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Deep South HIV prevention care has gaps where patients need it most

A recent University of Mississippi study has identified hundreds of counties in the South where HIV prevention and health care may not be keeping pace with the local needs, leaving communities without ...

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Jun 3 • 8:20 PM EDT • Health • medicalxpress.com
Cat Ownership Linked to Increased Risk of Schizophrenia, Study Suggests

There's some kind of pattern.

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Jun 3 • 7:19 PM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com
Why climate scientists have dropped a worst-case scenario

International scientists decided it is no longer useful to study the most extreme model of runaway global warming. So why are some people upset?

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Jun 3 • 1:03 PM EDT • Science • csmonitor.com
Sharks As Climate Scientists?Here’s How They Improve Ocean Forecasts.

A new study shows that data from tagged sharks can improve ocean forecasts by up to 40 percent in some regions, offering a surprising new tool for understanding and predicting climate patterns.

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Jun 3 • 12:17 PM EDT • Science • forbes.com
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Study finds link between neighborhood opportunity and mental health-related hospitalizations in youths

The study, published in the journal Psychiatric Services, is the first to examine relationships between neighborhood opportunity and specific mental health-related diagnoses and hospitalizations at a population level.

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Jun 3 • 12:04 PM EDT • Health • news.vumc.org
Study questions standard screening test for amputation risk in veterans

In a review of the electronic health records of more than 223,000 veterans treated at Veterans Health Administration facilities, the researchers found that even modest decreases in the normal ABI correlated with a higher risk of major adverse limb events (MALE) requiring intervention, including amputation and revascularization (treatment to restore blood flow).

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Jun 3 • 11:53 AM EDT • Health • news.vumc.org
Study found canceled Medicaid pilot program saved in healthcare costs

NORTH CAROLINA — A pilot program designed to use Medicaid funds on non-medical needs — food, housing and transportation needs — was discontinued last year, but a study found it decreased healthcare…

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Jun 3 • 11:52 AM EDT • Health • portcitydaily.com
New study shows uptick in number of young people seeking mental health help from AI
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Jun 3 • 9:57 AM EDT • Health • cnn.com
Artists and Scientists Partner to Bring Atmospheric Data to Life

In the fluxART project, scientists using eddy covariance to study atmospheric flux partnered with artists to help communicate the “breath of the biosphere.”

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Jun 3 • 8:47 AM EDT • Science • eos.org
Popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs linked to lower risks of addiction and overdose

A massive study of more than 600,000 U.S. veterans suggests that popular GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide may do far more than help with diabetes and weight loss—they could also fight addiction itself. Researchers found that people taking these medications were less likely to develop substance use disorders involving alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, opioids, and other drugs, while those already struggling with addiction experienced fewer overdoses, hospitalizations, emergency visits, and drug-related deaths.

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Jun 3 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
SFA business students gain global edge through immersive study abroad tour of Spain and Portugal

NACOGDOCHES, Texas –– Nearly 50 students from Stephen F. Austin State University’s Nelson Rusche College of Business participated in an intensive, faculty-led study abroad program in Spain and Portugal May 10-21.Led by Dr. Matthew Lindsey, chair of the Department of Management and Marketing, and Dr. Mikhail Kouliavtsev, chair of the Department of Economics and Finance, the experiential learning trip bridged classroom business theory with real-world international operations across the Iberian Peninsula.

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Jun 3 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • sfasu.edu
From spider silk to science: a new way to access hidden fungal diversity

A new study from Thailand demonstrates that the debris-heavy webs of orb-weaving spiders can serve as natural, non-destructive tools for collecting and culturing viable environmental fungi. Through the isolation of living organisms, this innovative approach has already uncovered potentially new, undocumented fungal diversity within tropical rice fields.

