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Psychology

Mindlessly Snapping Photos at Museums Keeps People From Remembering the Actual Visit

People might use cameras as a crutch for returning to and remembering things later rather than paying attention to what is transpiring in the moment

Drivers Are More Likely to Brake at Yellow Lights If They’ve Just Seen a Depressing Billboard

After seeing positive or neutral ads before a yellow light, drivers were more likely to run it. But after negative ads, they were more likely to break

You Can Be Really Good at Certain Skills Without Having Any Idea How They Work

How well do you know the tools you use every day?

A screenshot from the game Airport Scanner.

It’s Relatively Easy to Spot Water Bottles in Airport Scanners; Guns, Not So Much

Researchers plan to examine whether the same tendencies to overlook uncommon items exist among trained TSA professionals, just as it does gamers

A friendly label, instead of a threatening warning, might cut down on the vandalization and theft of scientific instruments.

How Do You Protect Scientific Equipment From Vandals? With A Friendly Warning

A friendly label, instead of a threatening warning, might cut down on the vandalization and theft of scientific instruments

Eligible bachelors

Your Online Dating Profile Picture Should Be With Other People

Skip the shirtless bathroom selfie and go with a group shot for your next online dating profile

The computing power of an infant's brain still astounds.

Sleeping Babies Can Sense When Mommy and Daddy Are Fighting

The infant brain is even more impressionable than previously thought

Science journalist Elizabeth Svoboda claims that we can train to be heroes.

There’s a Hero Inside of Everyone, and We’re Not Saying That to Make You Feel Good

Science journalist Elizabeth Svoboda’s new book examines the roots and reasons of heroism, from evolution and biology to meditation and volunteering

We are adamant in our likes and perhaps even more adamant in our dislikes. But why?

Why You Like What You Like

Researchers are cooking up experiments to learn what might explain which foods we love and which foods we hate

Dr. Oliver Sacks dives deep into the brain to find the greatest adventures.

Why Oliver Sacks is One of the Great Modern Adventurers

The neurologist’s latest investigations of the mind explore the mystery of hallucinations – including his own

Bryan Stevenson crusades for thousands of young people in America's prisons.

Why Mass Incarceration Defines Us As a Society

Bryan Stevenson, the winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in social justice, has taken his fight all the way to the Supreme Court

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The History of Boredom

You’ve never been so interested in being bored

According to a new study, beautiful people are indeed happier but not always for the same reasons.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

How Much is Being Attractive Worth?

For men and women, looking good can mean extra cash in your bank account

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Halloween

The Spookiest Photos Submitted By Our Readers

Abandoned mansions, ghostly twins and murders of crows are just a few of the scariest entries from past photo contests

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

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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

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

The Champ has been used in experiments to see if depressed people are more likely to cry than non-depressed people.

The Saddest Movie in the World

How do you make someone cry for the sake of science? The answer lies in a young Ricky Schroder

Amy Herman at the Metropolitan Museum with Sargent's Madame X asks her class of cops, "How would you describe this woman in one sentence?"

Teaching Cops to See

At New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Amy Herman schools police in the fine art of deductive observation

John Allman (with colleague Atiya Hakeem at Caltech examining elephant brain specimens) is searching for one of the biological keys to human behavior.

Brain Cells for Socializing

Does an obscure nerve cell help explain what gorillas, elephants, whales—and people—have in common?

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