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

    An ancient jaw pushes humans’ African departure back in time

    If an ancient jaw found in an Israeli cave belongs to Homo sapiens, the humans left Africa tens of thousands of years earlier than we thought.

  2. Anthropology

    Human brains rounded into shape over 200,000 years or more

    Ancient humans’ brains slowly but surely became round, scientists say.

  3. Anthropology

    ‘First Face of America’ explores how humans reached the New World

    New documentary shows how an ancient teen and an infant have illuminated scientists’ understanding of the peopling of the Americas.

  4. Anthropology

    Hunter-gatherer lifestyle could help explain superior ability to ID smells

    Hunter-gatherers in the forests of the Malay Peninsula prove more adept at naming smells than their rice-farming neighbors, possibly because of their foraging culture.

  5. Anthropology

    DNA solves the mystery of how these mummies were related

    Two ancient Egyptian mummies known as the Two Brothers had the same mother, but different dads.

  6. Anthropology

    ‘Laid-back’ bonobos take a shine to belligerents

    Unlike people, these apes gravitate toward those who are unhelpful.

  7. Archaeology

    How the Dead Sea Scrolls survived a war in the 1960s

    50 years after the Dead Sea Scrolls survived a war, another possible scroll cave offered tantalizing new clues.

  8. Science & Society

    U.S. religion is increasingly polarized

    Organized religion in the United States increasingly belongs to fervent believers, a new study finds.

  9. Humans

    The story of humans’ origins got a revision in 2017

    Human evolution may have involved the gradual assembly of scattered skeletal traits, fossils of Homo naledi and other species show.

  10. Anthropology

    Strong-armed women helped power Europe’s ancient farming revolution

    Intensive manual labor gave ancient farm women arms that female rowers today would envy.

  11. Archaeology

    Hidden hoard hints at how ancient elites protected the family treasures

    A secret stash at an ancient site in Israel called Megiddo illuminates the Iron Age practice of hoarding wealth.

  12. Archaeology

    Skeletons could provide clues to who wrote or protected the Dead Sea Scrolls

    Skeletons suggest a group of celibate men inhabited Dead Sea Scrolls site.