Stimulating the vagus nerve with a device attached to the outer ear can help make compassion meditation training more effective at boosting people’s capacity for self-kindness and mindfulness, finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.

Across North America, grackles are virtuosos of adaptation. The small- to medium-sized New World blackbirds are particularly social and known for foraging skills that help them flourish in environments ranging from rural farms to urban parking lots.

Ukrainian refugees prefer countries with better job opportunities to countries with higher social benefits. This is the finding of a recent study by the ifo Institute and LMU Munich, which surveyed over 3,300 Ukrainian refugees in Europe. “The prospect of a job that matches their qualifications and a higher wage level has a much stronger effect on refugees than social assistance or child benefits,” says Panu Poutvaara, Director of the ifo Center for Migration and Development Economics and professor at LMU’s Faculty of Economics. “We see that wage differences play an almost four times greater role in the choice of destination country of Ukrainian refugees than differences in social benefits.” 

At the One Health Clinic, a nurse practitioner and veterinarian, often accompanied by veterinary students, provide primary care services while UW students volunteer as patient navigators, helping to coordinate care and address shared health needs such as extreme weather, environmental contaminants and zoonotic disease. The clinic also helps clients document their pets as emotional support animals, which enables them to access a wider range of housing and other services.  

A new study from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus finds that older adults become more socially active after moving into long-term care communities like nursing homes or assisted living facilities but we might not all benefit equally.

A study led by McGill University researchers challenges the theory that language change over time requires new generations to replace older generations of speakers. Rather, when words change meaning, speakers of all ages participate; while older speakers might take two or three years longer than their younger colleagues to adopt new word usage, in some cases they lead the way in introducing new word meanings into the common vocabulary, the researchers found.