Viewing "thinspiration" content on TikTok increases self-objectification and worsens mood, while viewing body-positive content also increases self-objectification but is linked to a more positive mood, according to a new study published in PLOS One by Samantha Jones of Western University, Canada, and colleagues.
More than 3,000 scientific article titles across disciplines have made use of Beatles song titles and lyrics, according to a study published in PLOS One by Gabriel Budel of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and colleagues. This analysis is an unprecedentedly large-scale, cross-disciplinary account of how the Beatles have left their mark on scientific writing.
Analysis of fossilized remains from dinosaurs known as troodontids reveals how one species' hip and leg bones may have developed over its lifespan, from embryo to adult—with potential implications for resolving longstanding taxonomic challenges. David Varricchio of Montana State University, U.S., and Heath Caldwell of North Carolina State University, U.S., present their findings in the journal PLOS One on Sept. 9, 2026.
Researchers at the CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College have found that Asian elephants can suppress impulsive behaviors and adjust their actions when circumstances change—a cognitive ability that may help explain the animals' sophisticated problem-solving skills and social behavior.
Until just over a decade ago, ring systems were thought to be exclusive to the giant planets of the solar system, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. However, in 2013, a small body barely 250 kilometers (155 miles) in diameter, located at nearly 17 times the Earth–sun distance, joined this small group. The object is Chariklo, a small body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, around which astronomers discovered two dense rings.
A team of Griffith University archaeologists has uncovered evidence that humans were using mind-altering substances much earlier than previously supposed.
Researchers have captured the moment two DNA molecules zip together, overcoming their identical negative charges to pair up and revealing a mechanism that has puzzled scientists for more than 20 years. Using high-powered atomic force microscopy, scientists at the University of Sheffield and the University of York directly imaged two DNA double helices locking together, marking the first time this fundamental biological process has been visualized.
For thousands of years, human urine has had real value. After our bodies absorb nutrients from our food, they excrete the rest—mainly via urine. An adult produces about 500 liters (132 gallons) a year. This liquid gold is very rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, three nutrients vital for plant growth.
Americans' confidence in Dr. Anthony Fauci as a source of trustworthy public health information declined over the four months from April to August 2026 in a survey conducted after he appeared before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee but declined to answer its questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
The Anthropocene became part of the zeitgeist after Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen launched the idea in 2000. This is the notion that a crescendo of human impacts has recently propelled Earth out of the relatively stable climatic conditions of the Holocene epoch, during which human civilization developed and flourished, to produce a new kind of planet.
