Scientists in the United States are planning to create lie-detection software for emails and text messages. The new software is being developed by a team led by Jeff Hancock at Cornell niversity in New York State. "We asked people to come into the labs and write lies and we had other people come in and write the truth," says Hancock. "Using this method, we've developed a database of tens of thousands of emails.” 

    The scientists have analyzed the data and identified a number of methods to predict whether or not a person is lying. One of the most important methods is the length of a message. Lying emails have, on average, 28% more words than truthful messages. Another method is the overuse of sense words, such as "see," "feel," and "touch." "When you're lying, you want the other person to believe you, so you give more details," says Hancock. 

    Liars also tend to use pronouns like "we" and "they" rather than "I" as a way of distancing themselves from a lie because they feel guilty. "People often use negative emotional words too, because they feel uncomfortable when they're lying," says Hancock. "So they will use terms like "sad," "angry," "unhappy" and "stressed." 

   Previous research has shown that up to one third of communications at work involve lying of some sort. The most common workplace lie is pretending to be sick to avoid going to work. 

    But Peter Collett, a psychologist who has written a book on lying, is skeptical about Hancock's work. "You can see if somebody is lying by looking at their body language, how fast they talk, and how they speak," he says. "How can a computer program see all this? They've clearly done a lot of research, but with emails all you have is words."

    Have you noticed the phenomenon of puppy dog eyes, the inner eyebrow raising movement of dogs? Do you believe it    41    for dogs to appeal to humans? Researchers dissected dog and wolf heads and found that the facial muscle anatomy of both animals was almost identical --    42    an eyebrow muscle, found only in dogs. The inner eyebrow raising movement makes the dogs’ eyes appear larger and more infant like,   43   prompts a “nurturing” response in humans. When dogs make the movement, it seems to elicit a strong desire in humans to   44   them. This would give the dogs that moved their eyebrows more a selection advantage over others, reinforcing the trait in   45   generations. The findings show how important faces can be in capturing our attention, and how powerful facial expression can be in social interaction.