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. Anthropology

    Ancient DNA reveals the origins of the Philistines

    A mysterious Biblical-era population may have fled Bronze Age calamities.

  2. Anthropology

    East Asians may have been reshaping their skulls 12,000 years ago

    An ancient skull-molding practice had a long history in northeastern Asia, researchers say.

  3. Genetics

    DNA reveals a European Neandertal lineage that lasted 80,000 years

    Ancient DNA from cave fossils in Belgium and Germany shows an unbroken genetic line of the extinct hominids emerged at least 120,000 years ago.

  4. Archaeology

    Peru’s famous Nazca Lines may include drawings of exotic birds

    Pre-Inca people depicted winged fliers from far away in landscape art.

  5. Archaeology

    Capuchin monkeys’ stone-tool use has evolved over 3,000 years

    A Brazilian archaeological site reveals capuchins’ long history of practical alterations to pounding implements, researchers say.

  6. Archaeology

    People may have smoked marijuana in rituals 2,500 years ago in western China

    Cannabis may have been altering minds at an ancient high-altitude cemetery, researchers say

  7. Archaeology

    These knotted cords may hide the first evidence that the Incas collected taxes

    Some knotted string devices point to crop levies imposed by the Incan empire, researchers say. But other khipus continue to evade description.

  8. Genetics

    DNA reveals ancient Siberians who set the stage for the first Americans

    A previously unknown population of Ice Age people who traveled across Beringia was discovered in Russia.

  9. Anthropology

    Hominids may have been cutting-edge tool makers 2.6 million years ago

    Contested finds point to a sharp shift in toolmaking by early members of the Homo genus.

  10. Archaeology

    Cave debris may be the oldest known example of people eating starch

    Charred material found in South Africa puts energy-rich roots and tubers on Stone Age menus, long before farming began.

  11. Anthropology

    Africa’s first herders spread pastoralism by mating with foragers

    DNA unveils long-ago hookups between early pastoralists and native hunter-gatherers in Africa.

  12. Anthropology

    Fossil teeth push the human-Neandertal split back to about 1 million years ago

    A study of fossilized teeth shifts the age of the last common ancestor between Neandertals and humans.