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Jun 3 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • eurekalert.org
The cult of objectivity has broken consciousness science

With 22 competing theories and no consensus in sight, the science of consciousness is lost. In this exclusive IAI interview, Berkeley psychedelics researcher and bestselling author of a new book on consciousness Michael Pollan insists that even though consciousness lies beyond traditional forms of scientific investigation, we should resist becoming dualists who see it as something radically different from ordinary stuff in the world. Instead, he makes the case for reimagining science itself: it must stop reaching for objective descriptions of physical reality, and instead embrace subjectivity as the indispensable core of all inquiry. Alasdair Craig: How did your experiences with psychedelics get you interested in consciousness?Michael Pollan: One of the things that happens on psychedelics is that they foreground consciousness. What formerly seemed perfectly transparent and ever present—and yet, non-existent, as water is to fish—suddenly you see it. The metaphor I use in the book is that psychedelics sponge the windscreen. Suddenly you realize: wow, there’s a windscreen, there is this phenomenon that’s mediating my relationship to reality. This is not an unusual realization on psychedelics. I think a lot of people are called to think about consciousness after psychedelic experiences. So that was the proximate inspiration for A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness (2026).And then there was a more specific way in which psychedelics influence the book. That was a particular experience I had on psilocybin. I had the sensation that the plants in my garden were conscious and returning my gaze, with their own point of view and agency, and I got curious as to how to evaluate an insight like that. I mean, what’s the truth quotient of insights you have on psychedelics? And I was reading William James—who, of course, wrote beautifully about mystical experience—and he said, we can’t judge the metaphysics here, but we should pay attention to two criteria: (1) How useful is it to think this is true? He was a pragmatist, of course. And (2) can we subject it to other ways of knowing to validate it? Because maybe we should treat these insights as hypotheses. And that’s kind of how I approach psychedelics, as a great generator of hypotheses, but they need to be tested against other ways of knowing. And so that led me down this long path exploring the science of plant intelligence and plant sentience.AC: I love your phrase, “smudging the windowpane of conscious experience.” So do you now start to think, actually, even when I’m not on psychedelics, I’m just seeing a screen all the time, which is not reality, but rather is my conscious experience, behind which reality is hidden?MP: Well, you know, not when I’m brushing my teeth and making breakfast! But yes, in meditation, certainly. I mean, one of the things you realize is that my experience happens to be this way now, but it could be another way. And many things can affect it. My morning coffee changes the screen in various ways, sharpens certain things.___The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness.___There’s this wonderful metaphor in Aldous Huxley’s book, The Doors of Perception, where he thinks we channel consciousness, and that what the brain does is edit it, and there’s a reducing valve. And psychedelics open the reducing valve wider. I don’t know that I’m ready to buy into the idea that consciousness exists outside brains, but I do love that metaphor because there are times when you are more conscious than others. I know I’ve switched from window pane to valve, but you know, a camera aperture can open wider or narrower. And I do have a sense of that. I have a sense of when I’m being less conscious, and when I’m being more conscious, by which I mean, you know, more present, taking in more sensory information. So when you start thinking about consciousness as a matter of degree, that changes things also.I think when we scroll on social media, obviously, we’re conscious. But minimally so, because we don’t have to generate our own thoughts. We’re basically taking these little hits from other people and thinking their thoughts.The process of writing this book made me kind of relativize everyday consciousness as just one type, which is exactly what William James said. Normal consciousness is one type, separated by the flimsiest of screens from the other types.AC: If we stick with the metaphor of the smudge on the window that you get when you take psychedelics, it seems like we’re saying that consciousness has become like an object that you’re looking at, right? You’re looking at the smudge and that just is consciousness. But sometimes we’ll talk about consciousness as a state that you’re in, rather than an object you can perceive. You’re either conscious or you’re not conscious. So it’s difficult to really know what sort of thing we’re talking about when we talk about consciousness, right?MP: Yeah. When you say that consciousness is an object, what’s the subject? Consciousness also? The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness. So we’re in a closed loop and when we get a perspective on consciousness, we’re not achieving any distance from it. That’s one of the problems with studying consciousness. Science is predicated on an objective, God’s eye view of things, and you never get that. There’s no such thing. SUGGESTED VIEWING The brain filters consciousness With Àlex Gómez-Marín But, yeah, there is this sense, I think, that consciousness is something you can approach. Certainly, when you’re writing and trying to recreate a conscious experience, it’s a fiction, but you’re standing back from it, and looking at it. But there’s no real subject-object distinction.AC: That’s so interesting, because when philosophers start talking about consciousness, they often talk about what they call “qualia”, which is their word for the felt experience of, say, the color red. And I think that way of speaking often makes us think of the qualia as an object, which you can see out there: the redness of red. But, as you say, we also want to collapse the subject-object distinction when we talk about consciousness. So there’s something strange going on here…MP: Oh, yeah, there are many strange things going on! *AC: Let’s talk about the varieties of consciousness. Apart from perceptions, there are, pains, emotions, thoughts, and so on. What is it that holds all this diversity together so that they all count as instances of consciousness? What is it that they all have in common?MP: Yeah, that’s a really good question. I