Bruce Bower

Behavioral Sciences Writer, Science News

Bruce Bower has written about the behavioral sciences since 1984. He often writes about psychology, anthropology, archaeology and mental health issues. Bruce has a master's degree in psychology from Pepperdine University and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Following an internship at Science News in 1981, he worked as a reporter at Psychiatric News, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, until joining Science News as a staff writer. In 1996, the American Psychological Association appointed Bruce a Science Writer Fellow, with a grant to visit psychological scientists of his own choosing. Early stints as an aide in a day school for children and teenagers with severe psychological problems and as a counselor in a drug diversion center provided Bruce with a surprisingly good background for a career in science journalism.

All Stories by Bruce Bower

  1. Archaeology

    Neandertals: Ancient Stone Age builders had tech skills

    Neandertals built stalagmite circles in a French cave 176,500 years ago. These structures show that these ancient human cousins had social and technical skills.

  2. Archaeology

    Hunter-gatherers roamed Florida 14,500 years ago

    Tools and bones from a submerged site in Florida show that Stone Age people lived in North America earlier than was once thought.

  3. Archaeology

    Remains of long-ago child sacrifices found in Belize cave

    Thousands of bones in Belize’s Midnight Terror Cave show that the Maya had a long tradition of human sacrifices. New data show that many had been children.

  4. Genetics

    Pacific islanders got a double dose of Stone Age DNA

    Unlike other people, certain Pacific Islanders inherited DNA from two ancient human ‘cousins.’

  5. Humans

    Slicing meat may have aided human evolution

    An experiment with modern-day humans shows how slicing meat could have saved human ancestors energy — and let their bodies and brains get bigger.

  6. Humans

    News Brief: Ancient teeth point to Neandertal relatives

    New analyses of some teeth found in Siberia indicate that Neandertal cousins known as Denisovans lived there for at least 60,000 years. That would have had them around the same place as modern humans — and at nearly the same time.

  7. Genetics

    The earliest evidence of plague

    Plague is best known as the killer disease that wiped out nearly half of Europe during the 1300s. But the germ infected people up to 3,000 years earlier than that, DNA from ancient teeth now show.

  8. Humans

    Bronze Age mummies unearthed in Great Britain

    Bronze Age communities from southern England to Scotland appear to mummified their dead. Tests show this occurred between roughly 3,000 and 4,000 years ago.

  9. Fossils

    Fossils: Is this new species a human relative?

    Fossils found in an underground cave in South Africa may be from a previously unknown species of the human genus, Homo.

  10. Humans

    Picture This: ‘Super-henge’ buried near Stonehenge

    Scientists using ground-penetrating radar discovered a massive stone monument, now buried, at a prehistoric village near Stonehenge.

  11. Humans

    Jamestown: Unearthed graves tell tales of colony leaders

    The newly uncovered 400-year-old remains of four leaders of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia reveal details of the notable’s lives — and deaths.

  12. Fossils

    Remains of ancient primate found in Oregon

    Scientists have found a few teeth and a fossil jaw of an ancient species of primate. It may be related to modern lemurs or tarsiers.