Human Quirks: Living Well

June 25, 2025

Top Headlines

Vitamin C Flips Your Skin’s “youth Genes,” Reversing Age-Related Thinning

June 25, 2025 — Japanese researchers have found that vitamin C can thicken skin by switching on genes that boost skin cell growth, helping reverse age-related thinning. It works by reactivating DNA through a process ...

The Pleasure Prescription: Why More Sex Means Less Menopause Pain

June 25, 2025 — Keeping sex on the schedule may be its own menopause medicine: among 900 women aged 40-79, those active in the last three months reported far less dryness, pain, and irritation, while orgasm and overall satisfaction stayed rock-solid despite dips in ...

1. 7 Million Patients Reveal Stunning Link Between Semaglutide and Lower Dementia Risk

June 25, 2025 — A blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drug might be doing more than controlling blood sugar—it could also be protecting the brain. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University found that people ...

USC's New AI Implant Promises Drug-Free Relief for Chronic Pain

June 23, 2025 — A groundbreaking wireless implant promises real-time, personalized pain relief using AI and ultrasound power no batteries, no wires, and no opioids. Designed by USC and UCLA engineers, it reads brain signals, adapts on the fly, and bends naturally ...

Artificial Intelligence Isn’t Hurting workers—It Might Be Helping

June 23, 2025 — Despite widespread fears, early research suggests AI might actually be improving some aspects of work life. A major new study examining 20 years of worker data in Germany found no signs that AI exposure is hurting job satisfaction or mental health. ...

Zapping Aging Cells: The Fast, Label-Free Test That Could Transform Research

June 21, 2025 — Scientists in Tokyo have developed a groundbreaking, label-free method to identify aging human cells using electric fields. This new technique avoids the downsides of chemical tagging, which can ...

Scientists Create Living Building Material That Captures CO₂ from the Air

June 21, 2025 — Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an astonishing new material: a printable gel that’s alive. Infused with ancient cyanobacteria, this "photosynthetic living material" not only grows but also removes CO₂ from the air, twice over. The ...

Self-Esteem Skyrockets 131% After Weight-Loss Surgery, Study Reveals

June 20, 2025 — Self-esteem scores jumped a remarkable 131% within just one year of bariatric surgery, according to a large study presented at ASMBS 2025. Tracking nearly 5,800 patients, researchers found a direct link between weight loss and rising confidence, ...

Dancing Brainwaves: How Sound Reshapes Your Brain Networks in Real Time

June 2, 2025 — Listening to sound doesn t just trigger brain activity it reshapes your brain s internal networks in real time. Scientists have unveiled a powerful new imaging method, FREQ-NESS, that traces how different sound frequencies ripple through brain ...

Why After 2000 Years We Still Don't Know How Tickling Works

May 27, 2025 — How come you can't tickle yourself? And why can some people handle tickling perfectly fine while others scream their heads off? Neuroscientists argue that we should take tickle research more ...

Scientists Track Down Mutation That Makes Orange Cats Orange

May 15, 2025 — Many an orange cat-affiliated human will vouch for their cat's, let's say, specialness. But now scientists have confirmed that there is, in fact, something unique about ginger-hued domestic felines. In a new study, researchers have discovered the ...

Your Fingers Wrinkle in the Same Pattern Every Time You're in the Water for Too Long

May 12, 2025 — Your fingers wrinkle in the same pattern every time you're in the water for too long, according to new ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:41pm EDT

Half of Today’s Jobs Could vanish—Here’s How Smart Countries Are Future-Proofing Workers

June 22, 2025 — AI is revolutionizing the job landscape, prompting nations worldwide to prepare their workforces for dramatic changes. A University of Georgia study ...

Is AI Truly Creative? Turns out Creativity Is in the Eye of the Beholder

May 12, 2025 — What makes people think an AI system is creative? New research shows that it depends on how much they see of the creative act. The findings have implications for how we research and design creative ...

Amuse, a Songwriting AI-Collaborator to Help Create Music

May 9, 2025 — Researchers have developed AI technology similar to a fellow songwriter who helps create ...

Non-Inherited Genes Affect Children's Development

May 8, 2025 — Parents' genes -- even when not directly inherited by a child -- may play a role in their educational and mental health outcomes, finds a new ...

Is Virtual-Only Couture the New Clothing Craze?

May 7, 2025 — As fast fashion continues to fill wardrobes and landfills at a staggering pace, new research suggests that the future of fashion might lie not in fabric, but in ...

Study Suggests We Don't Just Hear Music, but 'Become It'

May 6, 2025 — Psychologists suggest our brains and bodies don't just understand music, they physically resonate with it. These discoveries, based on findings in neuroscience, music, and psychology, support Neural ...

Gender Characteristics of Service Robots Can Influence Customer Decisions

May 6, 2025 — While service robots with male characteristics can be more persuasive when interacting with some women who have a low sense of decision-making power, 'cute' design features -- such as big eyes and ...

Children as Young as Five Can Navigate a 'Tiny Town'

May 5, 2025 — Neuroscientists are developing methods to map the brain systems that allow us to recognize and get around our ...

Good Karma for Me, Bad Karma for You

May 1, 2025 — Many people around the world believe in karma -- that idea that divine justice will punish people who do bad deeds and reward those who good. But that belief plays out differently for oneself versus ...

