All Stories by Bruce Bower
- Psychology
Word-streaming tech may spell trouble for readers
Technologies like Spritz that display one word at a time on a screen reduce reading comprehension, a new study concludes.
- Anthropology
Laetoli footprints show signs of unusual gait
Contrary to prior study, 3.6-million-year-old hominids in Tanzania did not walk like humans.
- Anthropology
Earliest case of a battered child found in Greece
A baby living in Athens around 2,200 years ago was probably beaten to death.
- Anthropology
Ancient boy died surprisingly young
Imaging analysis reduces age of Australopithecus sediba youngster from 9 to 7.5 years old.
- Anthropology
Turkana Boy sparks row over Homo erectus height
Estimating the adult height and weight of an ancient youth from his skeleton has proven tricky.
- Anthropology
Bronze Age herders spread farming around Asia
Ancient seeds indicate that Central Asian animal raisers had an unappreciated impact on early agriculture.
- Humans
Childhood program improves health 30 years later
A preschool intervention for kids from poor families benefits their health as adults, especially among men.
- Life
Human noses know more than 1 trillion odors
Sense of smell displays a vast reach in study of people’s ability to distinguish between scents.
- Archaeology
Roman gladiator school digitally rebuilt
Imaging techniques unveil a 1,900-year-old Roman gladiators’ training center that’s buried beneath a site in Austria.
- Animals
Chimps catch people’s yawns in sign of flexible empathy
Chimpanzees may show humanlike empathy, as evidenced by their contagious yawning.
- Psychology
The addiction paradox
Addiction is often seen as a chronic disease that requires maintenance treatment even after years of sobriety. But even without help, most addicts eventually can quit for good.
- Science & Society
Domestic violence arrests may be counterproductive
Mandatory arrest laws may increase mortality rates, especially among employed black women.
