A research and scientific dissemination project by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), carried out with the support of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) and in collaboration with the Leganés City Council, uses surveys conducted by high school students, interviews with experts, and historical documentation to analyze how the municipality transitioned from being an agricultural and neighborhood-oriented environment to a city dominated by large commercial areas and housing. Furthermore, the report reveals a loss of youth leisure spaces and local retail networks, which have been replaced in recent decades by supermarkets and real estate developments.

Researchers characterized the oral microbiomes of the Japanese population across time by analyzing the DNA preserved in dental calculus of human skeletal remains. The researchers compared microbial composition in dental calculus primarily from Edo-period individuals with that of modern dental calculus, and identified differences associated with time period, region, and the phylogeny of several oral bacterial species. The findings show that dental calculus can provide new avenues for examining human history and the relationships between humans and microorganisms.

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary amid deep political division, a major new bipartisan report from the State of the Nation Project asks a fundamental question: How are we really doing as a country? The first-of-its-kind State of the States report analyzes more than three decades of data and 4,000 indicators across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., ranking states on 31 measures of well-being, trust, education, health, inequality, the economy and more. The findings point to an increasingly unhappy nation: Despite sharp political divides, red and blue states are facing many of the same struggles, including worsening mental health, declining trust, rising social isolation and falling life satisfaction. No state is improving on eight key measures, including life satisfaction, adult and youth depression, fatal overdoses, trust in the federal government, income inequality, long-term unemployment and hourly earnings growth.

The June 2026 National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) report reveals a large increase in job seeking among people with disabilities, signaling that more individuals are entering the labor force as economic pressure intensifies

The IAA SETI Committee announced today updated rules for evaluating and revealing the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence.

The revised Declaration of Principles marks the first major update to the protocols in more than 15 years and reflects a media landscape transformed by social media, artificial intelligence and the 24-hour news cycle.

“The release of these updated rules and protocols marks an important step in acknowledging both the radically different media landscape that science functions within today, and the vastly expanded efforts in terms of technology and resources being deployed in the search for intelligent life beyond Earth” said Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute and IAA SETI Committee member. 

Researchers, including a faculty member from Penn State Smeal College of Business, examined how AI use affects worker well-being, job satisfaction and psychological connection to work. The research, published in Scientific Reports, observed how copy-and-pasting responses to writing prompts can make people doubt their skills and find their work meaningless.