mean, there is sensory information, right? Which we perceive coming from the world outside ourselves. And then there’s internal information, which is what’s called interoception. And this is very important too. This is where feelings come from—what are sometimes called homeostatic feelings—that are intended to get the brain to keep us in these narrow ranges of temperature and glucose and so on. That’s a very important part of consciousness. And according to some researchers, who I think are probably right, this is where consciousness begins, with these very primal feelings, like hunger and thirst and warmth and itch, and things like that. And then there’s this third thing, which is our thinking about thinking.And what holds all this together is, I think, the sense of self. Consciousness generates a self: it is probably an organizing principle. All this stuff is happening to the self. It’s a construct, I think, but it is very useful. It can connect all these different streams of consciousness to a single being or a place, metaphorically speaking.* AC: The first half of your book is about the science of consciousness. Is consciousness just another thing, like black holes or the origin of life, which we don’t yet understand, but which we should have every hope that science will one day get to the bottom of, or is there something special about consciousness that makes this unlikely?MP: It depends how you define science. As we define science now, it’s going be very difficult. Science since Galileo has had a set of rules or assumptions, which is that the proper remit of science is to deal with the objective, quantifiable, third-person world. And the physical sciences have done amazing work under that set of limitations. Galileo—for tactical reasons, not for philosophical reasons—said science should not deal with the soul, which at the time was what consciousness was considered to be. So what is subjective, what is qualitative, what is first person, we’re going to leave to the church, he said. And this was a good agreement, and it probably kept many scientists from getting burned at the stake. But it leaves science in an awkward spot, now that it wants to venture into that territory of qualities, of first-person experience. And I don’t think it has the proper tools. I think it will have to add to its toolkit in some way, and find a way to bring in phenomenology, or lived experience and introspection, which science is usually dismissive of.The challenge—we alluded to it earlier—is that the only tool you have to study consciousness with is consciousness. And what I mean by that is, the whole scientific enterprise is a manifestation of consciousness. As much as scientists like to flatter themselves with this idea that they attain a godlike perspective on what they study, when it comes to consciousness, there’s no such thing. And it’s fine for all the things you can step outside of and study from that perspective. But two areas it won’t work are consciousness and cosmology.___It could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.___With cosmology, too, you have to study the universe from inside the universe. It’s not that cosmologists haven’t made progress. We know a lot about the age of the universe and expansion and things like that. But we can’t penetrate what happened before the Big Bang. We just don’t have the tools because we can’t stand outside.The fact that there are 22 full-scale theories of consciousness tells you all you need to know: we’re kind of lost. And I was surprised to find that we are more lost than I thought we were when I started this. I thought that there’d be leading theories, or that we had experiments that we could conduct that would nail some of this down. And the fact is, we don’t.So, I don’t know if science can solve it. But, of course, we can change the rules of science. A really influential book for me was a book called The Blind Spot, by two physicists, Marcello Gleiser and Adam Frank, and a philosopher, Evan Thompson. It’s a reminder that science is a social practice. It’s organized in a certain way and it can be organized in a different way. But it has this huge blind spot at the center of it, which is its failure to recognize that it is a form of consciousness itself, and it doesn’t have a good way of taking account of lived experience.AC: On the one hand, I think you want to resist traditional dualism, which would say that consciousness is something magical, something supernatural, right? But on the other hand, you’re accepting that there is this division in reality between the stuff that you can investigate objectively and measure, and so on—the stuff that science has been good at finding out about—and consciousness, which, for some reason, you can’t objectively measure. Some would take this to suggest that the dualism is actually right. Is there a way of reconciling these two strands of your thinking?MP: To call it magical is full of value judgement. I mean, you could just say immaterial. The interesting thing is, I think, that intuitively we’re all dualists. And I don’t know whether that’s because we’re children of Descartes and other cultures are less dualist than we are. Or it may be because that’s how consciousness feels. It feels different than the body. It feels separate from the body. But I don’t think we should trust that intuition.AC: So let’s think about ways that science might be changed to get at consciousness. I suppose the starting point would be the way that you begin the second half of your book. You have this nice line from William James, where he says, “We now begin our study of the mind from within.” Could you give us some sense of the ways of studying the mind from within? What does this involve?MP: I don’t know what that science looks like. But one of the points I’m making is that it depends on the humanities. I found that I learned as much, if not more, about consciousness, from reading novels and poetry. There is a sense of the fullness and complexity of consciousness that you don’t get in any scientific account. I interviewed this stream-of-consciousness writer and I approached her as an expert on consciousness, and she is. So I think that dialogue is really important.I’m reading Ben Lerner’s new novel, Transcription. Just read the first page of this novel: it’s a man falling asleep on a train, going to conduct an interview, and there is the experience of being in the train, facing backwards, there’s the view outside, but there’s a reflection of himself through which he’s seeing outside. There’s the memory of dropping his kids off at school. All this is going on in one moment of consciousness. Scientists aren’t going anywhere near that. But I think it’s useful for them to think about. That’s where we’re trying to go: like, how does such a layered experience happen? You know, it also makes you wonder, could a computer ever do this? And it gives you some doubt.*AC: Before we get to computers, perhaps we could talk briefly about plants. How did you come to feel that they are sentient?MP: Well, it was a psychedelic experience, and it’s not unusual on psychedelics. In fact, there’ve been studies about how people become animists during psychedelic experience. Their belief in animism arises after a single psychedelic experience.You know, most scientists would say this is all a myth. But we have only 400 years of the age of enlightenment and science. Before that, we were animists, and if you go around the world, most indigenous cultures are still animists, and children are animists, by and large, until they go to school. So it could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.As I said, I wanted to test this idea, and see whether there was conventional scientific evidence for it. And there’s fascinating work going on in a field that calls itself—in a rather cheeky way—plant neurobiology. These are people who fully realize there are no neurons in plants, but they’re trolling conventional botanists! And they’re doing experiments that are demonstrating that plants can learn and remember, which is kind of amazing: how do you store a memory without neurons? They’re finding plants that can solve problems, that can hear and see. In fact, they have 20 senses to our five or six. For example, a bean plant looking for something to twine, and given a pole within eight inches or so of it, knows where that pole is and will aim its spiraling reach at that pole. What is that about? Is it bouncing signals off of it?One of the spookiest things is the fact that the same anesthetics that put us out put plants out. You might think that plants are already out, but they’re not. They’re just slow. If you take a plant with a fast behavior, like a Venus flytrap, and give it an anesthetic, it will stop reacting. So you have to ask yourself, what is lost when the plant is anaesthetized? Some state of alertness, of awareness, of its environment, of reactivity. I’m not prepared to call that consciousness, but maybe it’s sentience—which is a simpler form of consciousness, and involves the ability to sense what’s going on in your environment and assess what’s good and bad for you and act appropriately. That may be a universal quality of life.AC: Let’s turn from plants to AI. You point out that LLMs are trained on the internet rather than direct interactions with reality. You put this really nicely when you say the internet is not the world so much as a shadow cast by the world. So LLMs are living in this kind of shadow world, or in Plato’s cave, as you put it. What’s the significance of this for AI consciousness and moral consideration? And, to recall the beginning of our conversation, if we’re stuck behind a veil or screen of consciousness, are we also stuck in a kind of shadow world?MP: I don’t think they’re the same shadow worlds because our world includes nature and other people. And even if it’s mediated in some ways... There is a reality out there, and we are in relation to it, through consciousness. There’s friction with it. What’s missing from the LLMs is that friction with the real world. There’s more to the world than human representation, which is what they’re dealing with. And that means that so far, AI is a cultural technology for combining thoughts we’ve already had. SUGGESTED VIEWING Cracking the code for thought With Roger Penrose, Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski, Max Tegmark, Güneş Taylor Genuine creativity is more than collage. A lot of what AI does now is tantamount to collage, putting this with that and you know, that’s part of art, certainly. But there are also genuinely new ideas that come into the world that don’t come in through manipulating the representations we already have. So it remains to be seen whether AIs can be truly creative in that more radical sense.But my arguments against AI becoming conscious have to do with the fact that the idea of AI consciousness is based on this faulty metaphor that the brain is a computer. There are dimensions in which the brain is like a computer—it certainly does its share of computation. But computers have this sharp distinction between hardware and software, and brains don’t. In a brain, hardware and software are identical. Every memory is a physical change to the brain. Brains are not interchangeable in the way computers are. So this idea that you could take the consciousness out and somehow run it on another substrate, a silicon substrate, seems foolhardy.Anyway, it’s a more extended argument, and I may be wrong. And when we move to computers that aren’t based on silicon—neuromorphic computers and things like that—all bets may be off.AC: Regarding your point about LLMs being stuck in the world of our representations—the internet or whatever—and not being able to interact with reality, are these representations, the world of the internet, themselves part of reality? We’ve created the internet, but it’s still a real thing that exists. And so while the LLMs may be trapped within that part of reality, they’re nevertheless within reality and interacting with it and so on. So it’s not obvious that there’s a barrier there to them becoming conscious and being creative.MP: Yeah, I mean, if our consciousness is built out of human culture, which is what we’re talking about with all those representations. But I tend to think consciousness comes a bit more out of nature and friction with the natural world, but...AC: So there’s a fundamental divide between the natural world and human artefacts?MP: And we lose track of that, and especially people in this computer world. You know, the people who are creating these AI systems, my guess is they’ve been into video games since the age of three, and they didn’t go outside a lot. And their own contact with nature is somewhat limited. I could be wrong, it’d be a very interesting thing to ask, all the wizards of AI, whether they like to go fishing and hiking and do things like that. Or were they on computers from a very early age? I interviewed Blake Lemoine, the Google engineer who came to believe that LaMDA, the Google LLM out at the time, was conscious and deserved personhood. It was very clear that he didn’t see a distinction between this bubble in which he lived and the real world. And I think we’ve all been distanced from the natural world, and this is taking us even further away. But it’s still there, you know, and we still have bodies, and we’re still mortal, and we don’t live in a simulation.AC: I think that’s a great place to finish. Michael Pollan, thank you very much!

