Social hierarchies are everywhere—think of high school dramas, where the athletes are portrayed as most popular, or large companies, where the CEO makes the important decisions. Such hierarchies aren’t just limited to humans, but span the animal kingdom, with dominant individuals getting faster food access, higher mating priority, and bigger or better territories. Whilst it’s long been thought that winning or losing can influence the position of an individual within a social hierarchy, the brain mechanisms behind these social dynamics have remained a mystery. In iScience, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) investigate the neurological basis of social hierarchy in male mice, pinpointing the neurons they believe crucial in determining these social hierarchy dynamics.

A review reveals that the interplay between technology, identity, and languages involves and encourages multiple identities, language mixing, and support for minority languages

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati found that drivers were far more likely to honk after being cut off by a vehicle bearing a political bumper sticker, particularly one for the opposing political party.

A new report led by researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center underscores the growing potential of precision medicine to transform how obesity is prevented, diagnosed and treated, while also illuminating key gaps and challenges that must be addressed.

Published in September in Obesity, the paper, “Precision Prevention, Diagnostics and Treatment of Obesity,” synthesizes the proceedings of a recent Pennington-Louisiana Nutrition Obesity Research Center, or NORC, scientific workshop that was convened to review current evidence on tailoring obesity interventions to individual biology, environment, behavior and social factors.

How much people trust politicians affects their support for climate policies. The less trust we have in politicians, the less likely we are to accept climate policies that mean paying a price as individuals. And people are especially resistant towards taxes. These are the results of a new survey of over 6,000 respondents in four European countries.