https://phys.org/science-news/ en-us The latest science news on archaeology, fossils, mathematics, and science technology from Phys.org Physical education has traditionally been one of the most eagerly awaited classes of the school day, since it lets students get out of the classroom, move around and interact with their classmates in a different way—conditions that are conducive to learning values such as camaraderie and cooperation. However, the physical exposure and the dynamics of interaction, comparison and competition that the class can entail still make some students uneasy, and, in settings where bullying occurs, turn it into a potentially unsafe space. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-student-responsibility-shown-key-tackling.html Education Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:20:01 EDT news711803296 A majority of Americans blame billionaires for the nation's ever-growing income and wealth divide. But economists Eric Zwick and Owen Zidar say there's a much larger but little-known cadre of very rich folks who may be even more important in closing the gap. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-private-business-fortunes-reveal-overlooked.html Economics & Business Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:00:01 EDT news711794714 What happens when a young student gets a low math score? A parent may say, "Math has never been your strength." A teacher might write "careless" beside a calculation. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-schoolwork-feedback-young-students.html Education Wed, 21 Oct 2026 20:20:08 EDT news711798316 By the time a child reaches the age of 4 or 5, most parents and caregivers have heard about "kindergarten readiness." But what if a 5-year-old still struggles to count to 10, sing the alphabet song or play cooperatively with other children? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-kindergarten-redshirting-retention-shifted-sharply.html Education Wed, 21 Oct 2026 19:20:03 EDT news711799339 An absence of women scientists in U.K. exam board specifications for science could be a factor in the disproportionate number of girls dropping STEM subjects at 16 and contribute to the gender gap in STEM careers, new research from the University of Cambridge has found. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-uk-exam-board-science-specifications.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 19:10:02 EDT news711799201 Whenever I drive amid the mazelike bustle of Tokyo's Shuto Expressway, where approximately 1 million vehicles transit daily, I see billboard advertisements for all manner of businesses: dentists, hotels, car and tire companies, and affordable funerals. Lots and lots of funerals. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-japan-expensive-funerals-declining-birthrates.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 16:40:15 EDT news711797354 Imagine you have a bag you really like. It felt like "the one" when you bought it. Over time, it starts to look worn. There are some scuffs on it. Nothing is actually wrong with the bag, and it still works exactly as it should. Yet, once you notice those imperfections, you start thinking about buying a new one to replace it. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-scuff-bag-dent-suddenly.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 16:20:05 EDT news711797302 What causes adversaries to escalate conflicts into costly, prolonged wars even when neither side wants to fight? And in the fog of war, what might help them break that cycle and find a path to peace? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-fog-war-game-based-boundaries.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 16:00:13 EDT news711805381 Imagine planning a vacation across India's Golden Triangle: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. You could compare dozens of websites, scroll through reviews and ask friends for recommendations. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-vacation.html Economics & Business Wed, 21 Oct 2026 16:00:02 EDT news711797118 Look closely at a face in a painting and you might think you know what emotion the person is experiencing. A smile suggests happiness. A furrowed brow might signal anger. Widened eyes could mean fear or surprise. But what happens when you ask lots of people the same question? Do they see the same emotion, or something more complicated? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-emotion.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:40:16 EDT news711796932 The media habits of teens and young adults reflect transformative changes in modern storytelling and technology, and the entertainment industry and other content creators should pay attention, according to the latest "Teens and Screens" report from the Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) at UCLA. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-annual-teens-screens-reveals-young.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:00:15 EDT news711796516 New research suggests the same personality traits associated with toxic corporate leaders today may have been present at the very birth of global capitalism 400 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-world-corporate-psychopath.html Economics & Business Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:40:06 EDT news711796285 Compulsive use of social media may be associated with a strong desire for reassurance among people who are afraid to rely on others and engage in face-to-face interactions, according to a study published Oct. 21, 2026, in the journal PLOS One by Chris Bjornsen and Allen Harbaugh of Longwood University in the U.S. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-compulsive-social-media-linked-reliance.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:45 EDT news711733321 Researchers led by Carina Hahn at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S., have found that forensic specialists in facial identification need only one or two features, such as eyes or ears, to identify a face when looking for a match. Published in PLOS One, the study found that specialists find ears to be the most useful but are capable of adapting when recognizing that another feature might be more beneficial. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-forensic-specialists-facial-features-individuals.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:28 EDT news711733561 Adults are more objectively creative than preschoolers but are inhibited by anxiety and low self-confidence, according to a study published Oct. 21, 2026, in the journal PLOS One by Janika Saretzki from the University of Graz, Austria, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-preschoolers-creative-adults-theyre-confident.