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 New research has revealed the trauma faced by journalists during the height of the pandemic, caused by exposure to online threats, disturbing information and disrupted work routines that exacerbated an industry already under pressure from the rise of social media and online news. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-headlines-hidden-toll-journalists-pandemic.html Social Sciences Tue, 24 Jun 2025 10:24:04 EDT news669979441 In the ongoing battle against misinformation, one prevailing belief is that strong emotions cloud our judgment, making people more prone to accepting false news. However, a new study from the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) challenges this simplistic assumption by shedding light on the complex role emotions play in shaping our perceptions and decision-making. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-emotions-susceptible-misinformation-se.html Social Sciences Tue, 11 Mar 2025 15:52:40 EDT news660927157 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 For a business on the receiving end of "review bombs"—the sudden influx of online customer reviews following a political or cultural controversy—an interventionist approach to content moderation might seem like a prudent strategy. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-bad-business.html Economics & Business Thu, 31 Oct 2024 15:40:01 EDT news649606925 Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are supercharging the problem of misinformation, disinformation and fake news. OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and various image, voice and video generators have made it easier than ever to produce content, while making it harder to tell what is factual or real. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-algorithms-ai-generated-falsehoods-alarming.html Social Sciences Thu, 29 Feb 2024 11:44:06 EST news628429443 Journalists are supposed to go where the story takes them, unrestrained by political bias. But the online media market puts the ideal of journalistic objectivity to a severe test, as highly partisan news sources compete for clicks with legacy providers known for their neutrality, such as BBC News and Reuters. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-partisan-news-survive-online-echo.html Economics & Business Mon, 08 Jan 2024 12:54:33 EST news623940870 Many online platforms (e.g., Huffpost, Wikipedia) host user-generated content (UGC) and content developed by professional reporters. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-highlights-benefits-user-generated-content-digital.html Economics & Business Tue, 12 Dec 2023 14:50:09 EST news621614979 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 Many companies have made commitments toward diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in recent years, particularly since the murder of George Floyd sparked weeks of racial justice riots in 2020. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-workers-employers-diversity-inclusion.html Social Sciences Wed, 30 Aug 2023 15:49:04 EDT news612629342 Professor Neil Thurman and Dr. Bartosz Wilczek research at LMU's Institute of Communication Studies and Media Research. Their work focuses on changes in news production and consumption due to the internet and artificial intelligence. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-qa-people-willingness-pay-online.html Economics & Business Fri, 07 Jul 2023 14:24:44 EDT news607958679 Ever clicked on a link because of a sensationalist headline or image? Or worse, shared it on social media without even reading it? If so, you've fallen victim to what's known as clickbait, and you're probably not alone. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-weight-miracle-drug-people-fall.html Social Sciences Tue, 02 May 2023 10:25:01 EDT news602241898 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 past two election cycles have seen an explosion of attention given to "echo chambers," or communities where a narrow set of views makes people less likely to challenge their own opinions. Much of this concern has focused on the rise of social media, which has radically transformed the information ecosystem. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-dont-quick-blame-social-media.html Social Sciences Thu, 11 Aug 2022 08:43:04 EDT news579426182 The success of politicians in the U.S. largely depends on the amount of funding they receive from various sources. Although political action committees contribute considerably to elections, a recent survey showed that grassroots contributions—gifts under US$200—are equally crucial and contribute a sizable amount. Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign raised 69% of its funding from small donors. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-political-crowdfunding-money-rile-opponents.html Economics & Business Tue, 19 Jul 2022 10:05:04 EDT news577443901 As people around the world increasingly get their news from social media, online misinformation has emerged as an area of great concern. To improve news literacy and reduce the spread of misinformation, NYUAD Center for Cybersecurity researcher and lead author Nicholas Micallef is part of a team that designed 'Fakey', a game that emulates a social media news feed and prompts players to use available signals to recognize and scrutinize suspicious content and focus on credible information. Players can share, like, or fact-check individual articles. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-simulator-fake-news.html Social Sciences Tue, 27 Apr 2021 13:17:40 EDT news538748249 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 Targeted advertising and news coverage are powerful, and controversial, tools for influencing human perceptions and behavior. This influence can be perceived as exploitative—notoriously Cambridge Analytica's alleged influence in the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US Presidential election. Such cases have received widespread attention and raised ethical questions around whether, or how, these tools should be used. But do they, unwittingly, reveal new conservation solutions? https://phys.org/news/2020-09-harnessing-online-tactics-species.html Ecology Mon, 28 Sep 2020 09:25:07 EDT news520503904 Fake audio or video content has been ranked by experts as the most worrying use of artificial intelligence in terms of its potential applications for crime or terrorism, according to a new UCL report. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-deepfakes-ai-crime-threat.html Social Sciences Tue, 04 Aug 2020 03:10:12 EDT news515729407 A Rutgers-led study finds that online misinformation, or "fake news," lowers people's trust in mainstream media across party lines. The researchers defined fake news as fabricated information that looks like news content but lacks the editorial standards and practices of legitimate journalism. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-fake-news-lowers-mainstream-media.html Social Sciences Thu, 18 Jun 2020 12:38:56 EDT news511702733 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 Consumer stockpiling and hoarding took center stage in recent months as the COVID-19 virus has spread around the world, and with it, panic buying on the part of millions. News broadcasts and social media feeds have been filled with examples of the worst aspects of human nature. https://phys.org/news/2020-04-consumer-hoarding-crisis.html Economics & Business Fri, 03 Apr 2020 02:45:19 EDT news505100715 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 Scientists from the University of Helsinki have figured out how to mine people's online reactions to endangered animals and plants so that they can reduce the chance of pushing species toward extinction. https://phys.org/news/2019-11-finger-internet-pulse.html Ecology Tue, 12 Nov 2019 09:37:48 EST news492773863 It may feel like we have reached an impasse in the debate over divisive issues such as gun violence, climate change and immigration. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-approaches-dysfunctional-deliberation.html Social Sciences Tue, 25 Jun 2019 12:57:26 EDT news480686237 Social media giant Twitter on Thursday released a new archive of state-backed propaganda from accounts it has banned based in Iran, Russia, Spain and Venezuela. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-twitter-trove-state-propaganda.html Internet Thu, 13 Jun 2019 10:59:52 EDT news479642387 Eighty-six percent of internet users have been duped by fake news—most of it spread on Facebook—according to a global survey published Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-percent-internet-users-duped-fake.html Internet Wed, 12 Jun 2019 03:10:02 EDT news479526596 More than technological fixes are needed to stop countries from spreading disinformation on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, according to two experts. https://phys.org/news/2019-04-tech-disinformation-campaigns.html Social Sciences Thu, 25 Apr 2019 12:50:02 EDT news475414704 Although the term itself is not new, fake news presents a growing threat for societies across the world. https://phys.org/news/2019-04-fake-news-minds-resist.html Social Sciences Wed, 17 Apr 2019 08:56:20 EDT news474710174 US adults appear to be sticking with Facebook, Twitter and other online platforms despite controversies over privacy and misinformation, according to a study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. https://phys.org/news/2019-04-social-media-users-survey.html Internet Thu, 11 Apr 2019 03:04:30 EDT news474170665