Top Society & Education News

September 24, 2026

Top Headlines

ADHD and Autism Diagnoses Have Surged. a Massive Study May Help Explain Why

Sep. 24, 2026 A large Danish study found that children diagnosed with ADHD or autism today more closely resemble their peers in the general population than those diagnosed 10 years ago. The shift suggests that rising diagnosis rates may partly reflect broader ...

The End of Humanity? What Would Happen If the Yellowstone Supervolcano Erupted Now

Sep. 22, 2026 A Yellowstone super-eruption would begin not with a sudden surprise, but with weeks of increasingly alarming warning signs such as migrating earthquake swarms, rapid ground uplift, changing geysers, ...

This German Submarine Sank in 1917. It’s Still Leaking TNT

Sep. 14, 2026 A World War I submarine wreck off Denmark is leaking TNT into the surrounding water, seabed, and marine life more than a century after it sank. Scientists warn that thousands of similar wrecks could pose growing environmental risks as they continue ...

NASA-backed Scientists Turn Plastic Waste Into Edible Cookies

Sep. 13, 2026 Scientists have engineered yeast to turn PET plastic and agricultural waste into ingredients for protein-rich, 3D-printed cookies called µBites. Developed partly for NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge, the system can produce proteins, fats, ...

Common Medications May Change Your Gut for Years

Aug. 24, 2026 Common medications may reshape the gut microbiome long after the last dose is taken. In a study of more than 2,500 people, researchers found lasting microbial changes linked not only to antibiotics, but also to antidepressants, beta-blockers, ...

Screen Time at Ages 1 and 6 May Matter More Than Parents Realize

Aug. 24, 2026 More screen time during infancy and around the start of school was linked to poorer academic performance and weaker working memory years later. The findings suggest that early childhood may contain particularly sensitive windows when screen habits ...

Scientists Tracked Kids for 8 Years — The Screen Time Result Was Unexpected

Aug. 17, 2026 An eight-year Finnish study found that children who spent more time on screens tended to show better cognitive processing as teenagers, challenging common assumptions about screen use. Researchers ...

Some Coastal Cities Are Sinking Faster Than the Ocean Is Rising

Aug. 2, 2026 Coastal communities are facing a hidden threat that is making rising seas far more dangerous: the land beneath them is sinking. New research shows that people in densely populated coastal regions experience an average relative sea-level rise of ...

Alien Signals May Be Hiding Where We Rarely Listen

July 30, 2026 Astronomers may have been listening for alien civilizations in only a small slice of the radio spectrum while overlooking a largely unexplored range of higher frequencies. Using archived data from the ALMA telescope in Chile, researchers conducted ...

Inside the Backrooms: The Internet’s Creepiest Place Is Becoming a Tourist Attraction

July 26, 2026 The Backrooms began as a single eerie image of empty yellow rooms, but internet users transformed it into a vast fictional world that feels disturbingly real. Through videos, games, maps, survival ...

Sweden’s Hidden Rare Earth Deposits Could Help Break China’s Grip

July 24, 2026 Sweden could become an important source of rare earth elements needed for magnets and green technologies. Instead of extracting one target metal, researchers are cataloging everything contained in Swedish mineral deposits. They will then develop ...

New Research Reveals the Hidden Pollution Left Behind by Fireworks

July 3, 2026 Scientists have uncovered new evidence that fireworks can pollute both the air and water in ways that extend beyond the visible smoke. The findings show that leftover debris, fine particles, and airborne chemicals may affect ecosystems and increase ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:54pm EDT

Why Viking Museums Still Can’t Escape the Warrior Myth

Sep. 23, 2026 Scandinavian museums are trying to move beyond the familiar image of Vikings as sword-wielding male warriors, highlighting women, farmers, traders, and a far more complicated society. But the ...

Stonehenge’s 6-Ton Altar Stone May Have Traveled from Scotland by Glacier

Sep. 23, 2026 Stonehenge’s six-ton Altar Stone may have been carried from Scotland to Dogger Bank by glaciers before prehistoric people transported it hundreds of kilometers to Salisbury Plain. The possible ...

Scientists May Have Solved a 2,000-Year-Old Dead Sea Scrolls Mystery

Sep. 20, 2026 Researchers may have solved a long-running mystery surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls by proposing that the Qumran sect really did use its distinctive 364-day calendar. Its perfectly ordered 52-week ...

Ancient DNA Reveals How Plague Kept Returning for 400 Years After the Black Death

Sep. 20, 2026 Ancient DNA reveals that plague repeatedly returned to Europe for more than 400 years after the Black Death, evolving into new lineages and spreading ...

This Australian Cave Hid 25,000 Years of Ritual Secrets

Sep. 15, 2026 Microscopic plant remains are revealing how GunaiKurnai ancestors used Cloggs Cave for ritual practices over thousands of years. People deliberately gathered whole grasses, carried them into the dark ...

DNA Solves the Mystery of a Body Found in the Arctic in 1859

Sep. 10, 2026 Scientists have used DNA from living descendants to identify four more members of the doomed Franklin expedition, including Harry Peglar, whose identity had remained uncertain for 166 years. The ...

Ancient Teeth Reveal Humans Were Getting High 25,000 Years Ago

Sep. 10, 2026 Ancient human remains from Sulawesi suggest people were habitually using the psychoactive betel nut as far back as 25,000 years ago. Researchers found both unusual tooth wear and traces of arecoline, ...

Devil’s Arrows: Ancient Builders Hauled 55,000-Pound Stones 11 Miles for Britain’s Tallest Stone Row

Sep. 9, 2026 Britain’s towering Devil’s Arrows were built from 25-tonne stones hauled at least 18 kilometers from Brimham Rocks around 4,000 years ago. The ...

