Bruce Bower

Bruce Bower

Behavioral Sciences Writer

Bruce Bower has written about the behavioral sciences since 1984. He often writes about psychology, anthropology, archaeology and mental health issues. Bruce has a master's degree in psychology from Pepperdine University and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Following an internship at Science News in 1981, he worked as a reporter at Psychiatric News, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, until joining Science News as a staff writer. In 1996, the American Psychological Association appointed Bruce a Science Writer Fellow, with a grant to visit psychological scientists of his own choosing. Early stints as an aide in a day school for children and teenagers with severe psychological problems and as a counselor in a drug diversion center provided Bruce with a surprisingly good background for a career in science journalism.

All Stories by Bruce Bower

  1. Humans

    DNA indicates how ancient migrations shaped South Asian languages and farming

    Farming in the region may have sprung up locally, while herders from afar sparked language changes.

  2. Anthropology

    This ancient Denisovan finger bone is surprisingly humanlike

    Despite Neandertal ties, extinct hominids called Denisovans had a touching link to humans, a new study finds.

  3. Humans

    Stone tools may place some of the first Americans in Idaho 16,500 years ago

    Newly discovered stone artifacts support the idea that North America’s first settlers traveled down the Pacific coast and then turned eastward.

  4. Humans

    A 3.8-million-year-old skull reveals the face of Lucy’s possible ancestors

    A fossilized hominid skull found in an Ethiopian desert illuminates the earliest-known Australopithecus species.

  5. Anthropology

    A tiny skull fossil suggests primate brain areas evolved separately

    Digital reconstruction of a fossilized primate skull reveals that odor and vision areas developed independently starting 20 million years ago or more.

  6. Humans

    India’s Skeleton Lake contains the bones of mysterious European migrants

    Not all of the hundreds of skeletons found at a north Indian lake are from the same place or period. What killed any of these people is still unknown.

  7. Humans

    Engraved bones reveal that symbolism had ancient roots in East Asia

    Denisovans might have etched line patterns on two animal bone fragments more than 100,000 years ago in what’s now northern China.

  8. Humans

    Are researchers asking the right questions to prevent mass shootings?

    Understanding how to thwart these violent events may be more effective than analyzing perpetrators’ backgrounds.

  9. Anthropology

    Ancient Maya warfare flared up surprisingly early

    Extreme conflicts broke out well before the decline of the Maya civilization, researchers say.

  10. Life

    Monkeys can use basic logic to decipher the order of items in a list

    Rhesus macaque monkeys don’t need rewards to learn and remember how items are ranked in a list, a mental feat that may prove handy in the wild.

  11. Archaeology

    ‘Fruit from the Sands’ explores the Silk Road origins of apples, tea and more

    A new book explains how many of today’s popular foods got started on Central Asia’s ancient Silk Road trade networks.

  12. Anthropology

    A Greek skull may belong to the oldest human found outside of Africa

    Humans possibly reached southeastern Europe by 210,000 years ago.