Turns out, these “sins” are often the subjects of scientific study, albeit indirectly. Researchers gathered at the MIT Museum last month to describe work they've conducted relevant to the deadly seven, as part of the Cambridge Science Festival. The point of their assembly: to share some ways in which research can provide insight into these darker sides of life — and even, in some cases, hold out possibilities for redemption.

Anger: Children who have greater than normal trouble controlling their emotions are being studied at Boston Children’s Hospital by Dr. Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich and his colleagues. Brain scans of kids with anger problems have shown that areas in the brain involved in controlling emotions, such as the prefrontal cortex, are weak. So members of the team developed a Space Invaders-like computer game that rewards players for holding their fire when friendly aliens fly by, and cuts off the game if their heart rate climbs too high, indicating too much emotional arousal.