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Jun 3 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • iai.tv
AI search strategies hampered by corporate silos: Semrush study

A new study shines a light on how corporate silos can lead to issues with how brands show up in AI search

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Jun 3 • 7:50 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
A Psychedelics Revival Is Overdue

R. Gordon Wasson was a Manhattan banker who fancied himself a mycologist. In 1955, after decades studying the mushrooms of ancient cultures, he traveled to the remote mountains of southern Mexico to partake of what locals called the “flesh of the gods.” Wasson chronicled the experience in Life magazine — the first widely published account of psychedelic mushrooms since Spanish friars condemned their use in the early 17th century.

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Jun 3 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • bloomberg.com
A science powerhouse bets on genetic therapy to beat brain disorders

After spending two decades studying how the brain works, a huge team of scientists in Seattle is preparing to focus on treating brain diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, using gene therapy.

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Jun 3 • 4:40 AM EDT • Science • iowapublicradio.org
One extra serving of processed meat a day linked to higher cancer risk

Processed meat consumption may be linked to an increased risk of stomach and esophageal cancer, according to a large European study spanning 14 years.

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Jun 2 • 10:43 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
Connection uncovered between liability protections and downsizing decisions—in nursing homes, at least

When nursing homes lose their fear of getting sued for substandard care quality, they tend to make do with fewer caregivers, a new study reveals.

