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Science / Human Behavior

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On the Origin of a Theory

Charles Darwin’s bid for enduring fame was sparked 150 years ago by word of a rival’s research

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Our Cheatin’ Heart

199 Candles

Early Americans Mined Iron to Make Art, Not War

To learn how the mind works, biologist Laurie Santos (with a research subject on Cayo Santiago) studies a seemingly paradoxical question: Do monkeys assume that people act like monkeys?

Thinking Like a Monkey

What do our primate cousins know and when do they know it? Researcher Laurie Santos is trying to read their minds

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Sound and Fury

Norman Mailer’s anger and towering ego propelled-and undermined-his prodigious output

Boys: Would You Make Fun of This Man?

The Rose Walk, Giverny, 1920–22, Musée Marmottan Monet

Eyeing Impressionism

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Scott’s Cross

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Blame the Rich

They made us who we are, some researchers now say

Wolf spider

Baby Food

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Animal Insight

Recent studies illustrate which traits humans and apes have in common—and which they don’t

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Fred Spoor

The evolution scholar talks about a landmark new study challenging the classic view of human ancestry

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Richard Lerner

The Tufts University developmental scientist challenges the myth of the troubled adolescent in his new book, “The Good Teen”

New York City had an estimated population density of 28,491 people per square mile

Increasing Noise Blamed for Modern Deaths

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You Are Short And You’re Gonna Die Soon

How exactly was the Great Pyramid built? Inside-out, thinks architect Jean-Pierre Houdin.

Monumental Shift

Tackling an ages-old puzzle, a French architect offers a new theory on how the Egyptians built the Great Pyramid at Giza

The chimp with the most human-like gait and body type walked upright more efficiently than he knuckle-walked—a finding that study co-author Herman Pontzer calls a snapshot of how this evolution may have taken place. (This composite photograph pays homage to the iconic Evolution of Man.)

Walk This Way

Humans’ two-legged gait evolved to save energy, new research says

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Polynesians Beat Europeans to the “New World”

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Interview: Daniel Gilbert

What will make you happy? A social scientist explains why it’s so hard to predict

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