Neuroscie
Social Isolation Directly Speeds Up Cognitive Decline
Summary: Social isolation has a direct causal impact on how quickly cognitive function declines in later life, independent of whether someone feels lonely. By analyzing more than 137,000 cognitive tests…
Second-Hand Gifts Are Becoming the New Status Symbol
Summary: New research shows that buying second-hand gifts is typically a thoughtful, intentional decision rather than an impulsive one. Consumers are motivated by fair prices, the thrill of finding rare…
Study Challenges Myths About Self-Centeredness
Summary: A large international study of more than 45,000 people shows that narcissism is a universal personality trait—not one concentrated in any single country. Although nations differed somewhat, the five…
AI Brain Model Reveals How Fear Works in Real Life
Summary: Researchers have developed an AI-driven brain model that can track fear as it unfolds in real-world situations, offering a major shift from traditional lab-based approaches. Classic fear studies often…
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…
