🔬 International doctoral students, crucial to US research and innovation, face significant instability due to restrictive immigration policies, reduced research funding, and an unwelcoming environment.

🌍 Competing nations are actively recruiting top scientific talent and offering funding incentives, creating a global shift in scientific leadership.

📉 Without policy reform, the United States risks losing its long-standing advantage in science and technology to international competitors.

#SciencePolicy #GlobalTalent #Innovation

Women's libido drops during a specific phase of the menstrual cycle. This reduction in desire may serve an evolutionary function by lowering the risk of infection during a time when the body’s immune system is naturally suppressed.

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#WomensLibido #MenstrualCycle #CyclePhase #EvolutionaryBiology #ImmuneSystem

🔬 Research published in Evolution and Human Behavior suggests women experience a decrease in sexual motivation during the implantation window (5-9 days post-ovulation).

🤰 This drop in desire may be an evolutionary adaptation to reduce the risk of infection when the body's immune system is naturally suppressed to prevent rejection of a potential embryo.

📉 The study, involving over 2,500 daily observations from undergraduate women, found significantly lower self-reported sexual desire and a one-third reduction in masturbation frequency during this specific phase compared to other cycle times.

#WomensHealth #MenstrualCycle #Science

Research suggests that "playing the victim" does not signal weakness to voters. Instead, politicians who emphasized their own victimhood during a scandal were often evaluated as more competent than those who did not, making it a highly attractive strategy for shielding against reputational damage.

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#VictimhoodStrategy #VoterPerception #PoliticalCommunication #PublicImage #ReputationManagement

Social anxiety has a “dark side” that looks nothing like shyness - for some adolescents, this condition manifests through aggression and impulsivity rather than avoidance. This “atypical” presentation appears linked to specific narcissistic traits.

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#SocialAnxietyDarkSide #AtypicalPresentation #AdolescentMentalHealth #NarcissisticTraits #Impulsivity

✅ New research published in Personality and Individual Differences reveals that social anxiety in adolescents can manifest as aggression and impulsivity, not just shyness. This "atypical" presentation is linked to specific narcissistic traits.

✅ A study of 298 adolescents (ages 12-17) identified three distinct profiles: a well-adjusted group (46%), a typical social anxiety group with vulnerable narcissism (30%), and an atypical group (25%) with moderate social anxiety but high impulsivity, aggression, and both vulnerable and grandiose narcissism.

✅ Boys were found to be more likely than girls to belong to the aggressive, atypical social anxiety profile, suggesting sex differences in how social fears are expressed.

#SocialAnxiety #AdolescentMentalHealth #Psychology

New research shows that after body’s defenses kill virus behind COVID-19, leftover digested chunks of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can target specific immune cells based on their shape. “Zombie” coronavirus fragments can imitate activity of molecules from body’s own immune system to drive inflammation.

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#ZombieVirusFragments #SpikeProteinFragments #ImmuneInflammation #SARSCoV2Research #COVIDInflammation

🔬 Fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19, created when human immune enzymes break down the spike protein, can punch holes in membranes of immune cells.

🔬 These fragments target and kill specific immune cells, like sentinel and killer cells, which are depleted in severe COVID-19 cases.

🔬 Fragments from the omicron variant showed less activity against these immune cells, potentially explaining why omicron is less dangerous.

#COVID19 #Immunology #Virology

Agricultural waste could lock away carbon for decades if it were instead used in long-lasting building materials, fibrous residues from crops such as wheat, rice and maize, could act as a powerful carbon sink when diverted into construction products

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#agriculturalwaste #carbonstorage #sustainableconstruction #cropfibers #carbonsink

A new study suggests that Canada could offset at least five times its current annual carbon emissions through targeted tree planting along the northern edge of the boreal forest. Establishing forests across 6.4 million hectares in this region could remove approximately 3.9 gigatonnes of CO₂ by 2100.

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#CanadaClimateAction #BorealForest #TreePlanting #CarbonRemoval #ClimateSolutions

How you feel about your partner’s spending habits may affect your relationship: researchers found spouses who see their partners as “savers” tend to be more satisfied with both their marriages and their finances

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#savers #spendinghabits #relationshipsatisfaction #marriagefinances #couplesfinances

💰 Happy Couples See Partners as Savers: A University of Georgia study of over 100 couples found that individuals who view their spouse as a "saver" report higher marital happiness and financial well-being. Perceptions of saving habits are more impactful than actual financial behaviors.

✅ Perception Over Reality: The study highlights that a partner's feeling of their spouse's saving efforts, even if finances are tight, leads to greater satisfaction. Spouses derive contentment from their partner's perceived saving habits rather than solely their own.

