University of Bath study identifies harmful paradox behind well-meaning green efforts
When hotels replace single-use toiletries with refillable dispensers, or companies strip unnecessary items from product bundles to cut waste, they may expect consumers to hail these changes as environmentally responsible. However, a new study has…
‘Highly sensitive’ people may not experience everything more intensely, study suggests
PULLMAN, Wash. — Environmental sensitivity may be a misleading name for a personality trait that appears to have less to do with how people respond to their physical environments and more to do with how…
Highly educated women continue to find partners
In the past 25 years, Switzerland has seen the steepest rise in the share of highly educated women across Europe. Between 1999 and 2024, the share of women aged 30 to 40 who hold a…
The ovary doesn’t retire after menopause
CHICAGO — Contrary to popular belief, the postmenopausal ovary is not defunct. In a new, paradigm-shifting study in ovaries from 28 women, scientists at Northwestern University and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging found…
Devaluation, not work-life balance, underlies the academic gender gap
Women leave academia at higher rates than men, contributing to consistent gender imbalances at senior levels. Interventions often target work-life balance and motherhood. Katie Spoon and colleagues surveyed thousands of current and former tenure-line faculty…
New study finds gendered messaging can backfire
Campaigns and initiatives aimed at advancing equity for girls and women often reference gender—“The future is female” or “Fight like a girl,” for instance. However, is such messaging effective in championing their abilities and in…
How literature can inspire us to forgive
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A story that places us inside the mind of a character who is remorseful about causing harm can inspire forgiveness for that fictional bad act, a new study finds. But the literary…
New research traces the origins and human impact of Britain’s largest medieval lead industry through ancient teeth
The first definitive evidence of when post-Roman lead production began in one of Europe’s largest medieval lead-producing regions, the Derbyshire Peak District in central England, has been uncovered by archaeologists, after centuries of mining had…
Using AI for just 10 minutes erodes your ability to persist at hard things
Brian Christian has spent 20 years thinking about how artificial intelligence will change our minds and our world. His 2020 book The Alignment Problem has been praised as one of the best on AI, and like many…