Ethics News

February 2, 2026

Top Headlines

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 with weaker physical strength and declining memory. ...

“Existential Risk” – Why Scientists Are Racing to Define Consciousness

Feb. 1, 2026 Scientists warn that rapid advances in AI and neurotechnology are outpacing our understanding of consciousness, creating serious ethical risks. New research argues that developing scientific tests ...

Nearly All Women in STEM Secretly Feel Like Impostors

Jan. 5, 2026 Nearly all women in STEM graduate programs report feeling like impostors, despite strong evidence of success. This mindset leads many to dismiss their achievements as luck and fear being “found out.” Research links impostorism to worse mental ...

Scientists Turn Carrot Waste Into Protein People Prefer

Dec. 30, 2025 Scientists have discovered a clever way to turn carrot processing leftovers into a nutritious and surprisingly appealing protein. By growing edible fungi on carrot side streams, researchers produced fungal mycelium that can replace traditional ...

Deaths of Despair Were Rising Long Before Opioids

Dec. 20, 2025 Long before opioids flooded communities, something else was quietly changing—and it may have helped set the stage for today’s crisis. A new study finds that as church attendance dropped among middle-aged, less educated white Americans, deaths ...

Global Surge in Ultra-processed Foods Sparks Urgent Health Warning

Nov. 24, 2025 Ultra-processed foods are rapidly becoming a global dietary staple, and new research links them to worsening health outcomes around the world. Scientists say only bold, coordinated policy action can counter corporate influence and shift food systems ...

Scientists Find a Surprising Link Between Lead and Human Evolution

Nov. 16, 2025 Researchers found that ancient hominids—including early humans—were exposed to lead throughout childhood, leaving chemical traces in fossil teeth. Experiments suggest this exposure may have driven genetic changes that strengthened ...

Your ZIP Code Could Reveal Your Risk of Dementia

Oct. 31, 2025 People living in socially and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods may face higher dementia risks, according to new research from Wake Forest University. Scientists found biological signs of Alzheimer’s and vascular brain disease in those from ...

Scientists Launch $14.2 Million Project to Map the Body’s “Hidden Sixth Sense”

Oct. 25, 2025 Inside your body, an intricate communication network constantly monitors breathing, heart rate, digestion, and immune function — a hidden “sixth sense” called interoception. Now, Nobel laureate ...

90% of Science Is Lost. This New AI Just Found It

Oct. 13, 2025 Vast amounts of valuable research data remain unused, trapped in labs or lost to time. Frontiers aims to change that with FAIR² Data Management, a groundbreaking AI-driven system that makes datasets reusable, verifiable, and citable. By uniting ...

Viral Apple Cider Vinegar Weight Loss Study Retracted for Flawed Science

Oct. 1, 2025 BMJ Group has pulled a widely reported apple cider vinegar weight-loss study after experts uncovered major flaws in its data and analysis. Attempts to replicate the results failed, and irregularities raised questions about the trial’s reliability. ...

Why so Many Young Kids with ADHD Are Getting the Wrong Treatment

Sep. 16, 2025 Preschoolers with ADHD are often given medication right after diagnosis, against medical guidelines that recommend starting with behavioral therapy. Limited access to therapy and physician pressures drive early prescribing, despite risks and reduced ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:53pm EST

750-Year-Old Indian Poems Reveal a Landscape Scientists Got Wrong

Feb. 1, 2026 Old Indian poems and folk songs are revealing a surprising truth about the land. Scientists found that descriptions of thorny trees and open grasslands in texts written as far back as the 1200s ...

New DNA Analysis Rewrites the Story of the Beachy Head Woman

Jan. 25, 2026 A Roman-era skeleton discovered in southern England has finally given up her secrets after more than a decade of debate. Known as the Beachy Head Woman, she was once thought to have roots in ...

TikTok’s Gout Advice Is Everywhere and Doctors Say It’s Often Wrong

Jan. 9, 2026 A new study finds that TikTok videos about gout frequently spread confusing or inaccurate advice. Most clips focus on diet changes and supplements, while barely mentioning the long-term treatments ...

Egypt’s Karnak Temple May Have Risen from Water Like a Creation Myth

Jan. 4, 2026 New research shows Karnak Temple was built on a rare island of high ground formed as Nile river channels shifted thousands of years ago. Before that, the area was too flooded for settlement, making ...

Breakthrough Obesity Drugs Are Here but Not for Everyone

Jan. 4, 2026 UK experts are warning that access to new weight-loss drugs could depend more on wealth than medical need. Strict NHS criteria mean only a limited number of patients will receive Mounjaro, while many ...

What If AI Becomes Conscious and We Never Know

Dec. 31, 2025 A philosopher at the University of Cambridge says there’s no reliable way to know whether AI is conscious—and that may remain true for the foreseeable future. According to Dr. Tom McClelland, ...

A Loud Minority Makes the Internet Look Far More Toxic Than It Is

Dec. 17, 2025 People think online platforms are overflowing with toxic and misleading content, but the reality is far calmer. A small group of highly active users creates most of the harm, while the majority ...

Monumental Roman Basin Hidden for 2,000 Years Unearthed Near Rome

Dec. 2, 2025 Archaeologists excavating the ancient Roman city of Gabii have uncovered a massive stone-lined basin that may represent one of Rome’s earliest monumental civic structures. Its central placement ...

A Lost Amazon World Just Reappeared in Bolivia

Nov. 30, 2025 Researchers exploring Bolivia’s Great Tectonic Lakes discovered a landscape transformed over centuries by sophisticated engineering and diverse agricultural traditions. Excavations show how ...

