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Editor’s Selections: Spite, Stairs, Smounds…and Zombie Cockroaches!

As Psychology and Neuroscience Editor for ResearchBlogging.org, each week I choose 3-4 of the best posts from around the blogosphere in those categories.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American



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As Psychology and Neuroscience Editor for ResearchBlogging.org, each week I choose 3-4 of the best posts from around the blogosphere in those categories. Here are my picks for this week:

  • Why might spite have evolved? Upon first glance it may not seem a particularly useful survival strategy. But Tom Rees, who writes at Epiphenom, reviews a paper that suggests spite may simply be the inverse of kin-directed altruism, with the same net outcome.

  • Want to trick your co-workers into getting more exercise? Travis Saunders, who writes at Obesity Panacea, says, "Place a sign next to your workplace elevator with an arrow pointing to the nearest staircase and see what happens," and writes about an experiment that did just that.

  • Might sound alter our perception of smell? Anne-Sylvie Crisinel, who writes at Body in Mind, offers early evidence that it does. And they're called smounds.

  • Now for your weekly dose of creepy: Zen Faulkes of NeuroDojo describes the process by which wasps create zombie cockroaches so that the baby wasps can EAT THEM ALIVE. You're welcome.

Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication.

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