By Subject - Social Science

  • Tsunami: The killer wave
    Tsunami: The killer wave

    After earthquakes caused horrific tsunamis in Sumatra and Japan, we wonder where tsunamis get their power, how warning systems work, and what’s left after the cataclysm.


    Thursday, March 17th, 2011
  • Prayer: How does it work?
    Prayer: How does it work?

    How do victims of domestic violence benefit from prayer? A series of interviews shows a range of mechanisms: from zoning out to offering psychic protection to allowing forgiveness. A new study shows how real benefits could emerge from an appeal to an “imaginary other.”


    Thursday, December 16th, 2010
  • Science of spending
    Science of spending

    Marketers may try, but can they really coerce you to buy stuff you don’t need? To find out, join us for a meander through modern marketing. How do sound, scent and touch affect buying behavior? How are brands used and misused? And what can brand do for you as a consumer?


    Thursday, December 9th, 2010
  • It's uncertain what got these Germans smiling back in 1954, but they likely led a life of fluctuating happiness.
    We’re happy to report

    Heard the rumor that people are happy — or not — depending on their genes and upbringing? “My bad,” says a 24-year study from Germany, which finds the opposite. Attitudes toward money, employment and neurotic mates all play a big role resetting your “happo-stat.”


    Thursday, October 7th, 2010
  • In an experiment on resource use, green stars (tokens) represent resources; the circles represent the players. Tokens grow fastest in cells with four occupied neighbors. Tokens cannot "grow" in occupied cells, or in cells lacking neighboring tokens. Players use arrow keys to move; the space bar captures a token.
    Communication: key to smart resource use

    When everybody exploits a common resource without limit, we get the tragedy of the commons: Benefiting the individuals burns through the resource. A new economic strategy game, based on how animals and plants grow, suggests that communication helps players allocate the resource and still take home a bigger harvest.


    Thursday, April 29th, 2010
  • Happy tax day: Meet bureaucracy’s roots!
    Happy tax day: Meet bureaucracy’s roots!

    Which came first: The empire or the administration? Conventional wisdom says the demands of empire led to the rise of bureaucracy. But a new study of six early states suggests that the specialization of power and function we call bureaucracy arises at the same time as the territorial expansion that leads to empire.


    Thursday, April 15th, 2010
  • Psst! Who’s laughing at you? April Fools!
    Psst! Who’s laughing at you? April Fools!

    For some people, laughter is a threat, conveying anger, disapproval and humiliation. In the strange world of the gelotophobe, laughter can actually make you feel worse. If you fear laughter, you tend to stay away from crowds, groups, restaurants — and the pranksters afoot on April Fools’ Day.


    Thursday, April 1st, 2010
  • Studying survival on a sinking ship
    Studying survival on a sinking ship

    The Titanic sank in 1912, the Lusitania sank in 1915. In each case, about 32 percent of passengers survived. But women and children did much better on Titanic, which took 160 minutes to slide underwater, than on Lusitania, which went down in 18 minutes. Ditto for rich people. Why?


    Thursday, March 4th, 2010
  • Light brown ceramic jar with large round bottom and spouting top, cracked and chipped with age
    Bottoms up!

    People have been controlling fermentation for at least 9,000 years. What were the ancients brewing, and how did alcohol change society?


    Thursday, December 24th, 2009
  • Driving while blabbing
    Driving while blabbing

    Texting already banned for truckers, etc. What do research and reality say about the danger of hitting the keys or yakking on the mobile?


    Thursday, September 17th, 2009


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