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Science / Human Behavior

Simply by looking at geo-tagged tweets, an algorithm can track the spread of flu and predict which users are going to get sick.

Your Tweets Can Predict When You’ll Get the Flu

Simply by looking at geotagged tweets, an algorithm can track the spread of flu and predict which users are going to get sick

Can cameras read what’s going on in a second grader’s mind?

Can Facial Recognition Really Tell If a Kid Is Learning in Class?

Inventors of software called EngageSense say you can tell if kids are engaged in class by analyzing their eye movements

Projections indicate that our rate of trash production will keep rising past 2100—a concern, because waste can be a proxy for all other environmental stresses.

When Will We Hit Peak Garbage?

Projections indicate that the global rate of trash production will keep rising past 2100—a concern because waste can be a proxy for environmental stresses

A new study shows that chimps make different warning calls based on the presence of other chimps, and keep sounding the alarm until their friends are safe.

Chimpanzees Intentionally Warn Their Friends About Danger

A new study shows that the apes make specific warning calls when near other chimps, and they keep sounding the alarm until their friends are safe

A lot of factors go into making a deal.

10 Things We’ve Learned About Negotiation

Make the first offer. Don’t use “I” too much. And maybe it’s not a good idea to look your counterpart straight in the eye

A new focus of hospitals is keeping you from ending up here.

How Hospitals are Trying to Keep You Out of the Hospital

With a big boost from supercomputers, hospitals are shifting more of their focus to identifying people who need their help staying healthy

What is appropriate Google Glass behavior?

Will Google Glass Make Us Better People? Or Just Creepy?

Some think wearable tech is just the thing to help us break bad habits, others that it will let us invade privacy like never before

A creative mind at work?

What Your Messy Desk Says About You (It’s a Good Thing)

Recent research suggests that working in a sloppy setting may actually help inspire creative thinking

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3,000 Years of Human History, Described in One Set of Mathematical Equations

A surprisingly accurate model shows that warfare and military technology determined where empires arose

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What Urban Planners Can Learn From a Hindu Religious Festival

Every 12 years, one Indian city balloons from a few million residents to tens of millions. How does this happen with such ease?

When job opportunities come through a mobile app

Think You’re Doing a Good Job? Not If the Algorithms Say You’re Not

Relying on data collected through smartphones, Gigwalk says it knows more about its workers than any company ever has

Food residue encrusted on 6,000-year-old pottery fragments from Northern Europe, such as the one above, show traces of mustard seed, which was likely used as a seasoning for fish and meat.

Ancient Pottery Fragments Show That Prehistoric Humans Used Spices Too

Shards of 6,000-year-old cooking pots from northern Europe show traces of mustard seed, likely used as a seasoning for fish and meat

Technology has pushed education in good and bad directions.

10 Things We’ve Learned About Learning

For starters, laptops in classrooms are a big distraction, singing phrases can help you learn a language and multitasking isn’t good for your grades

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What Can Old Menus From Hawaii Tell Us About Changing Ocean Health?

A study of vintage menus reveals the drastic decline of the state’s local fish populations between 1900 and 1950

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Men and Women Think on Family Matters Equally, But Women Get More Stressed

A study suggests that stereotypical gender roles transform thoughts of home into burdens for women, while men react differently

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Science Can Help Us Live Longer, But How Long Is Too Long?

Will 100 become the new 60? And do we really want that to happen?

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Science Shows How Reddit Users Are Like Sheep

A new study shows that users on social news sites view a comment differently based on the judgement of users before them

Are test-tube burgers transformative science?

11 Strange Science Lessons We Learned This Summer

In vitro meat? Teeth grown from urine? Screaming rocks and singing bats? It’s all real science from the summer of 2013

A new study finds that across cultures, time and space, we consistently see more conflict as temperatures rise and rainfall becomes more erratic.

Climate Change Could Increase Armed Conflicts By 50 Percent Worldwide

A new study finds that across cultures, time and space, we consistently see more violence as temperatures rise and rainfall becomes more erratic

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The Skyscraper of the Future May Be Built Like Legos

The world’s cities are in the midst of a skyscraper boom. And one growing trend is to connect pre-fab floors like Lego pieces

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