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Societal collapse
Societal collapse usually refers to the fall or disintegration of human societies often along with their life support systems. Societal collapse broadly includes both quite abrupt societal failures typified by collapses (such as that of the Mayan Civilization), as well as more extended gradual declines of superpowers (like the Roman empire in Western Europe). The general subject arises in anthropology, history, sociology, politics and other fields, and more recently in complex systems science.
What distinguishes the more dramatic failures of human societies, seeming to deserve the term "collapse," from less dramatic long term decline is not widely agreed on. The subject may include any other long term decline of a culture, its civil institutions or other major characteristics of it as a society or a civilization.
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Science & Society News
November 15, 2025
Nov. 11, 2025 Historians have traced myths about the Black Death’s rapid journey across Asia to one 14th-century poem by Ibn al-Wardi. His imaginative maqāma, never meant as fact, became the foundation for centuries of misinformation about how the plague ...
Nov. 10, 2025 New research from UBC Okanagan mathematically demonstrates that the universe cannot be simulated. Using Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, scientists found that reality requires “non-algorithmic understanding,” something no computation can ...
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 ...
Nov. 3, 2025 Scientists have discovered that a “longevity gene” found in people who live beyond 100 can reverse heart aging in models of Progeria, a devastating disease that causes children to age rapidly. By introducing this supercentenarian gene into ...
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 ...
Oct. 30, 2025 From mini-brains to spider-inspired gloves and wolf apple coatings, scientists are turning eerie-sounding experiments into real innovations that could revolutionize health and sustainability. Lab-grown brain organoids may replace animal testing, ...
Oct. 26, 2025 Researchers found that life expectancy growth in wealthy nations has dramatically slowed since 1939. Once driven by major reductions in child mortality, longevity gains are now limited by slower progress in older-age survival. The study suggests no ...
Oct. 26, 2025 Researchers have uncovered microbial evidence in the remains of Napoleon’s soldiers from the 1812 Russian retreat. Genetic analysis revealed pathogens behind paratyphoid and relapsing fever, diseases likely contributing to the army’s massive ...
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 ...
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 ...
Oct. 13, 2025 Overdose deaths from fentanyl mixed with stimulants have skyrocketed among seniors, increasing 9,000% in just eight years. Once thought to affect mainly the young, the opioid epidemic’s fourth wave ...
Oct. 11, 2025 Men’s heavy drinking is fueling a hidden crisis affecting millions of women and children worldwide. The harms, from violence to financial instability, are especially severe where gender inequality is high. Experts warn that alcohol policies must ...
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Nov. 15, 2025 Researchers digitally mapped ancient Chinese tombs and discovered that their distribution mirrors shifts in political stability, population movements, and natural geography. Peaceful, prosperous eras ...
Nov. 14, 2025 Genetic, isotopic, and forensic evidence has conclusively identified the remains of Duke Béla of Macsó and uncovered remarkable details about his life, ancestry, and violent death. The study ...
Nov. 13, 2025 Footprints preserved on ancient dunes show Neanderthals actively navigating, hunting, and living along Portugal’s coastline. Their behavior and diet suggest a far more adaptable and socially ...
Nov. 11, 2025 Researchers have rediscovered a long-lost Babylonian hymn from 1000 BCE, using artificial intelligence to piece together fragments scattered across the world. The hymn glorifies ancient Babylon’s ...
Nov. 10, 2025 In Peru’s mysterious Pisco Valley, thousands of perfectly aligned holes known as Monte Sierpe have long puzzled scientists. New drone mapping and ...
Nov. 7, 2025 An 18th-century mechanical artwork depicting Mount Vesuvius’ eruption has finally erupted — 250 years later. University of Melbourne students reconstructed Sir William Hamilton’s imaginative ...
Nov. 4, 2025 Researchers uncovered a 2.75–2.44 million-year-old site in Kenya showing that early humans maintained stone tool traditions for nearly 300,000 years despite extreme climate swings. The tools, ...
Nov. 4, 2025 After the collapse of the Chalcolithic culture around 3500 BCE, people in Jordan’s Murayghat transformed their way of life, shifting from domestic settlements to ritual landscapes filled with ...
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 ...
Nov. 3, 2025 Okayama scientists have crafted a new wine grape, Muscat Shiragai, merging the wild Shiraga and Muscat of Alexandria. The variety is part of a larger collaboration between academia, industry, and ...