ScienceBard Media

A new study sheds light on why it's so hard to learn to speak a new language, but reading and listening comprehension come more easily. My latest for Scientific American:

Brain Sides Both Busy In New Language Learning A study of adults learning a new language found that speaking primarily activated regions in the left side of the brain but reading and listening comprehension were much more variable.

Dogs are amazingly diverse. Selective breeding for a variety of traits created the breeds we have today. Play between humans and dogs was a key part of this process. My latest for Scientific American:

Play Helped Dogs Be Our Best Friends The ancestors of today’s dogs already exhibited some playfulness, which became a key trait during domestication.

Police lineups are prone to error because our visual memories are flawed. But at the same time, we tend to believe what we "see" and extend that trust to other people, including eyewitnesses at crime scenes. Neuroscientists test a technique that could reduce misidentification of suspects and keep more innocent people out of prison. My latest podcast for Scientific American.

Paired Comparisons Could Mean Better Witness Identifications Compared with traditional lineup techniques, a series of two-faces-at-a-time choices led to more accurate identification by study witnesses.

What predicts which bird species will make it in urban environments? I spoke with biologist Ferran Sayol to find out in this Scientific American podcast.

City Birds: Big-Brained with Few Offspring or Small-Brained with a Lot To make it in urban areas, birds tend to be either large-brained and able to produce few offspring or small-brained and extremely fertile. In natural habitats, most birds brains are of average size.