The Sims: People with psychopathic traits are more likely to show mean behaviours in-game

When playing The Sims 3, people with psychopathic traits are more likely to show aggressive and mean behaviour towards other characters, a study has found. The popular life simulation video game allows players to create — and also assume control over — virtual characters, their houses and neighbourhoods. Experts from Canada asked 205 people to … Read more

Scientists worldwide to investigate how animal behaviours have been affected by human slowdown

Wildlife scientists around the world are planning to investigate how animal behaviours have been affected by the slowdown in human activity during lockdown. They will gather data from sources including GPS, sensors and surveys to assess how more than a hundred terrestrial and marine species responded to the lockdown – or ‘Anthropause’. At least two … Read more

Birds are adopting ‘extraordinary behaviours’ to survive the impact of climate change

Climate change is forcing birds to find new and ‘extraordinary’ ways to survive including using bread to bait fish and dropping mussels on rocks to break the shell.  Researchers from McGill University, Montreal studied data on more than 8,600 bird species to look at changes in their feeding and hunting techniques over time. They found … Read more