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Science / Human Behavior

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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Powering the 21st Century

To Develop Tomorrow’s Engineers, Start Before They Can Tie Their Shoes

The Ramps and Pathways program encourages students to think like engineers before they’ve reached double digits

Kalelicious Smoothie Pops: A big hit at the Fancy Food Show

Food Science Brings Us Kale on a Stick and Twinkies That Last Longer

With so much interest in what’s in our meals, food innovators are focusing on making the healthy palatable.

How do we resist when burgers and bacon beckon?

Can We Be Tricked into Not Eating So Much?

Just posting calorie counts isn’t very effective. What may work, though, is framing overeating in terms everyone understands

Plant impressions found underneath a pair of ancient humans (at left) indicate they were buried atop a bed of flowers (as depicted at right).

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Flowers Buried in a 12,000-Year-Old Cemetery

Plant impressions found underneath a pair of ancient humans in Israel indicate they were buried ceremonially, atop a bed of flowers

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Why Living in a City Makes You More Innovative

Research suggests that the more opportunities you have to connect with different people—and fresh ideas—the more creative and productive you tend to be

Our uncommon shoulder flexibility allows us to throw extremely fast, as compared to other primates—a trait we likely evolved two million years ago to aid with hunting.

How the Human Body Evolved to Throw Fastballs

Our shoulder flexibility allows us to hurl things at high speeds compared to other primates—a trait we likely evolved for hunting two million years ago

Research says dogs have learned to behave like children.

Are Dogs Now Just Furry Kids?

Research is showing how much the bonds between dogs and their owners have become like a parent-child relationship

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Scientists Use Snails to Trace Stone Age Trade Routes in Europe

Why is a snail variety found only in Ireland and the Pyrenees? DNA analysis suggests that it hitched a boat ride with early travelers

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This Castle’s Toilet Still Holds Parasites From Crusaders’ Feces

The presence of whipworm and roundworm eggs suggest that crusaders were especially predisposed to death by malnutrition

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Seeing Pictures of Home Can Make It Harder To Speak a Foreign Language

Being exposed to faces or images that you associate with your home country primes you to think in your native tongue, a new study shows

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