Science & Society News

March 29, 2026

Top Headlines

Most People Get Food’s Environmental Impact Completely Wrong, Study Finds

Mar. 23, 2026 People often get the environmental impact of food wrong, according to new research. While many assume processed foods are the worst, they tend to overlook the surprisingly high impact of items like nuts and underestimate how damaging beef really is. ...

Scientists Discover AI Can Make Humans More Creative

Mar. 15, 2026 Artificial intelligence is often portrayed as a tool that replaces human work, but new research from Swansea University suggests a far more exciting role: creative collaborator. In a large study with more than 800 participants designing virtual ...

The Financial Crisis That Quietly Stunted a Generation

Mar. 15, 2026 When the Asian financial crisis sent rice prices soaring in Indonesia in the late 1990s, the shock didn’t just strain household budgets—it left lasting marks on children’s bodies. Researchers from the University of Bonn found that kids exposed ...

Monty Python Got It Wrong About Medieval Disease

Mar. 13, 2026 In medieval Denmark, people could pay for more prestigious graves closer to the church — a sign of wealth and status. But when researchers examined hundreds of skeletons, they discovered something unexpected: even people with stigmatized diseases ...

Scientists Built the Hardest AI Test Ever and the Results Are Surprising

Mar. 13, 2026 As AI systems began acing traditional tests, researchers realized those benchmarks were no longer tough enough. In response, nearly 1,000 experts created Humanity’s Last Exam, a massive 2,500-question challenge covering highly specialized topics ...

Mar. 4, 2026 A sweeping new study reveals that what’s on your plate may directly shape the pesticides circulating in your body. Researchers found that people who eat more fruits and vegetables known to carry higher pesticide residues—such as strawberries, ...

The Hidden Technology That Could Unlock Commercial Fusion Power

Mar. 3, 2026 Fusion energy may be one of the most promising clean power sources of the future—but only if scientists can precisely measure the extreme, fast-moving plasmas that make it possible. A new U.S. Department of Energy–sponsored report urges major ...

ChatGPT as a Therapist? New Study Reveals Serious Ethical Risks

Mar. 2, 2026 As millions turn to ChatGPT and other AI chatbots for therapy-style advice, new research from Brown University raises a serious red flag: even when instructed to act like trained therapists, these systems routinely break core ethical standards of ...

People Who Switched to Cannabis Drinks Cut Their Alcohol Use Nearly in Half

Feb. 17, 2026 A new University at Buffalo study suggests cannabis-infused beverages could help some people cut back on alcohol. In a survey of cannabis users, those who drank cannabis beverages reported cutting their weekly alcohol intake roughly in half and ...

Ancient DNA Solves 12,000-year-old Mystery of Rare Genetic Growth Disorder

Feb. 17, 2026 An Ice Age double burial in Italy has yielded a stunning genetic revelation. DNA from a mother and daughter who lived over 12,000 years ago shows that the younger had a rare inherited growth disorder, confirmed through mutations in a key bone-growth ...

Giving People Cash Didn’t Cause More Injuries or Deaths

Feb. 16, 2026 As cash transfer programs expand across the United States, critics often warn that giving people money could spark reckless behavior, leading to injuries or even deaths. But a sweeping 11-year analysis of Alaska’s long-running Permanent Fund ...

Large Study Finds No Link Between MRNA COVID Vaccine in Pregnancy and Autism

Feb. 15, 2026 Researchers tracked more than 400 toddlers to see whether mRNA COVID-19 vaccination during or just before pregnancy was linked to autism or developmental delays. After detailed assessments of speech, ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:42am EDT

This Quantum Computing Breakthrough May Not Be What It Seemed

Mar. 29, 2026 A team of physicists set out to test some of the most exciting claims in quantum computing—and found a very different story. Instead of confirming breakthroughs, their careful replication studies ...

This 67,800-Year-Old Handprint Is the Oldest Art Ever Found

Mar. 22, 2026 Researchers have uncovered the world’s oldest known cave art—a 67,800-year-old hand stencil in Indonesia. The unusual, claw-like design hints at early symbolic thinking and possibly spiritual ...

Ancient DNA Reveals a Farming Shift That Pushed a Society to the Brink

Mar. 21, 2026 A new study reveals that farming in Argentina’s Uspallata Valley was adopted by local hunter-gatherers rather than introduced by outside populations. Centuries later, a stressed group of ...

Scientists Discover What Really Happens During Sourdough Fermentation

Mar. 16, 2026 New research shows that sourdough fermentation does more than make bread rise—it transforms wheat fibers in unexpected ways. Scientists found that enzymes already present in wheat, activated by the ...

Archaeologists Uncover Brutal Iron Age Massacre of Women and Children

Mar. 9, 2026 A prehistoric mass grave in Serbia reveals that more than 77 people—mostly women and children—were deliberately killed in a brutal act of violence about 2,800 years ago. Genetic evidence suggests ...

Satellites Are Exposing Weak Bridges in America and Around the World

Mar. 8, 2026 Satellites are giving scientists a powerful new way to watch over the world’s bridges. Using radar imaging, researchers can detect millimeter-scale movements that may signal early structural ...

Scientists Warn Fake Research Is Spreading Faster Than Real Science

Mar. 7, 2026 A sweeping new study from Northwestern University reveals that scientific fraud is no longer just the work of a few rogue researchers—it has evolved into a global, organized enterprise. By ...

Bird Droppings Helped Build One of Ancient Peru’s Most Powerful Kingdoms

Mar. 7, 2026 New research suggests seabird guano helped transform the Chincha Kingdom into one of the most prosperous societies in ancient Peru. Chemical clues in centuries-old maize show farmers fertilized their ...

