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. Informing people about political deepfakes through text-based information and interactive games both improve people's ability to spot AI-generated video and audio that falsely depict politicians, according to a study my colleagues and I conducted. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-inoculation-people-political-deepfakes.html Social Sciences Wed, 04 Feb 2026 12:03:38 EST news689428981 Journalism in the United States is in crisis: Local newspapers are shuttering at an alarming rate, large cities that were once served by multiple daily local newspapers now barely sustain one or two major outlets, and the government has made concentrated attacks against public media. A new report from the Roosevelt Institute, co-authored by Victor Pickard, C. Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at the Annenberg School for Communication, traces the roots of these crises and offers an evidence-based roadmap to rebuild public media. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-crises-american-journalism-solutions.html Social Sciences Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:41:19 EST news689427662 The advisor-advisee relationship is central to most doctoral education models. Yet not all students trust their advisors. Danfei Hu, Jonathan E. Cook and colleagues sought to examine the importance of this relationship to success and well-being in graduate school. The authors focused on the first year of graduate school, a time in which Ph.D. students adapt to their role as scholars and in which large numbers of students drop out. The study is published in PNAS Nexus. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-phd-advisor-good-grad-school.html Education Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:48:18 EST news688740481 University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies has published a new white paper, "Rebuilding the Social Contract," by TaMika Fuller, DBA, an affiliate of the Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research (CEITR), and Victoria Lender, DBA; both authors are College alumna. The paper examines how burnout, limited career development, and perceptions of low autonomy can erode trust at work—and what leaders can do to rebuild confidence, commitment and retention in an era shaped by accelerating technology and artificial intelligence. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-white-paper-rebuilding-ai-driven.html Economics & Business Tue, 27 Jan 2026 09:18:07 EST news688727701 A growing distrust of expertise is reshaping the terrain of science in the United States. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-expertise-shouldnt-bad-word-expert.html Economics & Business Thu, 22 Jan 2026 12:50:19 EST news688308602 Every day, we quietly judge the people around us. Did that co-worker split the credit fairly? Did a neighbor return a lost package? Did someone cut in line or respect the rules? https://phys.org/news/2026-01-moral.html Social Sciences Mon, 19 Jan 2026 12:54:18 EST news688049641 McGill engineering researchers have introduced an open-source model that makes it easier for experts and non-experts alike to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. natural gas supply chains and yields more accurate results. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-source-accurately-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html Earth Sciences Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:16:29 EST news687456961 Artificial intelligence programs are not only helping us tackle complex challenges like diagnosing diseases and predicting weather patterns, but also assisting with more mundane matters such as correcting grammar and planning meals. However, when it comes to financial decisions, people are more likely to trust their romantic partner than AI, according to a new study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-romantic-partners-ai-big-financial.html Social Sciences Tue, 06 Jan 2026 12:28:18 EST news686924864 For decades, EU chemical regulation has struggled with slow approvals, high costs, and ecological surprises. From delayed bans on neonicotinoids to the ongoing decline of pollinators, the current framework often reacts too late. Assessments are fragmented, focusing on individual products rather than the bigger picture. Decisions are locked into binary categories: "safe" or "unsafe"—leaving no room for adaptive management. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-europe-bold-based-chemical.html Environment Mon, 05 Jan 2026 17:30:04 EST news686849357 When a crisis strikes, rumors and conspiracy theories often spread faster than emergency officials can respond and issue corrections. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-climate-misinformation-national-threat-canada.html Environment Mon, 22 Dec 2025 10:44:25 EST news685622641 New research from the University of St Andrews has found that increases in women's parliamentary representation within a country are related to enhanced public trust in the national parliament. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-citizens-greater-parliaments-higher-female.html Political science Thu, 18 Dec 2025 18:00:01 EST news685107421 Until recently, Australia's efforts to tackle "forever chemical" pollution focused on highly polluted firefighting and defense sites. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-dont-communities-affected-chemicals-heard.html Environment Thu, 18 Dec 2025 10:29:49 EST news685276142 Businesses that operate in societies with strong social bonds are far less likely to manipulate their financial results, according to new research from the University of Portsmouth, suggesting that "having good friends" may be just as important as formal corporate rules in keeping companies honest. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-plenty-friends-strong-social-companies.html Economics & Business Fri, 12 Dec 2025 09:21:20 EST news684753662 Aside from maybe high school biology classes, the first time many people heard of mRNA was during the pandemic because of the vital role MRNA technology played in COVID-19 vaccines. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-cancer-flu-pandemic-mrna.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 12 Dec 2025 08:40:36 EST news684751201 The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a nationwide conversation in the U.S. about how much people trust scientists and trained medical professionals. But for some communities, distrust has been the norm. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-science-minorities.html Social Sciences Tue, 09 Dec 2025 09:20:04 EST news684494245 The United Nations' climate change body may unintentionally be eroding public trust in science because of the way it communicates risk, new University of Essex research shows. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-science-eroded-climate-language.html Environment Wed, 26 Nov 2025 14:47:23 EST news683390822 New research finds communities across the UK feel left out of the benefits of public sector artificial intelligence—calling for more public participation in AI policy. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-ai-local-communities.html Social Sciences Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:50:01 EST news682778460 Currently, scientists struggle to forecast volcano eruption events, as no universally reliable, real-time eruption forecasting framework is available. Instead, researchers often rely on retrospective analysis to evaluate eruptions. And although much has been learned from doing this, it can sometimes introduce biases, such as data snooping, hindsight reinterpretation, and post-eruption model adjustment. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-axial-seamount-real-eruption.html Earth Sciences Thu, 13 Nov 2025 14:59:22 EST news682268357 Have you ever misinterpreted a colleague's tone on a Teams chat? Or wondered what Mike meant by his face-without-a-mouth emoji in response to your carefully worded idea? https://phys.org/news/2025-11-rethinking-happiness-hybrid-workplace.html Economics & Business Tue, 11 Nov 2025 15:32:04 EST news682097522 New survey evidence from the UK and Japan shows people are open to MPs using AI as a tool, but deeply resistant to handing over democratic decisions to machines. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-politicians-ai-survey-line.html Political science Thu, 06 Nov 2025 01:40:01 EST news681557887 From ChatGPT crafting emails, to AI systems recommending TV shows and even helping diagnose disease, the presence of machine intelligence in everyday life is no longer science fiction. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-ai-brains.html Social Sciences Mon, 03 Nov 2025 13:27:03 EST news681398821 When corporate crises hit, the public looks to the CEO. From product recalls to workplace discrimination, to customer mistreatment scandals, CEOs are often thrust into the spotlight and forced to apologize. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-investors-ceos.html Economics & Business Mon, 03 Nov 2025 11:54:04 EST news681393242 Young children have a lot of trust in scientists, and watching superhero TV shows with villainous researchers has little impact—and only in certain situations, a new study shows. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-kids-high-scientists-tv-depictions.html Social Sciences Fri, 31 Oct 2025 11:30:02 EDT news681127007 As the world grapples with the dynamic tech environment that shapes public perceptions, trust in governance, public and private institutions, and the media has become topical. As these conversations unfold, researchers caution that trust in public institutions and governance mechanisms will continue to deteriorate if regulatory developments fail to keep up. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-falters-weak-digital-misinformation.html Economics & Business Wed, 15 Oct 2025 11:50:05 EDT news679744854 As a researcher of police occupational culture, I was horrified, but not at all surprised by the recent Panorama program in which an undercover reporter exposed sexism, racism and general thuggishness among some Metropolitan Police officers. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-shouldnt-undercover-journalists-expose-policing.html Political science Wed, 08 Oct 2025 12:56:04 EDT news679146961 The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in public administration is increasing worldwide—including in the allocation of social services such as unemployment benefits, housing benefits, and social welfare. However, an international research team from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Toulouse School of Economics has shown that those who depend on such benefits are most skeptical about automated decisions. To gain trust and acceptance for AI-supported systems, the perspectives of those affected must be considered. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-automatically-disadvantaged-benefit-recipients-ai.html Economics & Business Mon, 29 Sep 2025 11:57:06 EDT news678365822 People actively seeking conspiracy content involving anti-establishment sentiment—distrust in institutions like the media or health care—will find it regularly on TikTok and YouTube. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-conspiracy-content-anti-sentiment-tiktok.html Social Sciences Thu, 25 Sep 2025 16:03:03 EDT news678034976 Twenty-one years after Facebook's launch, Australia's top 25 news outlets now have a combined 27.6 million followers on the platform. They rely on Facebook's reach more than ever, posting far more stories there than in the past. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-facebook-reveal-devastating-real-world.html Social Sciences Wed, 24 Sep 2025 10:27:05 EDT news677928422 "Trust in science is collapsing"—that's the alarm we often hear. It's not surprising, then, that recent years have seen major efforts to study the phenomenon and its dynamics in the general population. Far less attention, however, has been paid to the information professionals—journalists—who play a crucial bridging role between the world of scientific research and the public. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-science-journalists-brokers.html Social Sciences Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:03 EDT news677403062 In the criminal justice system, decisions about when and how long to detain people have historically been made by other people, like judges and parole boards. But that process is changing: Decision-makers increasingly include artificial intelligence systems in a variety of tasks, from predicting crime to analyzing DNA to recommending prison sentences. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-courts-safeguard-fairness-ai-age.html Political science Fri, 05 Sep 2025 04:32:05 EDT news676265522