Clever Apes: Deconstructing Disgust

From WBEZ’s Clever Apes What is disgust, and where does it come from? There are a few places where scientists can look for clues, starting with what disgusts people. We did a decidedly unscientific survey of kids at the Museum of Science and Industry, and the results line up pretty well with what actual experts…

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People Who Are Sad Have a Hard Time Seeing Yellow and Blue

The world might seem a little grayer than usual when we’re down in the dumps and we often talk about “feeling blue” — new research suggests that the psychological associations we make between emotion and color go beyond mere metaphor. The results of two studies indicate that feeling sadness may actually change how color affects…

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You May Be a Better Liar When Your Bladder is Full

New research suggests that there is a link between being a good liar and having a full bladder. Yes, you heard that right. In the paper entitled “The inhibitory spillover effect: Controlling the bladder makes better liars” Iris Blandon-Gitlin, et al loaded up subjects with different amounts of water and had them lie to interviewers. They…

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Wild Bonobos Use Referential Gestural System to Communicate Their Intentions

Pointing and pantomime are important components of human communication but so far evidence for referential communication in animals is limited. Observations made by researchers Pamela Heidi Douglas and Liza Moscovice of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, make important contributions to this research topic: To solve social conflicts female bonobos invite…

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