BRAIN, HEAL THYSELF
A New Mental Health Treatment Is Non-Intrusive, Game-Like And Effective
Neurofeedback can put thoughts in your head and help you conquer phobias — even when you're unaware of what it's doing
Studies
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THAT'S ALL IT TAKES
The '3.5% Rule': How A Small Minority Can Change The World
Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts — and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.
CATCHING THE BUG
Viruses Have A Secret, Altruistic Social Life
Researchers are beginning to understand the ways in which viruses strategically manipulate and cooperate with one another.
AN AIR OF MYSTERY
How Air Pollution Is Doing More Than Killing Us
The air we breathe could be changing our behavior in ways we are only just beginning to understand.
CLOSED THINKING
Schools Love The Idea Of A Growth Mindset, But Does It Work?
A generation of schoolchildren is being exhorted to believe in their brain's elasticity. Does it really help them learn?
SINGLE, PLAYING VIDEO GAMES
Where Have All The Men Without College Degrees Gone?
Economists are trying to understand the steady decline of non-college-educated men in the labor market.
WHAT IF LIFE WASN'T A COMPETITION?
A Belief In Meritocracy Is Not Only False: It's Morally Wrong
A growing body of research in psychology and neuroscience suggests that believing in meritocracy makes people more selfish, less self-critical and even more prone to acting in discriminatory ways
YOU CAN'T BEET IT
Drink Your Beets
Among the plethora of supplements that promise athletes an advantage, a natural juice gains traction as an evidence-based boost.
THE MEAT OF THE ISSUE
Weird Meat Allergy Caused By Ticks May Be Easier To Catch Than We Thought
One of the strangest side-effects of a tick bite — a new allergy to red meat — could be even easier to get than previously thought, according to new research. The finding could overturn a commonly held theory that ticks need to have recently gorged on the blood of other mammals before they can spread a meat allergy to humans.
OBSERVATION WITHOUT THE OBSERVER EFFECT
Studying An Emerging Sign Language Won't Kill It — So What Are Linguists Scared Of?
Emerging sign languages could reveal how all language evolved, but keeping these fragile languages isolated for research may mean the people who rely on them lose out.
TAKING VICTIM-BLAMING TO A NEW LEVEL
The Cancer Personality Study Was 'One Of The Worst Scientific Scandals Of All Time'
Beginning in 1980, a Dr. Ronald Grossarth-Maticek reported that he had discovered a cancer-prone "emotionally repressed" personality.
A RAW DEAL
Everything You Think You Know About Corporate Tax Incentives Is Wrong
In my own research as an economist studying corporate welfare, I have found and reviewed much evidence on the effectiveness of tax and other incentives. My conclusion: Incentives just don't work.
HOLD UP, SQUID HAVE TEETH?!
Squid Is The New Eco-Friendly Plastic, Study Says
Bacteria could be genetically engineered to produce industrial quantities of biodegradable polymers based on squid teeth.
NOT REPLENISHING THE LABOR FORCE
The Baby-Less Recovery
Economists expected a short decline in the number of births during the Great Recession, but they believed we would start making kids again once the economy recovered. That hasn't happened.
One in Five U.S. Teens Vaped in 2018, and the FDA Is Not Happy About It
On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its strongest condemnation of teen vaping yet, following the release of new data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. According to the CDC, one in five high-schoolers took up vaping in 2018, a significant jump from 2017. FDA chief Scott Gottlieb went as far as to call teen vaping one of the agency’s “biggest public health challenges.”
WE'RE LAUGHING WITH AND AT YOU
In Defense Of Schadenfreude
Historian Tiffany Watt Smith argues that schadenfreude, the joy we derive from another's misfortune, is just a natural part of the very complex emotional responses we have as human beings.
This new study challenges what we know about color and type
Blue hyperlinks are one of the oldest design standards on the web. Here’s what a group of researchers discovered when they set out to study them.
HERE'S THE BEEF
What The 'Meat Paradox' Reveals About Moral Decision Making
Many people eat factory-farmed meat while also abhorring animal cruelty. Why?
IT STARTS WITH NEW SLANG
Where Do 'New' Languages Come From?
Anthropologists and linguists are working to understand how complex systems of communication emerge — and what they reveal about how to keep rare or threatened languages alive.
RESIGNING YOURSELF TO A VICTIM
Active-Shooter Drills Are Tragically Misguided
There's scant evidence that they're effective. They can, however, be psychologically damaging — and they reflect a dismaying view of childhood.
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