Seasonal Changes Affect Alcohol Tolerance and Your Waistline

May 1, 2025 — Researchers have found that drug effectiveness, alcohol tolerance, and carbohydrate metabolism change with the seasons. Their findings are based on a comprehensive seasonal gene expression map, which ...

Evolution of Pugs and Persians Converges on Cuteness

Apr. 28, 2025 — Through intensive breeding, humans have pushed breeds such as pug dogs and Persian cats to evolve with very similar skulls and 'smushed' faces, so they're more similar to each other ...

What Happens in the Brain When Your Mind Blanks

Apr. 24, 2025 — Mind blanking is a common experience with a wide variety of definitions ranging from feeling 'drowsy' to 'a complete absence of conscious awareness.' Neuroscientists and ...

Using ChatGPT, Students Might Pass a Course, but With a Cost

Apr. 22, 2025 — With the assumption that students are going to use artificial intelligence and large language models such as ChatGPT to do their homework, researchers set out to learn how well the free version of ...

A Bowling Revolution: Modeling the Perfect Conditions for a Strike

Apr. 15, 2025 — Researchers share a model that identifies the optimal location for bowling ball placement. Employing a system of six differential equations derived from Euler's equations for a rotating rigid ...

Man's Best Friend May Be Nature's Worst Enemy, Study on Pet Dogs Suggests

Apr. 10, 2025 — New research into the overlooked environmental impact of pet dogs has found far-reaching negative effects on wildlife, ecosystems and ...

The New Season of The Last of Us Has a Spore-Ting Chance at Realism

Apr. 7, 2025 — The Last of Us is back on April 13 and this season is more realistic than ever. The trailer for the hit HBO series appears to show the 'zombie fungus' cordyceps infecting humans by ...

Biodegradable Fake Fingernails Make Manicures More Sustainable

Apr. 2, 2025 — A new kind of press-on nails come in all shapes and colors -- and when you're done with them, you can melt them down and reuse the materials to make your next ...

The Experts That Can Outsmart Optical Illusions

Apr. 1, 2025 — Medical imaging experts are adept at solving common optical illusions, according to new research. The research is the first to show that people can be trained to do better at solving visual ...

Cold Plunges Actually Change Your Cells

Mar. 28, 2025 — Cold water immersion for seven days significantly improves cellular resilience and autophagic function, helping cells manage stress better. This adaptation could enhance health and longevity, ...

First Therapy Chatbot Trial Shows AI Can Provide 'Gold-Standard' Care

Mar. 27, 2025 — Researchers conducted the first clinical trial of an AI-powered therapy chatbot and found that, on average, people with diagnosed mental disorders experienced clinically significant improvements in ...

Feeling the Future: New Wearable Tech Simulates Realistic Touch

Mar. 27, 2025 — Most haptic devices only deliver feedback as simple vibrations. New device applies dynamic forces in any direction to simulate a more realistic sense of touch. Small, lightweight device can enhance ...

Postpartum Female Preference for Cooler Temperatures Linked to Brain Changes

Mar. 25, 2025 — Mothers experience major metabolic adaptations during pregnancy and lactation to support the development and growth of the new life. Although many metabolic changes have been studied, body ...

Geometric Design of Material Provides Safer Bicycle Helmet

Mar. 25, 2025 — By using geometric shapes in the shock-absorbing material, researchers have developed a bicycle helmet that provides better protection against head injuries. The material absorbs shock by contracting ...

VR Study Reveals How Pain and Fear Weaken Sense of Body Ownership

Mar. 21, 2025 — A study found that when people were told to imagine their virtual bodies in pain, their brains resisted the illusion of ownership. Their findings could provide insights into why some people may ...

Feline Therapy: Study Suggests Cats Could Fill an Assistive Niche

Mar. 18, 2025 — For years, therapy dogs have ruled the world of animal-assisted services (AAS), offering stress relief to college students, hospital patients, and those in need of emotional support. But research ...

Scientists Uncover Principles Underlying the Toxicity of 'Selfish' Genes

Mar. 18, 2025 — Lurking within the genomes of nearly all species--including plants, fungi, and even humans--are genes that are passed from generation to generation with no clear benefit to the organism. Called ...

To the Brain, Esperanto and Klingon Appear the Same as English or Mandarin

Mar. 18, 2025 — New research finds the brain's language-processing network also responds to artificial languages such as Esperanto and languages made for TV, such as Klingon on 'Star Trek' and High ...

Foraging Footballers Suggest How We Come Together to Act as One

Mar. 11, 2025 — Originally described in the context of particles drifting through liquid, Levy walk has been found to accurately describe a very wide range of phenomena, from cold atom dynamics to swarming bacteria. ...

My Compliments to the Chef: Researcher Studies Robots in the Kitchen

Mar. 5, 2025 — Walking into your favorite restaurant and seeing a robot chef in the kitchen may seem far-fetched, but new research suggests that bots could be a solution to persistent labor shortages in the ...

Sometimes, When Competitors Collaborate, Everybody Wins

Feb. 27, 2025 — A framework helps rail system operators or other planners identify the best joint infrastructure projects to collaborate on with other firms. Their tool can tell an operator how much to invest, the ...