https://phys.org/science-news/ en-us The latest science news on archaeology, fossils, mathematics, and science technology from Phys.org While humans are inherently social beings, they can interact and connect with others in very different ways. For instance, while some people tend to be more altruistic, others are less prone to helping their friends, acquaintances or even complete strangers, particularly when it comes at a personal cost. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-early-hardship-oxytocin-altruism.html Social Sciences Thu, 13 Aug 2026 08:00:01 EDT news705663792 A study involving more than 58,000 adolescents from 21 countries found that "unstructured free time"—defined as periods without adult supervision or activities guided by educational, cultural or athletic goals—is strongly associated with delinquent behavior and exposure to violence among young people. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-unsupervised-free-likelihood-adolescents-engage.html Social Sciences Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:40:05 EDT news705763142 Military leaders frequently underestimate how big the wars they engage in will get. Gen. Douglas MacArthur predicted U.S. troops could come home from the Korean War in time for Christmas, just months after the conflict started. But Chinese attacks that winter extended the war for years. And President Donald Trump said in March that the Iran war would be a "short-term excursion," but it has now lasted more than five months, with periods of escalation. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-wars-nations-persistent-escalation-decades.html Political science Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:30:01 EDT news705771841 A widely cited Nature cover article from 2023 claimed that scientific innovation has significantly declined in recent decades. This finding was based on a citation analysis of large sets of metadata concerning scientific papers and patents. Researchers from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and KU Leuven have found that incomplete reference data account for most of the alleged decline in scientific disruption. Their article is also published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-science-disruptive-years-delay.html Education Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:50:01 EDT news705765301 Across the United States, the number of people who do not have and do not want to have children is growing. While they are twice as likely to live in California as Louisiana, individual demographic characteristics are the strongest predictors of who is childfree, according to a study published in PLOS One by Zachary Neal and Jennifer Watling Neal from Michigan State University, U.S. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-californians-louisianans-childfree-demographics-story.html Social Sciences Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:00:09 EDT news705688082 In 2005, a research team led by University of Zurich economics professor Ernst Fehr published a study in the journal Nature that provided evidence for the first time that intranasally administered oxytocin can increase trusting behavior in humans. Oxytocin is a hormone and neurotransmitter produced naturally in the body that influences social interactions, among other things. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-oxytocin-nudges-distrustful-men-invest.html Social Sciences Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:20:07 EDT news705748802 Students who attended public school pre-K performed better academically through high school than those in family-based child care, according to new research from Florida International University. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-year-pre-impacts-child-academic.html Education Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:00:05 EDT news705748412 This summer, America celebrated the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, widely recognized as the formal founding of our nation and one of the early stages of establishing a democratic government. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-civics-voter-dissatisfaction-political-corruption.html Political science Tue, 11 Aug 2026 19:40:04 EDT news705679922 A new study from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management found that research proposals showing stronger signs of AI-assisted writing were four percentage points more likely to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-grant-narrowing-ideas.html Economics & Business Tue, 11 Aug 2026 19:20:03 EDT news705679801 A vaccine only protects a whole community if enough people get it, including those who would stay safe anyway once their neighbors are covered. The same tension runs through climate action and social movements: The shared payoff arrives only when enough people pitch in. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-based-rewards-cooperation-free-riders.html Mathematics Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:00:03 EDT news705681417 When MIT historian Tristan Brown first examined a Chinese tea chest label displayed as a relic of the Boston Tea Party, he had no reason to doubt its story. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-chinese-boston-tea-party-reveals.html Archaeology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:30:02 EDT news705680941 Egyptian blue, considered the world's earliest synthetic pigment, was prized for its stable blue hues and served as a common blue paint in Egypt as early as 5,000 years ago, as well as the base material for small items such as beads and vessels in later periods. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-egyptian-blue-iron-age-iran.html Archaeology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:40:06 EDT news705664921 Research has long shown that exercise benefits both physical and mental health. Now, a new study from researchers at BYU suggests that it may also strengthen marriages, especially when couples exercise together. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-happier-marriage-simple-habit.html Social Sciences Tue, 11 Aug 2026 08:40:02 EDT news705651182 Deep in the Vârghiș Gorges, tucked away in the dark recesses of a cave, researchers have found the first evidence that Neanderthals used bone tools in Romania. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-evidence-neanderthal-bone-tool-romania.html Archaeology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 07:00:04 EDT news705585192 Communities living in Colombia thousands of years ago achieved an engineering wonder of the world based on cooperation among family groups without top-down government, a new study shows. Archaeologists argue that policymakers in Colombia should now adopt a similar strategy to solve the country's current water management crisis. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ancient-colombians-built-huge-centralized.html Archaeology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 05:00:05 EDT news705585182 In his 1927 paper, "A law of comparative judgment," the American psychologist L. L. Thurstone proposed that when people select one option among multiple alternatives, they are picking the one that has the highest value to them, even though they cannot assign a particular number to that choice. