Social Issues News

June 1, 2024

Top Headlines

Rapid Urbanization in Africa Transforms Local Food Systems and Threatens Biodiversity

May 30, 2024 — Urbanization in Africa is accelerating quickly, showing no signs of slowing down. An international team of researchers addresses critical gaps in our understanding of how this urbanization affects ...

Social Networks Can Influence Perception of Climate-Change Risk

May 22, 2024 — Short but severe episodes of flooding from hurricanes in Texas and Florida triggered a nationwide increase in flood insurance sign-ups depending on how socially connected a county was to the flooded ...

Ukraine War Caused Migrating Eagles to Deviate from Their Usual Flight Plan, Study Finds

May 20, 2024 — When migrating through Ukraine in 2022, Greater Spotted Eagles were exposed to multiple conflict events that altered their migratory course, according to a new ...

Mixed Public Opinion on Polygenic Embryo Screening for IVF

May 14, 2024 — Survey reveals nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults support using emerging technology to screen embryos during IVF for risk of developing certain health conditions or traits that arise from more than one gene. Only about one-third of respondents ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:36am EDT

Discrimination May Accelerate Aging

May 9, 2024 — Discrimination may speed up the biological processes of aging, according to a new ...

Companies May Buy Consumer Genetic Information Despite Its Modest Predictive Power

May 2, 2024 — Genetics can be associated with one's behavior and health -- from the willingness to take risks, and how long one stays in school, to chances of ...

Study Reveals How Humanity Could Unite to Address Global Challenges

Apr. 16, 2024 — New research has found that perceptions of globally shared life experiences and globally shared biology can strengthen psychological bonding with humanity at large, which can motivate prosocial ...

Research Examines Tweets During Hurricane María to Analyze Social Media Use During Disasters

Apr. 9, 2024 — Understanding how social media is used during a disaster can help with disaster preparedness and recovery for future ...

Are Lab-Grown Brain Tissues Ethical? There Is No No-Brainer Answer

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers offer insights into the ethical dilemmas and legal complexities surrounding brain organoids, especially those derived from human fetal tissue. Their findings advocate for thorough ...

How Climate Change Will Impact Food Production and Financial Institutions

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new method to predict the financial impacts climate change will have on agriculture, which can help support food security and financial stability for countries ...

Researchers Overestimate Their Own Honesty

Feb. 26, 2024 — The average researcher thinks they are better than their colleagues at following good research practice. They also think that their own research field is better than other research fields at ...

Can Hunger Be Eradicated by 2030?

Feb. 26, 2024 — World hunger is growing at an alarming rate, with prolonged conflicts, climate change, and COVID-19 exacerbating the problem. In 2022, the World Food Programme helped a record 158 million people. On ...

Ag Economists Offer Food for Thought to Improve Baby Formula Supply

Feb. 22, 2024 — Remember the 2022 baby formula crisis? The historic shortage of infant formula that year highlighted the precarious balance between regulation, competition and safety, according to a new study. The ...

Why Do(n't) People Support Being Nudged Towards Healthier Diets?

Feb. 16, 2024 — You may not realize it, but 'nudge' has been used by businesses, policy-makers and governments for years to prod the public into making different choices. Small changes in our environment can 'nudge' ...

Health Risk from Global Warming Predictor of City Climate Action During COVID-19, Study Finds

May 29, 2024 — City officials were more likely to maintain climate action during the pandemic in places with more climate-related health issues affecting ...

Social Programs Save Millions of Lives, Especially in Times of Crisis

Apr. 22, 2024 — Primary health care, conditional cash transfers and social pensions have prevented 1.4 million deaths of all ages in Brazil over the past two decades, according to a new study. If expanded, these ...

Study Finds Increased Anxiety and PTSD Among People Who Remained in Ukraine

Apr. 11, 2024 — Researchers conducted a survey to understand how the mental health of displaced Ukrainians has been affected by the ongoing war. Their findings describe high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder ...

