Human Nature

Human Nature encompasses peoples' actions, perceptions, and thought processes. Topics include food cravings, mind-reading, and contagious yawning.

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Spankings are common and legal in many public schools — but experts say they don't work. So why are they still a form of discipline?

By Julia Layton

If you ran into a chainsaw-swinging psychopath, you’d probably remember. But what about everyday pscyhopaths?

By Laurie L. Dove

Throwing games to make kids happy may negatively affect their ability to make important decisions — even if it does boost their self-esteem.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

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After you try this pungent party trick, you'll never doubt the power of garlic.

By Kate Kershner

According to doctors, injecting cooking oil into your muscles to make them appear larger does not work, could possibly kill you.

By Jesslyn Shields

One bad apple may indeed spoil the whole bunch, especially if it's a bunch of adolescent siblings and one of them is delinquent.

By Karen Kirkpatrick

You may have thought shotgun marriages died out following the era of peace, free love and rock 'n' roll, but in some groups, they're actually rising.

By Karen Kirkpatrick

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Urine for a shock when you learn how much pee is in the average public pool. Even Olympic swimmers admit to peeing in the pool -- just like you and me.

By Karen Kirkpatrick

Just about every nation and culture has its own special alcoholic beverage — and its own hangover cure. Some may actually work while others may just make you sicker. Which one of these will you try?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

We blink our eyes so often, yet we usually don’t perceive that the world has gone dark, if only for a microsecond. Why is that?

By Yves Jeffcoat

Statistics show people have a strange tendency to overestimate the female presence. What are the actual stats behind the "too many women" complaint?

By Julia Layton

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A writer test-drives advice on running her life according to her biological body clock with some surprising results.

By Alia Hoyt

Who hasn't wanted to get away from it all? For British designer Thomas Thwaites, that break entailed turning himself into a goat.

By Kate Kershner

An update to a famous study shows that employers may not discriminate as much as before — with one important caveat.

By Kathryn Whitbourne

Whither the Good Samaritan? A new study finds the chance of receiving a stranger's aid in a public medical emergency is close to zero — and worse if you're black or poor.

By Jesslyn Shields

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Most animals don't feel shame, but humans do. Why would we evolve something that causes us pain, stress and discomfort?

By Jesslyn Shields

With 20 percent of U.S. women born after 1970 not having children, the question of who will provide elder care is becoming more urgent.

By Dave Roos

And you probably don't even realize you're doing it.

By John Donovan

If you've ever met someone who obsessively kept track of every perceived wrong committed against them, then you've met one. The problem is when they turn violent.

By Julia Layton

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Audio description is kind of like that friend who whispers key plot points to you during the movie when you miss them. It's pretty handy for blind film buffs.

By Julia Layton

"Look on the bright side!" It's advice people have been doling out for ages, but could a positive outlook actually benefit your physical well-being?

By Maria Trimarchi

Are you a human barometer? Do changes in the weather cause you physical pain? Read this and find out if you can really feel the weather right down to your bones.

By Jennifer Sellers

Girls have better taste than boys — as in the sense, that is. Find out why women's ability to distinguish between sweet and sour trumps mens'.

By Jennifer Sellers

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It's no rinky-dink Mickey Mouse clock. The body clock is a strange and wonderful thing, calibrated to reflect a variety of biological rhythms that you may not have known are beating inside your body. And scientists are still not sure why it exists.

By Chris Opfer

Could your ancestors be to blame for your overeating or excess spending? Unnecessary scapegoating is a lousy thing to do, but could there be some weight to this suggestion?

By Bambi Turner