Medicine vs. MAGA: Doctors and Insurers Scramble as RFK Jr. Dismantles U.S. Vaccine System

Professional medical societies, pharmacists, state health officials and vaccine manufacturers, as well as a new advocacy group, are mobilizing behind the scenes to preserve access for vaccines as Health Secretary…

Chimpanzees and Children Share a Curiosity for Social Drama

Summary: A new study shows that both chimpanzees and young children are drawn to watching social interactions, sometimes even at a cost. When given a choice between viewing videos of…

Choose Your Battles: Identity Shapes Displaced Aggression

Summary: Displaced aggression—redirecting frustration onto an uninvolved target—has now been studied in mice, revealing that identity and social history play key roles in shaping aggressive behavior. Male mice primed by…

Zoning Out or Zoning In? How Aimless Wandering Trains the Brain

Summary: New research reveals that the brain may be learning even during unstructured, aimless exploration. By recording activity in tens of thousands of neurons, scientists found that the visual cortex…

Killer whales may use kelp brushes to slough off rough skin

A brush with kelp may help some killer whales clean up nicely. A group of killer whales (Orcinus orca ater) residing in the Salish Sea off the coast of British…

How PTSD Disrupts Brain Cell Communication

Summary: A new study has examined brains affected by PTSD at the single-cell level, uncovering distinct genetic alterations that may drive the disorder. Researchers focused on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex,…

Why Some People Struggle to Recognize Faces of Other Races

Summary: New research reveals that some individuals may experience selective difficulty recognizing faces from racial groups different from their own, a phenomenon known as category-selective face blindness. While general face…

Facial Expressions Reveal Hidden Cognitive States

Summary: New research shows that facial expressions can reveal internal cognitive states, accurately predicting task performance across both macaques and mice. By analyzing facial features during a foraging task in…

Wellbeing May Help Protect Memory in Middle Age

Summary: A new 16-year study of over 10,000 adults finds that higher wellbeing is linked to better memory performance in middle age. Researchers tracked participants’ psychological wellbeing and memory recall,…

50 years after ‘Jaws,’ sharks face their own terror

One June 20, 1975, a fictional great white shark stalked beachgoers on Amity Island — and struck terror into moviegoers around the world. Jaws, based on Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel,…