Meredith F. Small

Chat is what humans are all about.

Why does marriage at a young age bother us so much in Western culture?

Rituals are important worldwide, and they help us move through life's big transitions.

Biology has underestimated the role of fathers in making babies. Society has too, especially when it comes to child-rearing. That should change.

Humans might be the only primates that truly understand the value of a good trade.

Capitalism is like evolution by natural selection, and it can be harsh.

My daughter has a snake, a tiny 8-inch-long, innocuous corn snake, and I hate that thing.

The mishmash of features in a new primate fossil reminds us that the story of our past might be more complicated than we think.

There are still plenty of hunters and gatherers living in the world.

The instruction from public health officials to keep away from others to stop the spread of the swine flu is a tough one for us primates.

No death is more painful, more poignant, more of a waste, than the death of a child. In Rwanda, swine flu isn't the big culprit.

Is long-term love possible? It all has to do with perceptions.

People who live on, say, Hawaiian beaches have fewer bouts of emotional problems than people who live in the hollows of Appalachia.

It takes a lot to live with people day after day and not kill them.

Why does it unsettle us to see one person go it alone as a parent?

Leadership and overachievement might be a good predictor of which kids will go on to become parents.

Gratitude when receiving a gift is, apparently, a typical response for a woman. For men, they feel obligation.

U.S. women often delay marriage to jump-start careers, but in other countries, women tend to marry young, sometimes too young.

The uterus plays a role in make sure sperm are in the right place at the right time.

"You make me sick" —this metaphor for disapproval can also be very real disgust.

Childcare is fraught with difficulty, and women navigate tough choices as they try to breast-feed and bring up a child.

Are humans really naturally pair-bonded, that is, designed to court and mate one person 'til death do us part?

For some odd reason, it takes constant reminders that we primates need nurturing.

It's great those octuplets are here and healthy, but really, humans aren't designed to have litters.

Human migration is much more complex than we might think, genetic evidence suggests.