Cultural Studies

A study reveals how cooperative hunting between dolphins and fishers can benefit both species—and why this behavior faces extinction more

Basic researchers call for urban design based on scientific facts more

How fingers and brains coordinate when making music more

The games we play reflect the socio-ecological characteristics of the culture that we are in
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International study investigates the role of music in regulating emotions in times of crisis more

A new exhibition reconstructs the library of the universal genius more

First large-scale study of feel-good films and their audiences more

Isotopic study reveals the identity of the soldiers of 1491 more

A study asks who deserves the most recognition in the process of creating AI art and examines what role the humanization of AI plays in this more

Musicians and music lovers are hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. After all, music needs communities, but social distancing measures prevent rehearsals and concerts, cutting musicians off from their audience. In many places, musicians are now coming up with various creative ways to close this gap, especially via the Internet. Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, has launched an survey into music in the time of corona together with colleagues from five other European countries. more

Football clubs in former coal mining areas play an important role in terms of social cohesion between the now unemployed more

An essay by Peter van der Veer on the different ways of dealing with face masks, toilet paper and the fear of death in Asia and the western world more

In an age of modern anatomy atlases and freely available online body-browsers, Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of organs and body parts done with quill, ink and red chalk may strike us as aesthetically pleasing, yet antiquated. Nevertheless, almost everyone in Germany carries a reproduction of his famous Vitruvian Man with them – on their health insurance card. Alessandro Nova, Director at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, on the other hand, explores Leonardo’s work in the light of the scientific knowledge it generates. more

Salmonella enterica, the bacterium responsible for enteric fever, may be the long-debated cause of the 1545-1550 AD “cocoliztli” epidemic in Oaxaca, Mexico that heavily affected the native population. more

The more a poem evokes vivid sensory imagery, the more we like it more

Max Planck researchers discover the oldest ever images of dogs on leashes more

Genetic analyses uncover lost human populations and surprising relationships, revealing a complex history of population movements in ancient Africa more

4,000 years ago, European women travelled far from their home villages to start their families, bringing with them new cultural objects and ideas more

Sea level – the geographical reference point and indicator of climate change – is a surprisingly variable parameter more

Common ancestors from Neolithic Western Anatolia and Greece more

In this video, anthropologist Rosalia Engchuan talks about her research in Indonesia. She looks at how Indonesian filmmakers respond to the challenges of their social and environmental surroundings and how they influence the development of moral values, for example, through solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. more