A study led by Ern Wong with TU Darmstadt finds that sensation seekers differ both in how much they value strong stimuli and in how they react to uncertainty about when stimulation occurs. Impulsive people showed the opposite pattern, avoiding uncertain stimuli more.
— via Phys.org
A Northwestern study based on interviews after California's 2018 Carr wildfire found that disaster recovery work gave some men a temporary boost in purpose and wellbeing. The benefit faded as recovery ended, especially for elderly men, who were left worse off.
— via Phys.org
In a Nature Communications simulation of 1,000 LLM agents, political camps and homophilic networks emerged without explicit instruction, with neutral views shrinking over 40 rounds. Randomizing partners barely helped, while telling agents to be receptive to persuasion cut polarization by 11.8%.
— via Phys.org
Archaeologists led by Rui Gomes Coelho excavated a bombed house in Cambedo, a Portugal–Galicia border village that sheltered Spanish Civil War refugees and was attacked by the Portuguese army in December 1946. The finds point to an everyday ethic of solidarity among poor villagers.
— via Phys.org
Research suggests that ballot design shapes how well voters can express their views. In a 2020 study, only 2% could match their true preferences under pick-one voting, versus 72% with a multi-preference ballot. Experiments in Germany and France hint that approval-style ballots could favor broadly acceptable candidates, though status quo bias and tactical voting remain concerns.
— via Phys.org
A new Isis article argues that Chinese and Soviet scientists in 1949-1961 engaged in mutual exchange rather than subordination. Acupuncture became a shared field linking Pavlovian physiology with traditional Chinese medicine, benefiting both sides before the Sino-Soviet friendship waned in the early 1960s.
— via Phys.org
New University of Manchester research finds Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth in December 2003 mainly to protect ZANU-PF's grip on power rather than accept reforms for reinstatement. The government framed outside criticism as an attack on sovereignty to rally domestic support.
— via Phys.org
Research suggests fear-based political ads reliably grab attention and can prompt voters to reconsider choices, but evidence that negative campaigning wins elections is weak. Fear works best when voters feel able to act, and it often leans on existing racial and gender stereotypes.
— via The Conversation — Science, Monique Mitchell Turner, Professor of Communication, Michigan State University
Across 57,793 older adults tracked for an average of six years in 24 countries, those who joined at least three social activities scored highest on memory and executive function tests, especially if volunteering and sports clubs were among them. Church, religious and community group involvement showed no consistent link, and the observational study can't prove cause and effect.
— via Phys.org
AI now shows up twice among Americans' top 10 fears in Chapman University's annual survey, with 51.9 percent worried about AI harming the political process and 49.7 percent about its effect on the economy. With a 3.79-point margin of error, the third-through-tenth rankings amount to a tossup.
— via Popular Science, Andrew Paul