A Backwards Bible Map That Changed the World

Nov. 30, 2025 Five hundred years ago, a Bible accidentally printed with a backwards map of the Holy Land sparked a revolution in how people imagined geography, borders, and even nationhood. Despite the blunder, ...

Medieval Miracles: Dragon-Slaying Saints Once Healed the Land

Feb. 2, 2026 New research reveals a forgotten side of medieval Christianity—one rooted not in cathedrals, but in fields, forests, and farms. Historian Dr. Krisztina Ilko uncovers how the Augustinian order built ...

Scholars Say Most of What We Believe About Vikings Is Wrong

Nov. 23, 2025 Ideas about Vikings and Norse mythology come mostly from much later medieval sources, leaving plenty of room for reinterpretation. Over centuries, writers, politicians, and artists reshaped these ...

Most Americans Don’t Know Alcohol Can Cause Cancer

Nov. 5, 2025 Most U.S. adults don’t realize alcohol raises cancer risk, and drinkers themselves are the least aware. Scientists say targeting these misbeliefs could significantly reduce alcohol-related cancer ...

Why Did Ancient People Build Massive, Mysterious Mounds in Louisiana?

Nov. 24, 2025 Hunter-gatherers at Poverty Point may have built its massive earthworks not under the command of chiefs, but as part of a vast, temporary gathering of egalitarian communities seeking spiritual ...

Scientists Find Mind Trick That Unlocks Lost Memories

Nov. 3, 2025 Researchers found that embodying a digital, childlike version of one’s own face helps unlock vivid childhood memories. This illusion strengthens the connection between bodily self-perception and ...

Why Gen X Women Can’t Stop Eating Ultra-Processed Foods

Sep. 29, 2025 Researchers found that middle-aged adults, especially women, are far more likely to be addicted to ultra-processed foods than older generations. Marketing of diet-focused processed foods in the 1980s ...

The Bold Idea That Spacetime Doesn’t Exist

Nov. 2, 2025 Spacetime isn’t something that exists; it’s a model for describing how events happen. Treating events as objects creates philosophical confusion and fuels misconceptions, such as time-travel ...

How 1 in 4 Older Adults Regain Happiness After Struggling

Oct. 10, 2025 A University of Toronto study found that nearly one in four adults aged 60+ who reported poor well-being were able to regain optimal wellness within three years. The research highlights that physical ...

How Gaslighting Tricks the Brain Into Questioning Reality

Oct. 2, 2025 Gaslighting, often seen as a form of manipulation, has now been reframed by researchers at McGill University and the University of Toronto as a learning process rooted in how our brains handle ...

Scientists Win Ig Nobel Prize for Cracking the Code to Perfect Cacio E Pepe

Sep. 19, 2025 What started as a frustrating kitchen challenge turned into award-winning science: Fabrizio Olmeda and his colleagues scientifically decoded the secret of creamy cacio e pepe and earned the Ig Nobel ...

AI Has No Idea What It’s Doing, but It’s Threatening Us All

Sep. 7, 2025 Artificial intelligence is reshaping law, ethics, and society at a speed that threatens fundamental human dignity. Dr. Maria Randazzo of Charles Darwin University warns that current regulation fails ...

Why Most Whale Sharks in Indonesia Are Scarred by Humans

Aug. 28, 2025 Whale sharks in Indonesia are suffering widespread injuries, with a majority scarred by human activity. Researchers found bagans and boats to be the biggest threats, especially as shark tourism ...

Ancient Tides May Have Sparked Humanity’s First Urban Civilization

Oct. 27, 2025 New research shows that the rise of Sumer was deeply tied to the tidal and sedimentary dynamics of ancient Mesopotamia. Early communities harnessed predictable tides for irrigation, but when deltas ...

Why Listening May Be the Most Powerful Medicine

Aug. 20, 2025 In a health system where speed often replaces empathy, researchers highlight the life-changing power of listening. Beyond simple questions, values-driven listening—marked by presence, curiosity, ...

Scientists Reveal How Just Two Human Decisions Rewired the Great Salt Lake Forever

Aug. 19, 2025 Scientists found that Great Salt Lake’s chemistry and water balance were stable for thousands of years, until human settlement. Irrigation and farming in the 1800s and a railroad causeway in 1959 ...

Global Study Reveals the Surprising Habit Behind Tough Decisions

Aug. 13, 2025 A sweeping international study has revealed that when faced with complex decisions, people across cultures—from bustling megacities to remote Amazon communities—tend to rely on their own judgment ...

Why AI Emails Can Quietly Destroy Trust at Work

Aug. 12, 2025 AI is now a routine part of workplace communication, with most professionals using tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. A study of over 1,000 professionals shows that while AI makes managers’ messages ...

Your Nature Photo Might Be a Scientific Breakthrough in Disguise

Aug. 3, 2025 Every time someone snaps a wildlife photo with iNaturalist, they might be fueling breakthrough science. From rediscovering lost species to helping conservation agencies track biodiversity and ...

Google's Deepfake Hunter Sees What You Can’t—even in Videos Without Faces

July 24, 2025 AI-generated videos are becoming dangerously convincing and UC Riverside researchers have teamed up with Google to fight back. Their new system, UNITE, can detect deepfakes even when faces ...

Scientists Discover the Pancake Secret That Makes Vegan Eggs Irresistible

Aug. 12, 2025 A study finds that people are more open to plant-based eggs when they’re part of familiar foods, like pancakes, rather than served plain. While taste and appearance still favor regular eggs, vegan ...