👩‍❤️‍👨 Differing Happiness Triggers: While seeing a partner as a saver generally increases happiness, individual drivers vary by sex. Wives feel more satisfied when husbands are perceived as savers, indicating commitment to the future. Husbands' marital satisfaction can increase when wives feel comfortable spending, suggesting financial security provided by the husband.

🗣️ Communication is Key: The research emphasizes that open communication about finances is crucial for healthy relationships. Understanding each other's perspectives on money fosters empathy and better navigation of financial discussions.

#RelationshipGoals #MoneyMindset #FinancialWellness

How young adults recall adverse childhood experiences fluctuates based on the current quality of their relationships, particularly with their parents. Parental support is linked to fewer childhood traumas like abuse and neglect

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#AdverseChildhoodExperiences #RelationshipQuality #ParentalSupport #TraumaRecovery #YouthWellbeing

* 💡 New research from Michigan State University indicates that young adults' recall of adverse childhood experiences can change based on the quality of their current relationships, especially with parents.

* 📊 A study followed nearly 1,000 emerging adults over two months, finding that better parent relationships led to reporting fewer adverse childhood experiences, including emotional and sexual abuse, and neglect.

* 🧠 Researchers, led by William Chopik, suggest memory is dynamic, integrating past experiences with present meaning, and that assessing adverse childhood experiences more than once could improve accuracy.

#MentalHealth #ChildhoodTrauma #Psychology

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Long COVID brain fog far more common in US than India, other nations. Large study in US, Colombia, Nigeria and India finds symptom burden highest in high-income countries. Higher symptom burden in US may reflect lower stigma and greater access to health care, rather than more severe disease.

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LongCovidBrainFogUS LongCovidBrainFogIndia HighIncomeCountries HealthcareAccessStigma StudyFindingsLongCovid

🧠 U.S. long COVID patients report significantly higher rates of brain fog and psychological distress (e.g., depression, anxiety) compared to patients in India and Nigeria, possibly due to lower stigma and better healthcare access rather than more severe disease.

📊 In the study of over 3,100 adults, 86% of non-hospitalized U.S. patients reported brain fog, versus 15% in India. Nearly 75% of non-hospitalized U.S. patients reported depression or anxiety symptoms, compared to fewer than 20% in India and Nigeria.

🌍 This cross-continental study, led by Northwestern Medicine and published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, highlights potential cultural differences in reporting mental health and cognitive issues.

#LongCOVID #HealthNews #GlobalHealth

A longstanding belief in the publishing world suggests that men avoid reading fiction that centers on the lives of women. However, new research indicates that a protagonist’s gender has almost no impact on whether a man wants to continue reading a story.

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#ReadingDiversity #MaleReaders #ProtagonistGender #FictionForAll #PublishersResearch

📚 New Research Challenges Publishing Norms: A study from Cornell University, UCLA, and UC San Diego found that a story's protagonist gender has almost no impact on male readers' desire to continue.

🔬 Experiment Design: Researchers recruited ~3,000 US participants (split evenly between men and women) and had them read two short, gender-neutral stories. They randomly assigned pronoun usage to test reactions to male vs. female protagonists.

📊 Key Findings: Men chose a story with a female protagonist 76% of the time, compared to 75% for a male protagonist. This statistically insignificant difference suggests the long-held industry belief that men avoid female leads is unfounded.

💡 Implications for Publishers: This research suggests publishers may be creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by assuming male readers won't engage with female characters. The study authors encourage offering a more diverse range of stories to all readers.

#Reading #Publishing #Research

73% of adolescents with a record of self-harm or suicidal ideation experienced a high level of adverse childhood experiences in at least one developmental stage, study of 73,833 Australian children finds

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#adolescenthealth #selfharmprevention #adversechildhoodexperiences #mentalhealthaustralia #youthwellbeing

🚨 UNSW study reveals sustained childhood trauma dramatically increases teen suicide/self-harm risk. Children with cumulative adverse experiences throughout early and middle childhood were over 10 times more likely to experience suicidal ideation or self-harm in adolescence.

🚨 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) definition expanded to include police contact, child protection involvement, parental death, poverty, and out-of-home care. Police contact emerged as a strong indicator of later risk, even without criminal conviction.

🚨 Early warning signs for self-harm and suicide risk are often visible across health, welfare, education, child protection, and police systems. A coordinated, whole-of-government approach is crucial for prevention, starting early in life.

#ChildhoodTrauma #SuicidePrevention #MentalHealth