The Milgram experiments from the early 1960's are classic (but shocking) studies that demonstrated the "sheeple-ness" of people everywhere. In the experiments -- which have been replicated numerous times across multiple cultures, races and age ranges -- subjects willingly engaged in administering extremely painful electric shocks to other human beings for no reason other than the fact they were ordered to do so by an apparent authority figure. [...more]
Researchers at the University of Rochester have shown that the human brain—once thought to be a seriously flawed decision maker—is actually hard-wired to allow us to make the best decisions possible with the information we are given. [...more]
To whom would you rather give money: a needy person in your neighborhood or a needy person in a foreign country? According to new research by Texas A&M University marketing professor Karen Winterich and colleagues, if you’re a man, you’re more likely to give to the person closest to you that is, the one in your neighborhood if you give at all. [...more]
It's no simple matter to figure out how regional changes in precipitation, expected to result from global climate change, may affect water supplies. Now, a new analysis led by MIT researchers has found that the changes in groundwater may actually be much greater than the precipitation changes themselves. [...more]
It's common knowledge that Hitler was a vegetarian. Just ask anybody: They'll tell you so. Trouble is, the assumption is false. Hitler wasn't a vegetarian at all. Consider the historical facts. [...more]
Presidential scholars have written volumes trying to understand the presidential mind. How can anyone juggle so many complicated decisions? Do those seeking office have a unique approach to decision making? Studies have suggested that power changes not only a person’s responsibilities, but also the way they think. [...more]
No paragraph should begin with 'Renderers convert dead animals into...' and end with 'crayons.' Yet this is exactly how the Introduction Paragraph started and ended in a report provided to the 108th Congress in 2004. The report provided to Congress discusses dead animals rendered into various products such as pet food and crayons. [...more]
If you spend the majority of your time among stores, restaurants and skyscrapers, it may be time to trade in your stilettos for some hiking boots. A new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reveals that spending time in nature may be more beneficial for mental processes than being in urban environments. [...more]
The fabled laboratory mouse — from which we have learned so much about how the immune system works — can teach us only so much about how we humans get sick and what to do about it, says a leading researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine. [...more]
Feeling slighted can have a bigger difference on how a person responds than being the recipient of perceived generosity, even if the net value of the social transaction is the same, the research on reciprocity—giving and taking—shows. [...more]