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-people-pays-power.html Mathematics Mon, 10 Aug 2026 18:00:02 EDT news705595141 People from different cultural backgrounds are tickled in remarkably similar ways. They laugh, resist and are usually tickled by family members or friends. They are also ticklish in the same body regions. These are among the findings of a study published recently in Nature Human Behaviour by Ziliang Xiong and Konstantina Kilteni of the Donders Institute at Radboud University in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ticklish-cultures-complex.html Other Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:40:01 EDT news705587401 Archaeologists have discovered two giant rock scallop beads that push back the clock on the first appearance of these high-status ornaments. The discovery shows that these prized marine beads were traded hundreds of miles from the California coast thousands of years earlier than previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-oldest-giant-scallop-bead-california.html Archaeology Sun, 09 Aug 2026 08:40:03 EDT news705235339 Are some interventions designed to induce gratitude more effectively than others? In which countries and cultures do they work best to improve mood, strengthen bonds between people and promote social reciprocity? A study aimed at answering these questions—conducted in 34 countries with more than 10,000 participants—had its results published in PNAS. In Brazil, the project received the help of researchers and 598 volunteers who responded to intervention prompts via an online tool. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mega-impact-gratitude-interventions.html Social Sciences Sat, 08 Aug 2026 07:20:03 EDT news705314828 Many parents have mixed feelings about the unrestricted use of artificial intelligence (AI) for schoolwork. They are concerned about the potential impact on their child's ability to learn but also don't want them to be left behind if other young people are using AI. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-homework-parents-pay-subscriptions.html Social Sciences Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:40:01 EDT news705254582 One-fourth of people who undergo an extraordinary experience report immediate discomfort, but more than half say the experience caused positive long-term effects, according to a study published Aug. 5, 2026, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ronald Fischer of Instituto D'Or de Pesquisa e Ensino in São Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-humans-extraordinary-positive-term-effects.html Social Sciences Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:00:07 EDT news705073501 Disarticulated bones found scattered across a luxurious Roman villa on England's Isle of Wight may be evidence of a massacre carried out during a brutal political purge in the fourth century, a new study in Britannia suggests. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-roman-bones-potential-fourth-century.html Archaeology Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:00:07 EDT news705146605 Narcissism is associated with selfishness and other negative traits like a grandiose sense of self-importance, a constant need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. So it may not be surprising that narcissists tend to have a hard time with behaviors associated with better mental health and healthy relationships, like forgiveness. But a new study, published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, explores how people with a particular type of narcissism automatically respond to interpersonal offenses by measuring their tendencies to seek revenge, avoid the person who offended them or act in a benevolent manner. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-women-narcissistic-tendencies-struggle.html Social Sciences Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:40:06 EDT news705060038 Students who open a personal social media account earlier in adolescence appear to perform worse on later standardized tests, according to a study in Nature Human Behaviour based on 5,227 Italian students. The authors speculate that these differences may be attributable to excessive social media engagement and disruptions to students' attention. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-kids-social-media-earlier-worse.html Social Sciences Mon, 03 Aug 2026 14:40:06 EDT news704980981 More than 1,000 years ago, two babies were tucked away in an abandoned Roman toilet channel. Yet, despite what the location suggests, they were cherished, not discarded. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-laid-rest-ancient-infants-twins.html Archaeology Sun, 02 Aug 2026 11:20:01 EDT news704550428 How do students actually use AI learning assistants? A new research paper by IU International University of Applied Sciences provides the first robust answers to this question. For the study "Using AI-based Learning Assistants in Higher Education: A Large-Scale Descriptive Analysis," the research team led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kristina Schaaff, Dr. Valerie Hekkel and Quintus Stierstorfer analyzed anonymized usage data from approximately 77,000 IU online students who were using the Learning Companion Syntea at the time of the study. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-mirrors-student-online-learners.html Education Sun, 02 Aug 2026 10:20:01 EDT news704721316 For archaeologists, the Coëby cemetery in Brittany, France, is a gold mine for research. It contains several prehistoric stone monuments and earth mounds. In a new study of two unusually large mounds, scientists may have stumbled upon a rare style of funerary monument. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-brittany-burial-mounds-human-stones.html Archaeology Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:00:03 EDT news704706200 The ancient Egyptian god of the moon had two very different faces: a crescent-beaked white bird and a silver-coated baboon. Now, researchers think they may have found the common thread connecting them all. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-moonlight-fur-feathers-egyptian-god.html Archaeology Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:00:01 EDT news704365393 Just 34% of people arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during President Donald Trump's second term have a criminal conviction, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That's a near-historic low, the authors note. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-people-ice-criminal-conviction-reveals.html Political science Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:40:03 EDT news704711881 Ancient Rome's greatest threat to food security wasn't the weather but the challenge of getting grain to the capital, according to a new study. By comparing hundreds of years of historical records with reconstructions of past climate, researchers found that periods of unusual heat, cold, drought or heavy rainfall rarely lined up with reported food shortages. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancient-rome-food-shortages-logistics.html Archaeology Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:20:03 EDT news704705829