Neuroscie
Why Some People Love Hugs While Others Hate Them
Summary: A massive psychological survey of over 15,000 UK adults published in PLOS One reveals that nearly 70% of people remember hugs primarily for their comfort, emotional support, and sense…
Nearly Half of Distressed Adults Use AI for Therapy
Summary: A survey study led by researchers at Tel-Hai University of Kiryat Shmona reveals that almost one in three Israeli adults using general-purpose generative AI tools rely on platforms like…
Finding the Brain’s Mood Switch in Bipolar Disorder
Summary: A multi-institutional consortium led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Stanford University, and Johns Hopkins University has received a $4.5…
Brain Stimulation Stops Sexual Objectification
Summary: A neurocognitive study from the University of Exeter reveals that non-invasive brain stimulation can temporarily eliminate a perceptual signature linked to the sexual objectification of women. Using transcranial direct…
Life
Nature
Newfound bat skeletons are the oldest on record
Two fossilized bat skeletons unearthed in western Wyoming represent a new species and are the oldest set of bat bones yet discovered, researchers say. The incredibly complete fossils of Icaronycteris…
Astronomy
Asteroid 2024 YR4 was Earth’s first real-life defense test
Artist’s depiction of an asteroid floating in space. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb), Martin Kornmesser (ESA), Serge Brunier (ESO), Nick Risinger (Photopic Sky Survey) At this point in…
How do you fire someone into the sun?
Firing our villain straight at the Sun results in a big miss. Credit: Michael Brown, CC BY To point a rocket directly at the sun and hit would require great…
Cosmic ray puzzle resolved as scientists link ‘knee’ formation to black holes
LHAASO experiment. Credit: LHAASO Collaboration Milestone results released by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) on November 16 have solved a decades-old mystery about the cosmic ray energy…
If the supernova standard candle is wrong, it could solve the Hubble tension
An illustration showing how Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs) expand with the universe. Credit: Gabriela Secara, Perimeter Institute CC-BY-4.0 Last time I wrote about new data that overturns the standard cosmological…
