Engineering
05 Sep 2024
Will humans accept robots that can lie? Scientists find it depends on the lie
Scientists find that a lie that protects someone’s feelings is acceptable, but lies which misrepresent a robot’s abilities aren’t.
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1,441 news posts in Research news
Health
04 Sep 2024
When procrastination becomes unhealthy: Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss
At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed.
Life sciences
03 Sep 2024
Large sharks may be hunting each other – and scientists know because of a swallowed tracking tag
A surprise killing of a pregnant porbeagle shark being tracked near Bermuda left researchers trying to solve an oceanic mystery. From the transmitted data, they were shocked to discover that it was likely eaten by an even larger shark, in what is the first recorded case of its kind
Health
30 Aug 2024
Promising antibiotic candidates discovered in microbes deep in the Arctic Sea
Researchers from Finland and Norway developed a new suite of methods for the screening of antivirulence activity of unknown compounds of bacterial origin. The compounds tested had been derived from actinobacteria living inside invertebrates in the Arctic Sea. They found two interesting compounds with strong antivirulence or antibacterial effects against enteropathogenic E. coli. These results demonstrate the potential of prospecting novel habitats for promising new antibacterial drugs, to solve the current global antibiotics crisis.
Social science
28 Aug 2024
AI tools like ChatGPT popular among students who struggle with concentration and attention
Researchers found that students who struggle with skills essential for academic success thought that using AI tools is particularly helpful for schoolwork
Health
23 Aug 2024
Men infected with high-risk types of HPV could struggle with fertility
Researchers from Argentina compared semen quality between men infected with high-risk (HR-HPV) and low-risk (LR-HPV) genotypes of human papillomavirus and HPV negative men. They showed that HR-HPV positive men had higher percentages of dead sperm, a higher level of reactive oxygen species, and a lower count of white blood cells in their semen. These results suggest that HR-HPV positive men, but not LR-HPV positive men, may have lower fertility due to oxidative damage to sperm.
Health
16 Aug 2024
Arts and crafts improves your mental health as much as having a job, scientists find
Scientists find that taking part in creative activities boosts people’s sense that life is worthwhile, their happiness, and their satisfaction with life.
Health
08 Aug 2024
Microbes conquer the next extreme environment: your microwave
Researchers have measured the diversity of microbes inside microwaves for the first time. They showed that microwaves harbor a specialized community of locally adapted microbial genera, which resembles that reported on kitchen surfaces and in another extreme, highly irradiated habitat: on solar panels. This finding has potential biotechnological applications, in processes that require microbes resistant to thermal shock, radiation, and desiccation.
Life sciences
07 Aug 2024
Sea lion camera crews help researchers explore previously unmapped ocean habitats
Scientists equipped Australian sea lions with cameras and used the video data to identify unknown ocean habitats in southern Australia
Environment
05 Aug 2024
Streetlights running all night makes leaves so tough that insects can’t eat them, threatening the food chain
Scientists find that trees on streets exposed to artificial light at night have tougher leaves and are less likely to be eaten by insects, potentially damaging urban biodiversity
Life sciences
02 Aug 2024
'Screaming Woman' mummy may have died in agony 3,500 years ago
Researchers from Egypt used state-of-the-art techniques to ‘virtually dissect’ a female mummy from the New Kingdom, named the ‘Screaming Woman’ for her remarkable expression. They showed that she had been embalmed with costly imported frankincense and juniper. There was no obvious cause of death, but the mummy’s wide open mouth may be due to cadaveric spasm, which is typically associated with dying in considerable pain and under strong emotions.
Environment
30 Jul 2024
Three-step plan to cut overlooked methane emissions could help us stop global warming faster
Methane, the second most potent greenhouse gas, has been neglected—but now scientists lay out a new plan and a new tool to cut emissions down to size.
Health
26 Jul 2024
Conflicting health advice from agencies drives confusion, study finds, but doctors remain most trusted
Researchers from the US analyzed replies to the Health Information National Trends Survey and found that doctors are more trusted than scientists and especially government health agencies. The results revealed that perceived uncertainty in health recommendations, inherent in the scientific process, tends to confuse the public and undermine its trust in experts apart from doctors. This implies that doctors are best placed to communicate changes in recommendations, to ensure better health and restore trust in agencies.
Health
25 Jul 2024
Pesticides potentially as bad as smoking for increased risk in certain cancers
Researchers assessed the impact of commonly used agricultural pesticides on cancer incidence and found that pesticide use is associated with increased cancer risk
Humanities
24 Jul 2024
Cook like a Neanderthal: scientists try to replicate ancient butchering methods to learn how Neanderthals ate birds
A pilot study indicates that fire-roasted birds are easier to process, but only birds butchered raw show cutmarks — evidence that we can use to understand Neanderthal diets.