Evolution
The Best Animal Stories of 2012
By Jason G. Goldman and Matt SoniakHumans have a complicated relationship with our non-human cousins. Some animals we invite into our homes, and treat as members of our families...
The Thoughtful Animal
Exploring the evolution and architecture of the mind
Evolution
Is Orangutan Culture Made of Ideas?
The chimpanzee's clever use of sticks to fish for termites is fairly well known. In 1964, Jane Goodall announced her groundbreaking discovery to the world, writing in the journal Nature , "During three years in the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in Tanganyika, East Africa, I saw chimpanzees use natural objects as tools on many occasions...
Mind & Brain
Science Seeker Editor's Selections: Music, Knowledge, Cortisol, Language
Here are my Science Seeker Editor's Selections:Why does music move us so? In her inaugural post at National Geographic's new blog salon Phenomena, Virginia Hughes explores this question by discussing a fascinating new study...
Mind & Brain
What Is Operant Conditioning? (and How Does It Explain Driving Dogs?)
While second nature to many of us, driving a car is actually a fairly complex process. At its most stripped down version, first you sit in the driver's seat, then you start the engine, then you shift into gear, and then you must simultaneously steer while keeping your foot on the gas pedal...
Evolution
Koalas and Bison Use the Same Rules for Choosing Mates
While natural selection works operates over an individual's ability to survive, sexual selection operates over an individual's ability to mate and successfully sire offspring.
Mind & Brain
ScienceSeeker Editor's Selections: Dogs, Money, Sensation & Perception, NeuroNewtons, and DSM-5
Here are my Science Seeker Editor's Selections for the past week:Can Dogs Use Human Emotional Expressions to Identify Which Box Contains Food? New research from the Tomasello lab, ably covered at the Companion Animal Psychology blog.Can having more money make you a worse parent?...
Mind & Brain
You're Not As Special As You Think
After being knocked out for a week by a flu (don't procrastinate on those vaccines, like I did) and coming back to a veritable avalanche of new data and (American) Thanksgiving, things are a little busy around here.So, to keep you busy between carving up turkeys and decorating with gourds, and because I haven't been prompt about announcing them here, below are links to the five pieces I've written thus far for my column over at BBC Future, Uniquely Human, in reverse-chronological order...
Mind & Brain
For Word Learning, Size Matters If You're A Dog
In 1988, a three-year-old child is led into a brightly colored testing room in a psychology department in Bloomington, Indiana. A small toy is brought out and put onto a table in front of the child...
Health
ScienceSeeker Editor's Selections: Headaches, Turkey, Gratitude, and Dogs
Here are my Science Seeker Editor's Selections for the past week:At Mind Hacks, Vaughan Bell shares a beautiful work by art by Victorian cartoonist George Cruikshank: A devil of a headache.Does eating turkey really make you sleepy?...
Evolution
Clever Captive Cockatoo Creates Tool, A First For His Species
A captive parrot in an Austrian research lab near Vienna has started using tools, adding to a complex story that began more than fifty years ago in the forests of Tanzania.
Blog Index
@ScientificAmerican
STAFFBehind the scenes at Scientific American
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Anecdotes from the Archive
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Anthropology in Practice
Exploring the human condition.
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Beautiful Minds
Insights into intelligence, creativity, personality, and well-being
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Budding Scientist
Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
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Cross-Check
Critical views of science in the news
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Dark Star Diaries
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Dog Spies
Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
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Extinction Countdown
News and research about endangered species from around the world
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Eye of the Storm
The Science Behind Extreme Weather
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Frontiers for Young Minds
Science by and for kids ages 8-15
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Guest Blog
Commentary invited by editors of Scientific American
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Hot Planet
Climate science in a changing world
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Illusion Chasers
Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
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Life, Unbounded
Discussion and news about planets, exoplanets, and astrobiology
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Observations
Opinion, arguments & analyses from guest experts and from the editors of Scientific American
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Roots of Unity
Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
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Rosetta Stones
Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
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SA Visual
STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
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Talking back
STAFFA science blog, sans blague
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The Artful Amoeba
A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
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Voices
Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
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