It’s graduation season, and that means it’s time to celebrate the grads in your life, revel in their accomplishments—and prepare yourself to wedge into some uncomfortable seating for a speech about the importance of uncovering your passion in life. The “follow your dreams” talk has died down a little since the economic collapse of the late aughts. Still, remain in the orbit of a recently graduated high schooler long enough and you will still hear some well-meaning adult deliv

Horses are remarkable creatures. 47 million years ago, their evolutionary ancestor was just two feet tall. Anatomically speaking, their “wrist” is located at the joint that looks like a knee, while the rest of each leg is technically a finger. It’s been reported that two draft horses working together can pull triple the load of one horse. And despite their reputation for not being terribly bright, like any other pack animal they have the ability to discern each other’s emotio

How do you listen to music? I don’t mean “Are you a headphones person or more of a speaker fan?” I mean, what parts of your brain do you use? “The same parts of the brain everyone else uses,” you may be tempted to say. But hold on: it’s a little more complicated than that. It turns out that highly empathetic people experience music more deeply than the rest of the population, and there’s a neuroscience reason why. About 20% of the population is considered highly empathetic. T

Are you likely to fall for a made-up government conspiracy? That depends: how well-informed are you? If you said “very”…bad news, you might be another chump. What gives? A recent study by Joseph Vitriol and Jessecae K. Marsh of Lehigh Unversity found that people who are overconfident in their grasp of the political world are the most likely to also buy into the existence of shadowy organizations and secret connections. Vitriol and Marsh had the study participants rate their u