A 4,000-Year-Old Sheep Reveals the Secret of an Ancient Plague

Mar. 7, 2026 A mysterious form of plague that spread across Eurasia thousands of years before the Black Death has finally revealed a crucial clue. Scientists analyzing ancient DNA discovered the bacterium ...

Tiny Clump of Moss Helped Solve a Shocking Cemetery Crime

Mar. 6, 2026 A tiny piece of moss helped expose a cemetery scandal in Illinois, where workers allegedly dug up graves and resold burial plots. By identifying the moss and analyzing its chlorophyll to estimate its ...

40,000-Year-Old Signs Show Humans Were Recording Information Long Before Writing

Feb. 25, 2026 More than 40,000 years ago, Ice Age humans were carving repeated patterns of dots, lines, and crosses into tools and small ivory figurines. A new computational study of more than 3,000 of these ...

Ancient DNA Solves 5,500 Year Old Burial Mystery in Sweden

Feb. 19, 2026 Ancient DNA from a Stone Age burial site in Sweden shows that families 5,500 years ago were more complex than expected. Many individuals buried together were not immediate family, but second- or ...

Couples Who Savor Happy Moments Together Have Stronger, Longer-Lasting Relationships

Feb. 14, 2026 Couples who intentionally slow down and soak in their happy moments together may be building a powerful shield for their relationship. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that partners ...

Scientists Used Brain Stimulation to Make People More Generous

Feb. 13, 2026 A new study suggests that generosity may be more than a moral lesson—it could be shaped by how different parts of the brain work together. By gently stimulating two brain regions and syncing their ...

Why Some Kids Struggle With Math Even When They Try Hard

Feb. 15, 2026 A new Stanford study suggests math struggles may be about more than numbers. Children who had difficulty with math were less likely to adjust their thinking after making mistakes during number ...

Italy’s Winter Olympics Are Stunning from Space

Feb. 9, 2026 Satellite imagery reveals how the 2026 Winter Olympics are spread across northern Italy, from alpine valleys to historic cities. Events are hosted in mountain resorts, while Milan and Verona frame ...

This Weird Deep-Sea Creature Was Named by Thousands of People Online

Feb. 7, 2026 A newly discovered deep-sea creature has become an unlikely Internet star. After appearing in a popular YouTube video, a rare chiton found nearly three miles beneath the ocean surface sparked a ...

An Invisible Chemical Rain Is Falling Across the Planet

Feb. 6, 2026 A new study reveals that chemicals used to replace ozone-damaging CFCs are now driving a surge in a persistent “forever chemical” worldwide. The pollutant, called trifluoroacetic acid, is falling ...

A Century of Hair Shows How Lead Exposure Collapsed

Feb. 7, 2026 For decades, Americans were surrounded by lead from car exhaust, factories, paint, and even drinking water, often without realizing the damage it caused. By analyzing hair samples preserved across ...

Ancient Tools in China Are Forcing Scientists to Rethink Early Humans

Jan. 31, 2026 Archaeologists in central China have uncovered evidence that early humans were far more inventive than long assumed. Excavations at the Xigou site reveal advanced stone tools, including the earliest ...

Middle Age Is Becoming a Breaking Point in the U.S.

Feb. 1, 2026 Middle age is becoming a tougher chapter for many Americans, especially those born in the 1960s and early 1970s. Compared with earlier generations, they report more loneliness and depression, along ...

A Century-Old Stonehenge Mystery May Finally Be Solved

Jan. 27, 2026 Scientists have found compelling new evidence that humans, not glaciers, brought Stonehenge’s bluestones to the site. Using advanced mineral analysis, researchers searched nearby river sediments ...

A Lost Disease Emerges from 5,500-Year-Old Human Remains

Jan. 26, 2026 A 5,500-year-old skeleton from Colombia has revealed the oldest known genome of the bacterium linked to syphilis and related diseases. The ancient strain doesn’t fit neatly into modern categories, ...

Ancient People Carried a Wild Potato Across the American Southwest

Jan. 25, 2026 Long before farming took hold, ancient Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest were already shaping the future of a wild potato. New evidence shows that this small, hardy plant was deliberately ...

New Research Shows Emotional Expressions Work Differently in Autism

Jan. 19, 2026 Researchers found that autistic and non-autistic people move their faces differently when expressing emotions like anger, happiness, and sadness. Autistic participants tended to rely on different ...

2700-Year-Old Teeth Reveal the Hidden Lives of Iron Age Italians

Mar. 4, 2026 Iron Age teeth from southern Italy have become time capsules, preserving intimate details of childhood and diet. Growth lines in the enamel reveal moments of early-life stress, while hardened plaque ...

The Breakthrough That Makes Robot Faces Feel Less Creepy

Jan. 16, 2026 Humans pay enormous attention to lips during conversation, and robots have struggled badly to keep up. A new robot developed at Columbia Engineering learned realistic lip movements by watching its ...

60,000 Years Ago Humans Were Already Using Poisoned Arrows

Feb. 12, 2026 Sixty thousand years ago, humans in southern Africa were already mastering nature’s chemistry. Scientists have discovered chemical traces of poison from the deadly gifbol plant on ancient quartz ...

War Has Pushed Gaza’s Children to the Brink – “like the Living Dead”

Jan. 11, 2026 A new study warns that war in Gaza has pushed children to the edge, leaving many too hungry, weak, or traumatized to learn. Education has nearly collapsed, with years of schooling lost to conflict, ...

What You Eat Could Decide the Planet’s Future

Dec. 24, 2025 What we put on our plates may matter more for the climate than we realize. Researchers found that most people, especially in wealthy countries, are exceeding a “food emissions budget” needed to ...