kruger’s Artwork Speaks Truth to Power

The mass media artist has been refashioning our idioms into sharp-edged cultural critiques for three decades—and now brings her work to the Hirshhorn

Tenor Darren Abraham plays Albert White, the previously unsung steelworker and bicycling champ.

An Opera for an English Olympic Hero

Lal White was forgotten by many, even residents of his small English factory town, but the whimsical Cycle Song hopes to change that

The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln: A Novel by Stephen L. Carter.

A Lincoln Novel, Native Poetry, Marie Curie and More New Recent Books

In a new alternative history, The Great Emancipator lives to fight a second civil war

Woody Guthrie, shown here in the 1940s, created great lines in songs and drawings.

Happy 100th Birthday, Woody Guthrie!

New songs by the American folk legend keep turning up, a century after his birth

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Meet Ella Jenkins, the “First Lady of Children’s Music”

The Grammy winner celebrates her 88th birthday with a new album that reflects her lifelong love of kids’ music

Secretary Albright’s dress for succession.

Power Suit

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