Study: Colon cancer screenings are more effective than previously understood

By reevaluating existing data, researchers find the procedure is even more valuable than consensus had indicated.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News • mit
Dec. 19, 2023 ~6 min

Health misinformation is rampant on social media – here's what it does, why it spreads and what people can do about it

Studies show that health misinformation on social media has led to fewer people getting vaccinated and more lives lost to COVID-19 and other life-threatening diseases.

Monica Wang, Associate Professor of Public Health, Boston University • conversation
Dec. 13, 2023 ~11 min


Rats are more human than you think – and they certainly like being around us

Rats are well known to cause problems for humans. But we need a new approach to our relationship with them.

Tobias Linné, Assistant Professor in Media and Communication Studies, Lund University • conversation
Dec. 4, 2023 ~7 min

How do reasonable people disagree?

A study by philosopher Kevin Dorst explains how political differences can result from a process of “rational polarization.”

Peter Dizikes | MIT News • mit
Nov. 20, 2023 ~6 min

Climate change is altering animal brains and behavior − a neuroscientist explains how

Rapidly changing temperatures and sensory environments are challenging the nervous systems of many species. Animals will be forced to evolve to survive.

Sean O'Donnell, Professor of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science and Biology, Drexel University • conversation
Nov. 13, 2023 ~7 min

How “blue” and “green” appeared in a language that didn’t have words for them

People of a remote Amazonian society who learned Spanish as a second language began to interpret colors in a new way, an MIT study has found.

Anne Trafton | MIT News • mit
Nov. 2, 2023 ~7 min

In online news, do mouse clicks speak louder than words?

Partisan media might deepen political polarization, but we should measure people’s media habits more carefully before drawing conclusions, researchers say.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News • mit
Nov. 2, 2023 ~7 min

Wild animals that survive limb loss are astonishing – and a sign of the havoc humans are wreaking on nature

When wild animals survive the initial trauma, blood loss and infection risk without medical help, it’s astonishing that they can adapt to life with three limbs.

Tara Pirie, Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation, University of Surrey • conversation
Oct. 25, 2023 ~7 min


Practicing mindfulness with an app may improve children’s mental health

New research suggests daily mindfulness training at home helped reduce kids’ stress levels and negative emotions.

Anne Trafton | MIT News • mit
Oct. 11, 2023 ~8 min

How a single neuron’s parallel outputs can coordinate many aspects of behavior

Study finds that in worms, the HSN neuron uses multiple chemicals and connections to orchestrate egg-laying and locomotion over the course of several minutes.

David Orenstein | The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory • mit
Oct. 3, 2023 ~7 min

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