The world according to Itskov: Futurists convene at GF2045 (Part 1)
As many Phys.org readers undoubtedly know, Einstein famously said that imagination is more important than knowledge – but there's more to it.
Social Sciences news
What is the best way to measure a researcher's scientific impact?
(Phys.org) —From a qualitative perspective, it's relatively easy to define a good researcher as one who publishes many good papers. But quantitatively measuring these papers is more complicated, since they can be measured ...
The enemy of my friend: Altruistic punishment in humans called into question
(Phys.org) —That Homo sapiens exhibits both cooperative and competitive behavior is a topic that continues to be the subject of ongoing discussion. In terms of cooperation, altruism (a selfless type of prosocial behavior ...
Cooperation vs. Competition: Greed is good -- but only a moderate amount
(PhysOrg.com) -- Relationships between cooperation, competition, and society have long been pondered by psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, economists, philosophers, and mathematicians. While (as might be expected) ...
Why Things Become Unpopular
(PhysOrg.com) -- "Why is everybody suddenly wearing those new sandals and listening to that new band? It's so trendy!" A recent study has investigated this sentiment in order to understand why some cultural products and styles ...
Work songs can improve team coordination, study finds
Work songs, musical pieces designed to be performed or sung while working, have been widely documented across various cultures and in different historical periods. For instance, people in different nations have been known ...
In mafias, marriages are strategic tools, analysis suggests
A new analysis of inter-family marriages in the mafia-type organized crime group 'Ndrangheta, suggests that matrimonial ties between non-powerful families may play a previously under-appreciated role in maintaining the resilience ...
Social Sciences
May 6, 2026
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Human language shows deep safety bias, challenging 70-year scientific consensus
Researchers at the University of Vermont have uncovered a powerful new insight about how language works—one that overturns a cornerstone assumption in psychology, linguistics, and artificial intelligence that has stood for ...
Other
May 6, 2026
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A tale as old as time: Young, attractive femme fatale lore appears in nearly every culture
From James Bond movies to water spirits in mythology, the tales of attractive, dangerous female forms that distract the hero from his path or lure men to their deaths have been around for quite some time. A recent study revisits ...
Babies may share adults' sense of beauty, and it appears to sharpen with age
Humans tend to be captured by things around them that they perceive as pleasurable and aesthetically pleasing. This "sense of beauty" has been widely studied extensively, mostly in experiments that involved adult participants.
