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Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-May-2026 04:15 ET (20-May-2026 08:15 GMT/UTC)

When families can initiate access to interpreters in pediatric intensive care, communication time with medical team doubles, study shows

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Language barriers may be particularly harmful in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), where families encounter challenging, often life-changing medical decisions. In many hospitals, a member of the healthcare team, and not the family, decides when to use interpretation services. In the first study to investigate the impact of providing families with direct access to interpreter technology, researchers from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago found that communication time with the medical team doubled among families who speak a language other than English. Results were published in the journal Hospital Pediatrics.

Journal: Hospital Pediatrics

Biochar reshapes ant societies, revealing hidden ecological trade-offs in soil restoration

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study shows that biochar, widely promoted as a climate-smart soil amendment, can significantly reshape the social lives of ants, with cascading effects on ecosystem functioning. The findings highlight both the promise and the risks of using biochar in large-scale land restoration.

Journal: Biochar

“Better design instead of blanket bans”

Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

US courts have ruled against platform providers for failing to protect children, and the debate over age restrictions for social media has gained momentum. An international group of experts from academia, children’s rights organizations and non-profit institutions is convinced that bans would be the wrong approach. In the journal Science they advocate for new strategies for the digital safety of children and youths aged 13 and older. Prof. Sandra Cortesi and Prof. Urs Gasser from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) explain when artificial intelligence could intervene on smartphones, what role peer groups can play and why children should be involved in shaping their digital education.

Journal: Science
Funder: Apple Inc.

Reduce infrastructure costs of EV adoption by upgrading grid first, then adding V2G chargers

University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Vehicle-to-grid chargers, which enable grid operators to use plugged-in electric vehicles as a battery network, could help utilities distribute electricity more efficiently. But even with advanced chargers, existing infrastructure cannot supply enough electricity to growing numbers of EVs, computer models from an international team of researchers suggest.

Journal: Joule

AGS honors Dr. Thomas Cudjoe with Arti Hurria Memorial Award for research on the health effects of social isolation among older adults

American Geriatrics Society
Grant and Award Announcement

Today, @AmerGeriatrics awards Dr. Thomas Cudjoe, MD, MPH, MA, the Arti Hurria Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in Internal Medicine focused on #Geriatrics #AGS26 https://bit.ly/3PMtqV1

JMIR Publications highlights "moltbook" risks: The dangers of AI-to-AI interactions in health care

JMIR Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publication

JMIR Publications today announced the release of a timely new article in its News and Perspectives section, examining the emerging risks of autonomous AI systems interacting within clinical environments.

Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Conclusions often diverge when hundreds of researchers reanalyze the same data

Goethe University Frankfurt
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A large-scale, multi-analyst study on the objectivity of statistical analyses has now been published. Jan Landwehr, Professor of Marketing at Goethe University Frankfurt, says the findings highlight the critical role of collaboration and exchange across d

Journal: Nature

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