This time of year, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is a nearly inescapable earworm. Rudolph, the old song goes, is bullied for having a nose so bright it glows (like a…
Category: Life
Lions have a second roar that no one noticed until now
The thunderous roar of the MGM lion that has opened Hollywood films for nearly a century has conditioned us to hear the big cat’s call as a blunt declaration: a…
Thrill Fatigue: How Dopamine Devalues Repeated Rewards
Summary: New research shows that the same dopamine receptor mechanism responsible for drug addiction also governs the natural decline in motivation when we repeat rewarding behaviors. By studying male fruit…
AI Interviews Outperform Standard Mental Health Rating Scales
Summary: A new study demonstrates that an AI assistant can conduct psychiatric assessment interviews with greater diagnostic accuracy than widely used mental health rating scales. In a sample of 303…
Moss spores survived in space for 9 months
In an extraordinary display of biological resilience, moss spores survived for nine months outside the International Space Station. The spores were then returned to Earth, where 86 percent germinated and…
Shocking Disparities: Women Face Higher Risk of ECT
Summary: A large international survey of 858 electroconvulsive therapy recipients found that women are twice as likely as men to receive ECT and experience more adverse effects. Women reported higher…
Maternal Stress Speeds Up Baby Teething
Summary: New research shows that infants whose mothers had higher cortisol levels during late pregnancy experience significantly earlier eruption of primary teeth. Babies of mothers with the highest cortisol levels…
Edith Singini | How rising CO2 reshapes savannas: Why some trees thrive while others struggle – Functional Ecologists
In this ‘Behind the Paper’ blog post, author Dr. Edith Singini, a lecturer at Rhodes University, delves into her new paper ‘Savanna tree species show contrasting acclimation responses to elevated…
An effective safety net for vaccines and the people who need them—and why RFK Jr. is poised to cut it
For nearly four decades, Americans who believe they have been harmed by a vaccine have had access to a little-known legal process called the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) —…
