Culture
Posted by Chip Rowe on November 07, 2016
We are retracting your study. I wanted you to know before the announcement. What’s the problem? There are anomalies in your data. Is that bad? Not if you can explain them. Hang on, let…
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Biology
Posted by Jason G. Goldman on November 06, 2016
The subject line of the email was simply, “Bird?” It’s not unusual for researchers at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles to receive requests like this. Local residents aren’t…
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Culture
Posted by Kat McGowan on November 04, 2016
In the 1990s, the block I lived on in New York City was chaotic and seedy. From my window, I’d witnessed many drug deals, one stabbing, and the aftermath of one shooting. The mayhem escalated…
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Culture
Posted by Brian Gallagher on November 02, 2016
In the 1960s, the English psychologist Peter Wason devised an experiment that would revolutionize his field. This clever puzzle, known as the “Wason selection task,” is often claimed…
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Biology
Posted by Jordana Cepelewicz on November 01, 2016
There’s something morbidly fascinating about animals that seem to behave pathologically: The female praying mantis engaging in sexual cannibalism, the fish eating its own fry. It was…
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Biology
Posted by Erica Cirino on October 31, 2016
John Charles Martin “Johnny” Nash was a teen when he first started hearing a voice in his head. A born-again Christian, he interpreted this voice as God speaking to him. Once, he walked…
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Biology
Posted by Massimo Pigliucci on October 30, 2016
Is evolutionary biology about to prove a two-millennia old metaphysical speculation? Or is metaphysics about to fundamentally change the way we look at biology? Andreas Wagner, a developmental…
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Biology
Posted by Claudia Geib on October 29, 2016
Put yourself in the mind of a killer whale. Let’s say you’re the little guy in the picture below. So far, you’ve lived off of a diet of only marine mammals: seals, sea lions, porpoises,…
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Biology
Posted by Matthew Sedacca on October 28, 2016
A South American legend has it that, centuries ago, a native, suffering from high malarial fever, got lost in the Andes. Thirsty, he drank from a pool of stagnant water. The bitter taste…
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Matter
Posted by Jordana Cepelewicz on October 26, 2016
Even as some describe his campaign as being in “melt-down mode,” political scientists and pundits are still searching for ways to explain the “Trump phenomenon.”1 They attribute…
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