https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Planning to save time by doing your shopping online? If so, it's possible you're not doing your well-being any favors. A study from Aalto University in Finland has found that online shopping is more strongly linked to stress than reading the news, checking your inbox or watching adult entertainment. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-retail-therapy-online-stress-news.html Social Sciences Mon, 12 Jan 2026 14:01:11 EST news687448820 Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have identified who is most susceptible to online misinformation and why. Their meta-analysis reveals surprising patterns in how demographic and psychological factors—including age, education, political identity, analytical thinking, and motivated reflection—affect people's ability to assess the accuracy of information. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-easily-falls-misinformation.html Social Sciences Wed, 05 Feb 2025 10:02:13 EST news657972126 Recommender systems are machine learning applications in online platforms that automate tasks historically done by people. In the news industry, recommender algorithms can assume the tasks of editors who select which news stories people see online, with the goal of increasing the number of clicks by users, but few studies have examined how the two compare. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-algorithmic-technology-human-curation-online.html Social Sciences Mon, 27 Nov 2023 13:00:28 EST news620312423 With more than half of the world's population active on social media networks, user-generated data has proved to be fertile ground for social scientists who study attitudes about the environment and sustainability. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-social-media-content-frontiers-sustainability.html Environment Fri, 17 Mar 2023 13:04:04 EDT news598277041 The battle to stop false news and online misinformation is not going to end any time soon, but a new finding from MIT scholars may help ease the problem. https://phys.org/news/2021-01-people-fact-checks-news-headlines.html Social Sciences Tue, 26 Jan 2021 07:56:16 EST news530870172 Polarization, conspiracy theories, fake news: What people see on the Internet is largely determined by the opaque algorithms of just a few corporations. That's a worrying development for democratic societies. But online environments could be designed in ways that promote autonomy and transparency, thereby fostering the positive potential of the Internet. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, the University of Bristol, and Harvard Law School has approached this debate from the behavioral science perspective and proposed interventions capable of promoting a more democratic Internet. Their findings have been published in Nature Human Behaviour. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-clickbait-transparency-reimagining-online-world.html Social Sciences Mon, 15 Jun 2020 11:21:32 EDT news511438883 Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, debates have raged about the reach of so-called "fake news" websites and the role they played during the campaign. A study published in Nature Human Behaviour finds that the reach of these untrustworthy websites has been overstated. https://phys.org/news/2020-03-exposure-fake-news-election-overstated.html Social Sciences Mon, 02 Mar 2020 12:56:59 EST news502376217 The inventor of the worldwide web, Tim Berners-Lee, on Monday announced plans for a "contract" to ensure the internet remains "safe and accessible" for all. https://phys.org/news/2018-11-web-internet.html Internet Mon, 05 Nov 2018 16:01:56 EST news460656106 Despite the popular narrative that the web is to blame for rising political polarization, a study by a Brown University economist has found that recent growth in polarization is greatest for demographic groups in which individuals are least likely to use the internet and social media. This means that data does not support the claim that the internet is the most significant driver of partisanship. https://phys.org/news/2017-09-political-polarization-dont-blame-web.html Social Sciences Tue, 19 Sep 2017 13:32:47 EDT news425046717 China plans to launch its own online encyclopaedia next year, hoping to build a "cultural Great Wall" that can rival Wikipedia as a go-to information source for Chinese Internet users who Beijing fears are being corrupted by foreign influences. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-china-encyclopaedia-rival-wikipedia.html Internet Wed, 03 May 2017 04:12:30 EDT news413003543 The rise of fake news has dominated the world of politics since the last U.S. election cycle. But fake news is not at all new in the world of science, notes University of Wisconsin-Madison Life Sciences Communication Professor Dominique Brossard. https://phys.org/news/2017-02-expert-science-fake-news.html Social Sciences Sat, 18 Feb 2017 18:16:55 EST news406664193 It has long been argued that women are under-represented and marginalised in relation to men in the world's news media. New research, using artificial intelligence (AI), has analysed over two million articles to find out how gender is represented in online news. The study, which is the largest undertaken to date, found men's views and voices are represented more in online news than women's. https://phys.org/news/2016-02-women-heard-online-news.html Social Sciences Wed, 03 Feb 2016 14:00:03 EST news373729811 In a move that echoes Twitter, Facebook is adding a feature to its service that lets users know the topics of discussion that are trending among the site's 1.2 billion users, whether it's the death of a world leader or the Oscars. https://phys.org/news/2014-01-facebook-ramps-twitter-trends-feature.html Internet Thu, 16 Jan 2014 13:30:39 EST news309101421 A science-inclined audience and wide array of communications tools make the Internet an excellent opportunity for scientists hoping to share their research with the world. But that opportunity is fraught with unintended consequences, according to a pair of University of Wisconsin–Madison life sciences communication professors. https://phys.org/news/2013-01-online-science-news.html Social Sciences Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:00:04 EST news276429044 The US presidential election dominates the global media every four years, with news articles, which are carefully analysed by commentators and campaign strategists, playing a major role in shaping voter opinion. Academics have developed an online tool, Election Watch, which analyses the content of news about the US election by the international media. https://phys.org/news/2012-04-online-tool-patterns-election-news.html Computer Sciences Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:30:08 EDT news254456953 The Wall Street Journal announced on Thursday that it will begin charging for access to the newspaper on mobile devices such as the Blackberry or Apple iPhone from October 24. https://phys.org/news/2009-09-wall-street-journal-mobile-access.html Internet Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:32:45 EDT news172413123