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

    Domain of the dead

    Researchers say that Stonehenge functioned as the largest cemetery of its time.

  2. Anthropology

    They’re fake, Indy!

    Scientists find that two rock crystal skulls often attributed to pre-Columbian societies are really modern phonies.

  3. Humans

    Butting out together

    Cigarette smokers who know one another tend to kick the habit all at once, highlighting the importance of social forces in smoking-cessation treatment.

  4. Animals

    Wild innovation

    Researchers have published a rare description of a wild chimpanzee devising and modifying a novel form of tool use.

  5. Lost and found

    Former child soldiers in Africa often adjust well to community life if they receive group rehabilitation and community acceptance, studies indicate

  6. Humans

    Slowpoke settlers

    Evidence suggests New World settlers slowly moved down the Pacific Coast and inhabited southern Chile by 14,000 years ago.

  7. Humans

    Jaw breaker

    An ancient human relative that lived more than 1 million years ago possessed huge jaws and teeth suited to eating hard foods but actually preferred fruits and other soft items, a new study finds.

  8. Psychology

    Smarten up

    Taxing memory training produces at least short-term increases in a critical type of intelligence.

  9. Humans

    Incan skull surgery

    Incan healers became highly adept at skull surgery techniques that developed over thousands of years in ancient Peru.

  10. Paleontology

    China was an ancient-ape paradise

    Fossil dig uncovers the oldest known remains of ancestral gibbons

  11. Hobbit wars

    Little islanders did not have a growth disorder

  12. Humans

    Shifting priorities at the wheel

    Multitasking while driving may exceed brain's capacity, a new study finds.