Museum of Science and Industry

I think the idea of the “uncanny valley” is so fascinating! (It's when realism in robots goes from cute to kinda creepy. Watch this and you'll know what I mean.) With hopes of bridging this valley of creepiness,...

Hooray! It’s spring! It’s finally getting sunny outside! Happy dogs chasing balls! Long bike rides in the park! And of course, salesmen trying to get their hands on your hard-earned money. Because I'm sure any good salesperson already knows what recent research from Canada has found: when the sun comes out, our spending goes up.

It’s not just that we buy more, either. On a sunny day,...

"In order to control others, one must first control oneself." This is a principle of aikido, the Japanese martial art. It is probably a motto of other things as well, but it's hard to bear verifying this: search the Internet for quotes about “controlling others,” and the results are terrifying. The truism does appear to have backing, though, as new research from the Max-Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain...