Listening to one-minute-long audio recordings of forests had positive effects on people’s short-term wellbeing, especially when the recordings were from local temperate forests. This is the key finding of an experiment led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). Study participants residing in Germany perceived soundscapes as more awe-inspiring and restorative when recorded in nearby forests than soundscapes that came from the tropics; higher or lower levels of animal diversity only had small effects on short-term wellbeing. The study has been published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.

A new study reveals that converting food waste into biochar could offer a powerful and affordable way to remove greenhouse gases while addressing a growing waste management challenge.

Through a $257,384 two-year grant from the Florida Partnership to End Domestic Violence, faculty from the University of Central Florida’s Violence Against Women research cluster are conducting a statewide domestic violence needs assessment. Their findings will help policymakers and local agencies develop better strategies to fund and support domestic violence prevention programs that empower survivors.

In a new study, Canadian adults aged 65 and older were more likely to have flourishing mental health if they were male, married, and reported having social support, important spiritual beliefs, and excellent health, among other characteristics. Daniyal Rahim of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on April 8, 2026.