Your Personality May Be More Genetic Than Scientists Realized

Sep. 8, 2026 More than 1,200 genetic variants have been linked to the Big Five personality traits, and many of the same variants are also associated with health, longevity, careers, income, and everyday habits. ...

Scientists Say Love Follows Hidden Mathematical Rules

Sep. 7, 2026 Could math help explain why some relationships survive life’s inevitable stresses while others slowly fall apart? Researchers have spent decades developing mathematical models that treat romantic ...

Scientists Say the Human Family Tree May Need a Major Rewrite

Aug. 20, 2026 The human family tree may be due for a major rewrite. Researchers argue that Australopithecus and Paranthropus should be folded into the genus Homo because new fossils have blurred many of the traits ...

16 Mummies and a Dog Reveal a Hidden Order Inside an Ancient Egyptian Tomb

Aug. 19, 2026 A tomb in Egypt’s Theban Necropolis reveals a surprisingly organized story of burial, reuse, and changing beliefs spanning hundreds of years. Researchers found 16 mummified people, the remains of ...

Researchers Followed 400,000 Kids for 20 Years and Found a Lasting Pre-K Advantage

Aug. 28, 2026 A 20-year study of 400,000 students found that children who attended public school pre-K earned better grades and test scores through high school than those in other childcare settings. ...

For 15,000 Years, Humans and Dogs Have Been Changing Each Other

Aug. 10, 2026 Dogs have been shaping—and being shaped by—humans for about 15,000 years, evolving from early partners of hunter-gatherers into an astonishing range of specialized companions. Across the globe, ...

Mathematicians Prove Perfectly Fair Elections Are Impossible

Aug. 2, 2026 Mathematicians have shown that no electoral system can perfectly balance local representation, proportional national results, and a fixed-size parliament once enough parties compete. A newly proposed ...

Three Forgotten Kings Could Rewrite the History of Ancient Assyria

Aug. 25, 2026 Three forgotten Assyrian kings may have been hiding in plain sight for more than 2,700 years. By piecing together clues from tablets, inscriptions, and an ancient statue, researchers argue that these ...

Money Problems May Age Your Brain Faster

Sep. 2, 2026 Persistent financial hardship in early and middle adulthood was linked to poorer thinking skills by the 50s and more signs of brain aging later in life. Researchers say years of chronic stress and ...

Scientists Put the “recycling Is a Distraction” Claim to the Test

July 25, 2026 Recycling, greener diets, and other personal climate choices do not seem to distract people from supporting major environmental reforms. A four-year study of nearly 2,800 Australians found that these ...

Archaeologists Discover Mysterious 400-Year-Old Indigenous Pot in Florida

Aug. 21, 2026 A tiny, fully intact Indigenous pot buried for roughly 400 years has left archaeologists wondering why such a usable object was deliberately abandoned. Found at a historic Potano-Timucua village in ...

The Billion-Dollar Problem Keeping Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound from Patients

July 24, 2026 Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar drugs may deliver excellent health value, but covering them for millions of eligible patients could overwhelm insurance budgets. Researchers say better long-term support ...

Ancient Egyptian Princesses Were Buried With Weapons. Their Bones Reveal Why

Aug. 30, 2026 Weapons buried with ancient Egyptian princesses may have been more than ceremonial decorations. Researchers studying royal mummies from Dahshur found bone changes consistent with years of archery and ...

DNA on the Shroud of Turin Reveals Centuries of Hidden History

Aug. 4, 2026 DNA traces in the Shroud of Turin reveal a remarkable mixture of human lineages, microbes, plants, animals, and coral accumulated through centuries of handling and travel. The findings do not prove ...

Earth’s Waters Are Quietly Running out of Oxygen, Scientists Warn

July 20, 2026 Oxygen is disappearing from oceans, lakes, rivers, and coastal waters at an alarming rate, threatening aquatic life and weakening the natural processes that help regulate Earth’s climate. ...

Alan Turing's Biggest AI Assumption May Have Been Wrong

July 13, 2026 A new book claims AI has been built on a flawed assumption dating back to Alan Turing's famous 1950 paper. Peter J. Denning argues that the most important parts of human intelligence, including ...

NASA's Hubble Spots a Stellar Sparkler for the Fourth of July

July 5, 2026 NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a spectacular red, white, and blue view of one of the Milky Way's oldest star clusters to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary. Hidden ...

NASA's Hubble Captures a Crimson Stellar Nursery Sparkling With Blue and White Stars

July 5, 2026 Hubble has captured a spectacular view of LH 95, where about 2,500 young stars are still on their journey to becoming full-fledged stars. Scientists discovered these growing stars can keep pulling in ...

NASA's Hubble Captures a Star-Spangled Sea of 500,000 Stars

July 4, 2026 Celebrating the United States' 250th anniversary, NASA released a stunning Hubble portrait of Messier 3, an ancient globular cluster with more than 500,000 stars. The remarkable cluster is ...

Nearly Half of Kidney Transplant Patients Never Even Get Started

July 1, 2026 A massive national study found that nearly half of Americans with kidney failure who are referred for a transplant never even begin the evaluation process, and only 19% make it onto the transplant ...

Ancient DNA Reveals Plague Was Already Killing Humans 5,500 Years Ago

June 18, 2026 Plague was already a deadly killer 5,500 years ago, long before cities, farming, or the rat-infested conditions usually linked to historic outbreaks. By analyzing ancient DNA from hunter-gatherer ...

SpaceX Wants to Build AI Data Centers in Space. Will It Work?

June 18, 2026 The race to build data centers in space is gaining momentum as AI drives unprecedented demand for computing power. Orbital facilities could tap into abundant solar energy and avoid many of the ...