A Robot’s Body of Knowledge

Early risers may think it’s tough to fix breakfast first thing in the morning, but robots have it even harder. Even grabbing a cereal box is a challenge for your run-of-the-mill artificial intelligence …

Dogs Are No Mind Readers

Despite thousands of years of domestication, dogs have a hard time figuring out what humans are thinking. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which shows that dogs continue to trust unreliable people and therefore …

Human-ape links heard in laughter

Human laughter is rooted in the emotional displays of the common ancestor we share with apes, suggests an analysis of the vocalizations of tickled juvenile apes and humans.
Human speech is unique among animals, but researchers …

Thoughts of money soothe social rejection

Handling or even contemplating money can relieve both physical pain and the distress of social rejection, according to a study by Chinese and American psychologists. But remembering cash one has spent intensifies …

Writing about values shrinks racial grades gap

African-American school students asked to write about their personal values for fifteen minutes at the start of the school year earn higher grades for up to two years afterwards.
The work is a follow-up …

Testosterone boost doesn’t fuel risky behaviour in women

Women given testosterone for a month were no more likely than women not receiving the hormone to engage in risky financial decisions, according to researchers in Sweden. The findings could suggest that women …

With A Little Help

The walk to and from school can’t be uphill both ways, but going it alone might make it seem that way. When judging the steepness of a hill, people overestimated its angle more when alone …

Motion Magic

The brain looks forward

The brain takes nearly one tenth of a second to consciously register a scene. But the scenery changes far more quickly than that when we move. How does our brain cope? By …

Smokers’ Choice

Certain people make decisions differently
Smokers tend to resist antismoking efforts that rely on “rational” approaches such as taxes, and researchers have pointed to confounding influences, including social factors and addiction. But differences in smokers’ decision-making …

Some Are More Equal

The primate preference for fairness may depend on complex social rules.
Life may not be fair, but humans have a strong bias for fairness. In experiments humans will generally reject or punish a partner who offers …