Social systems as a research area investigates structured patterns of social relationships, interactions, and institutions using formal theories and empirical methods drawn from sociology, systems theory, network science, and related fields. It focuses on the dynamic organization of individuals, groups, and organizations into interdependent networks, analyzing feedback processes, emergence, stability, and change. Researchers model social systems at multiple scales, from micro-level interactions to macro-level structures, often employing mathematical modeling, agent-based simulations, and quantitative data analysis to study phenomena such as coordination, cooperation, inequality, diffusion, governance, and resilience in complex, adaptive social environments.
Some people flip off the lights the moment they leave a room, while others rarely think twice about saving energy. According to the most comprehensive analysis of people's sentiments toward household energy savings to date, ...
Environment
Oct 10, 2025
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Researchers peered inside the brains of huntsman and crab spiders using microCT scanners and found that while spiders' brains don't have to be bigger for them to live in groups, social spiders are wired for better memory, ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 18, 2025
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97
From schools of fish darting away from sharks to flocks of starlings swirling through the sky, the animal kingdom is full of examples of how group behavior offers a survival advantage. Through collective behaviors, animals ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 7, 2025
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51
Livelihood diversity wasn't just a feature of ancient African societies; it was key to survival. New research covering millennia of African history reveals that livelihood diversification enabled ancient societies across ...
Environment
Jun 26, 2025
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172
A Cornell research team has employed a variation of a theory first used to predict the collective actions of electrons in quantum mechanical systems to a much taller, human system—the National Basketball Association.
General Physics
Jun 16, 2025
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97
From the bright lights of cities that don't sleep—where people hustle and bustle through the night to keep subways, servers, and supply chains alive—to the whisper-dark understory of tropical forests where ants hum in syncopated ...
Ecology
Jun 16, 2025
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32
By day, Chris Boone leads the USC Price School of Public Policy as dean. By night, he captures the wonders of the cosmos through astrophotography. An expert in urban sustainability and environmental justice, Boone sees cities ...
Environment
Apr 23, 2025
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24
As evidence continues to pour in showing that climate change's impacts disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities around the globe, so too do stories showing that these communities can also pay outsized costs to ...
Environment
Apr 21, 2025
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While the daily ebb and flow of people across a city might seem chaotic, new research reveals underlying universal patterns. A study published in the journal Nature Communications by a team led by Chair Professor Bo Huang ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 8, 2025
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147
Many systems in nature—and in society—can suddenly change their properties: Water freezes at normal pressure at 32°F, a power grid collapses when a central substation fails, or a society splits into opposing factions following ...
General Physics
Mar 24, 2025
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