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:25 EDT news711693016 An international team led by Alexander Vorbrugg analyzed (online) media reporting on war-related land changes in Ukraine. The study asked: How is damage to land represented? What knowledge do these representations draw on? How does the war affect the symbolic meaning of land and visions of the future? How are material damage and destruction translated into the media discourse? What ideas of landscape does this create? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ukrainian-media-coverage-lifeline-danger.html Political science Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:40:16 EDT news711795555 A study of 500 Thai retailers has found that businesses with stronger big data analytics capabilities tend to be better at identifying market needs, innovating and executing effective marketing strategies. Moreover, large retailers report higher capability levels than smaller firms, according to research published in the International Journal of Services and Operations Management. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-analysis-links-stronger-thai-retail.html Economics & Business Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:40:01 EDT news711806359 The old saying that one bad apple spoils the barrel suggests that an individual behaving badly can have a negative influence on the entire group. The idea now has some fresh scientific backing. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-people-bad-behavior-quickly.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:30:01 EDT news711806166 More than 1 in 4 Detroiters cannot easily produce up-to-date documentation of their U.S. citizenship that matches their current name, according to a new survey from the University of Michigan's Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, in partnership with Outlier Media. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-additional-id-requirements-voting-disenfranchise.html Political science Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:20:10 EDT news711794898 The trauma of war has long-lasting reverberations, influencing business decisions made decades later, argue Eun Hye Jo and Jenny Jung-Wha Lee, accounting professors at Costello College of Business based at George Mason University Korea. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-childhood-war-loom-large-ceos.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:00:28 EDT news711794894 An international study led by the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF) in Barcelona, the Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona, Harvard University and the University of the Basque Country (EHU) has reconstructed the genetic history of the Iberian Peninsula between the first and eighth centuries A.D. using 243 ancient genomes from 31 archaeological sites. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-suebi-alans-visigoths-erase-deep.html Archaeology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:00:46 EDT news711719289 In the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a research team from Kyushu University, Universitetet i Bergen and the University of Copenhagen reports that it found traces of ancient collagen protein from the common eland (Taurotragus oryx), a species of antelope, on a 60,000-year-old ochre-rich surface in the Kilpdrift Complex, a Middle and Later Stone Age archaeological site located within the coastal cliffs of the De Hoop Nature Reserve in South Africa. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-antelope-collagen-year-ochre-clues.html Archaeology Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:20:15 EDT news711795661 The England-wide study involving 121 bereaved people from 13 ethnic backgrounds found that racism, language barriers and a lack of culturally appropriate support continue to prevent many people from accessing help after the death of someone close to them. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-bereaved-people-ethnically-diverse-communities.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:00:24 EDT news711790104 New research has found parents, guardians and nongamers may struggle to recognize video game loot boxes, their defining features and the digital receipts linked to purchases. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-parents-nongamers-struggle-video-game.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 08:00:02 EDT news711782962 Apps that let businesses sell surplus food at a discount in "surplus bags" have become a popular way to keep edible food out of landfills while giving consumers access to lower-cost meals and groceries. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-surplus-food-apps-competition.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:20:06 EDT news711780077 Whether they are driven by economic necessity or a desire for greater control over their careers, a growing number of workers are turning to online gig-work platforms to supplement their income with freelance projects like coding or website design. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-qa-platform-features-hiring-chances.html Economics & Business Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:00:04 EDT news711778871 Sometimes, while people are interacting with each other, their movements and physiological responses can fall into step. Some past studies have linked synchronized bodily responses to cooperation and being attuned to the emotions of others. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-synchronized-bodily-responses-cooperation.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 06:40:01 EDT news711638284 For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have passed down their traditions and culture through oral storytelling. Now, a Canadian Indigenous community is using a data center to help preserve its heritage. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nation-community-canada-center-heritage.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 04:49:58 EDT news711776966 As part of U.S. welfare reforms in the 1990s to provide adequate financial support to low-income families while avoiding disincentivizing work, policymakers expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This change encouraged people to work more by giving greater benefits with greater earned income, and single mothers faced stronger incentives to enter the workforce than married mothers. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-antipoverty-tax-credit-expansion-unintended.html Social Sciences Wed, 21 Oct 2026 03:10:07 EDT news711689051 With the midterms fast approaching, communicating just the right message has been top of mind on all sides of the political aisle. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-partisan-politics-accents-yall.html Political science Tue, 20 Oct 2026 22:00:06 EDT news711721418