Rethinking One of Psychology's Most Infamous Experiments
In the 1960s, Stanley Milgram's electric-shock studies showed that people will obey even the most abhorrent of orders. But recently, researchers have begun to question his conclusions—and offer some of their own.
-
The Definitive April Fool's Prank Bracket
-
![]()
Michael Spooneybarger / Reuters The State Department Is Spring Breaking, Badly
-
![]()
Jacky Naegelen / Reuters How a Distant Ancestor's DNA Helps Reveal What Makes Us Human
Modern Melanesians share genes with Denisovans, but it’s the missing ones that are most telling.
-
![]()
Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters Bonobos Just Want Everyone to Get Along
New research suggests that unlike humans, the peaceful primates pay more attention to bonding opportunities than they do to threats.
-
![]()
Wikimedia A New Skeleton and an Old Debate About Syphilis
The recent discovery of ancient remains with signs of the disease shows how mysterious its origins are.
-
![]()
CBS A New Way to Appreciate Those Awkward Jeopardy! Interviews
"My Latin teacher was great" and other contestant fun facts, collected on one dedicated Twitter account
-
![]()
Marta Mirazon Lahr / Nature A Prehistoric Mass Grave Suggests Hunter-Gatherers Weren’t So Peaceful
The discovery of 27 skeletons in Kenya hints that warfare has been with us for a very long time.
-
![]()
AS400 DB / Corbis A Mammoth, a Spear, and a New Timeline for Humans in the Arctic
A new paper uses prehistoric animal injuries to argue that people populated the region thousands of years earlier than previously believed.
-
![]()
STR New / Reuters Secrets From a Prehistoric Mummy's Gut Bacteria
The Iceman cometh, and he’s raising some questions about ancient migration patterns.
-
![]()
Matt Cardy / Getty Don't Lick the Tinsel
A tale of Christmas-tree decorations and lead-poisoning prevention
-
![]()
Olivia Harris / Reuters Second Helpings: Delicious Journalism
Staff picks of our favorite science, technology, and health stories from 2015
-
![]()
Alexandra Mlejnkova / AP Can a Predator Really Be Friends With Its Prey?
The murky science of interspecies bonds
-
![]()
Dylan Martinez / Reuters Fat-Shaming on the London Underground
The cards Overweight Haters Ltd. is handing out to passengers on the Tube aren’t just cruel; they’re ineffective.
-
![]()
Marcos del Mazo / Corbis The Agony and the Ecstasy of the Single-File Line
What do an airport and a Star Wars premiere have in common?
-
![]()
Brian Snyder / Reuters Save the Gourds
A new study argues that they would have gone extinct if humans hadn’t intervened.
-
![]()
Alabama Department of Archives and History / Wikimedia A Newspaper Written Entirely by Mental-Health Patients
The Meteor, staffed by residents of Alabama’s first psychiatric hospital, was part of an experiment in the way the U.S. cared for the mentally ill.
-
![]()
Bernhard Richter / Shutterstock How Poop Made the World Go 'Round
Extinct? More like ex-stink.
-
![]()
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters The Changing Vocabulary of Mental Illness
Why your doctor no longer says you’re “going mad”
-
![]()
Bogdan VASILESCU / Shutterstock There Will Be Blood
The backlash to the man who founded the Museum of Menstruation raises the question: Is there a right way for men to talk about periods?
-
![]()
Yuna Shino / Reuters Americans Are More Afraid of Robots Than Death
Technophobia, quantified
