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. Archaeology

    A Bronze Age game called 58 holes was found chiseled into stone in Azerbaijan

    A newly discovered rock pattern suggests that the game traveled fast from the Near East to Eurasia thousands of years ago.

  2. Anthropology

    Skull damage suggests Neandertals led no more violent lives than humans

    Neandertals’ skulls suggest they didn’t lead especially injury-prone lives.

  3. Archaeology

    Like Europe, Borneo hosted Stone Age cave artists

    Rock art may have spread from Borneo across Southeast Asia starting 40,000 years ago or more.

  4. Archaeology

    Fossils hint hominids migrated through a ‘green’ Arabia 300,000 years ago

    A once-green Arabia may have enabled Stone Age entries by Homo groups.

  5. Archaeology

    Ancient South Americans tasted chocolate 1,500 years before anyone else

    Artifacts with traces of cacao push back the known date for when the plant was first domesticated by 1,500 years.

  6. Archaeology

    Ancient Clovis people may have taken tool cues from earlier Americans

    Ancient Americans’ spearpoints may have heralded later Clovis weapons.

  7. Archaeology

    The water system that helped Angkor rise may have also brought its fall

    A complex water system magnified flooding’s disruption of the medieval Cambodian city of Angkor.

  8. Archaeology

    An ancient child’s ‘vampire burial’ included steps to prevent resurrection

    A 10-year-old skeleton in a Roman cemetery had a stone placed in its mouth to prevent the youngster from rising from the dead, researchers say.

  9. Science & Society

    The economics of climate change and tech innovation win U.S. pair a Nobel

    Climate change and tech innovations inspired the new Nobel Memorial Prize winners in Economic Sciences.

  10. Humans

    A 90,000-year-old bone knife hints special tools appeared early in Africa

    The discovery of a bone knife in a Moroccan cave points to the ancient emergence of specialized toolmaking in the region.

  11. Archaeology

    Laser mapping shows the surprising complexity of the Maya civilization

    A large-scale lidar survey of Guatemalan forests reveals evidence of ancient, interconnected Maya cities.

  12. Psychology

    Shahzeen Attari explores the psychology of saving the planet

    Merging psychology with engineering, Shahzeen Attari probes how people think about conservation, energy use and climate change.