Climate Change Impacts Terrorist Activity

Apr. 4, 2024 — Changing weather patterns induced by climate change are contributing to shifts in the location of terrorist activity, according to new ...

AI Ethics Are Ignoring Children, Say Researchers

Mar. 21, 2024 — Researchers have called for a more considered approach when embedding ethical principles in the development and governance of AI for ...

Psychosocial Stressors Linked to Higher Inflammation in Black Pregnant Women

Mar. 6, 2024 — Living in neighborhoods with more white residents and greater lifetime experiences of racial discrimination are linked to increased systemic inflammation during pregnancy among Black women, according ...

How a City Is Organized Can Create Less-Biased Citizens

Feb. 6, 2024 — A new study presents data and a mathematical model to explain why there is more unconscious, or implicit, racial bias in some cities than others. The study, which brings together the math of cities ...

Women Farmers Quantitatively Linked to Better Community Well-Being

Jan. 17, 2024 — Having more women in agriculture is associated with greater community well-being, according to researchers. Their work suggests that women farmers approach their operations in ways that positively ...

U.S. Renters Are Hit the Hardest When a Hurricane Strikes, New Research Shows

Dec. 14, 2023 — Two new studies based on data from 2009 to 2018 show that renters living along the East and Gulf coasts of the United States face rent increases, higher eviction rates, and a lack of affordable ...

National Policy Aimed at Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gases Also Would Improve Water Quality

Dec. 12, 2023 — A climate policy that raises the price of carbon-intensive products across the entire U.S. economy would yield a side benefit of reducing nitrate groundwater contamination throughout the Mississippi ...

What Makes Sustainable Consumption So Difficult

Nov. 30, 2023 — When it comes to self-discipline, psychological research traditionally focuses on individual responsibility. Some researchers believe this is too short-sighted. Self-discipline doesn't work ...

New Interactive Evidence-Based Mapping Tool Gives Policymakers More Insight Into Highly Concentrated Cannabis Products

Nov. 8, 2023 — After conducting the first scoping review of its kind, researchers have developed an evidence-based interactive mapping tool to assist policymakers as they consider regulating the concentration of ...

AI Can Alert Urban Planners and Policymakers to Cities' Decay

Oct. 27, 2023 — As urbanization advances around the globe, the quality of the urban physical environment will become increasingly critical to human well-being and to sustainable development initiatives. However, ...

A Sustainable Future Is Based on a Learning Society

Oct. 25, 2023 — A holistic transformation is needed for the planet to accommodate people's pursuit of well-being. A new study explores a Theory of Planetary Social Pedagogy as a driver of a transformative ...

Keeping a Human in the Loop: Managing the Ethics of AI in Medicine

Oct. 20, 2023 — Increasingly used in medicine, AI raises both hopes and concerns. An international task force has laid out recommendations to ensure AI medical devices help patients and avoid worsening health ...

Ensuring Fairness of AI in Healthcare Requires Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Oct. 20, 2023 — New perspective argues pursuing fair AI for healthcare requires cross-disciplinary collaboration to translate methods into real-world ...

Experts Warn of Risk of Civil Unrest in UK Due to Food Shortages

Oct. 12, 2023 — Food shortages caused by extreme weather could lead to civil unrest in the UK, according to a new study which has surveyed some of the country’s leading food ...

New Study Offers Improved Strategy for Social Media Communications During Wildfires

Oct. 10, 2023 — New research offers an improved strategy for social media communications during wildfires and contradicting existing crisis communication ...

Discrimination Alters Brain-Gut 'Crosstalk,' Prompting Poor Food Choices and Increased Health Risks

Oct. 2, 2023 — People frequently exposed to racial or ethnic discrimination may be more susceptible to obesity and related health risks in part because of a stress response that changes biological processes and how ...

Parental Incarceration Increases Cardiovascular Risk in Young Adults, Study Suggests

Aug. 30, 2023 — New research suggests parental incarceration elevates cardiovascular risk in early adulthood, potentially contributing to larger health ...