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Jun 2 • 10:11 PM EDT • Health • healthexec.com
'It was very very good': Ötzi the Iceman's body is covered in ancient yeast — and scientists just used it to make a sourdough

A new study cultivated four strains of cold-adapted yeasts that had colonized Ötzi's body shortly after his death 5,300 years ago in the Alps.

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Jun 2 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • livescience.com
Atomic reshuffle leads to record-breaking catalysts for hydrogen production

Researchers have discovered that atoms can be mixed, separated, and recombined within the same experiment, providing a pathway to a record-breaking catalyst for green hydrogen production. In their study, ...

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Jun 2 • 7:10 PM EDT • Technology • phys.org
Texas leads U.S. in children without health insurance, Georgetown University study shows

The report found that nearly 11% of Texas children under the age of 6 lacked health insurance in 2024 — a dramatic increase from 7.9% just two years earlier. Researchers say that jump translates to more than 73,000 additional uninsured children across the state.

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Jun 2 • 4:47 PM EDT • Health • click2houston.com
Gallup Study on Business Ownership Offers Valuable Insights - Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

by Raymond J. Keating – A new study from Gallup study drives home the central points that business ownership comes with tremendous potential benefits, as well as daunting challenges. It also provides insights in other areas, such as small business and artificial intelligence (AI). As noted in the report’s opening: “Business owners describe an increasingly […]

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Jun 2 • 3:30 PM EDT • Business • sbecouncil.org
US CDC Flags Health Risks Linked to Travel-Related Cosmetic Procedures

June 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for ⁠Disease ⁠Control and Prevention said on ⁠Tuesday that many Americans suffered serious complications — including bacterial infections and, in some cases, death — after traveling within the country and ‌abroad for cosmetic procedures. The agency ‌cited a study ...

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Jun 2 • 1:16 PM EDT • Health • usnews.com
Business dining is booming, a new study shows

Spending is outpacing the broader industry as in-office work and business travel bounce back, according to Dinova.

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Jun 2 • 12:38 PM EDT • Business • nrn.com
Global Live Entertainment Market Size/Share Worth USD 859 Billion by 2034 at a 5.4% CAGR: Custom Market Insights (Analysis, Outlook, Leaders, Report, Trends, Forecast, Segmentation, Growth, Growth Rate, Value)

[220+ Pages Latest Report] According to a market research study published by Custom Market Insights, the demand analysis of Global Live Entertainment Market size & share revenue was valued at approximately USD 465.9 Billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 535.4 Billion in 2025 and is expected to reach around USD 859 Billion by 2034, at a CAGR of 5.4% between 2025 and 2034. The key market players listed in the report with their sales, revenues and strategies are GrupEventoplus, Acciona Cultu

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Jun 2 • 10:30 AM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com
Study links childhood trauma and simultaneous substance use to higher rates of depression in college students

Research findings suggest the need for integrated strategies in college health programs.

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Jun 2 • 9:15 AM EDT • Health • stories.tamu.edu
UIndy School of Psychology Faculty, Alumni, and Students Collaborate to Study Emotional Health and TikTok

As the United States continues to face a growing youth mental health crisis, social media use has become a central part of the conversation. From endless doomscrolling to the emotional effects of online content, nearly every aspect of social media is being examined as mental health professionals work to better understand its impact and develop

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Jun 2 • 9:06 AM EDT • Health • news.uindy.edu
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Cancer survivors saw major improvements in sleep and well-being with one weekly practice

A new study found that a structured yoga program helped cancer survivors experience major improvements in sleep, mood, fatigue and overall well-being.

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Jun 2 • 12:06 AM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
One fat helped pancreatic cancer grow while another cut disease in half

A surprising new study suggests that when it comes to pancreatic cancer, the kind of fat you eat may matter more than how much. Researchers found that oleic acid—the main fat in olive oil and several other common foods—sped up tumor growth in mice predisposed to pancreatic cancer, while omega-3-rich fats from fish oil dramatically slowed disease development.

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Jun 1 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Planetary Health Diet May Lower Obesity Risk at Menopause

The planetary health and low-insulinemic diets — rich in plants and whole grains and low in red and processed meats and fried foods — can aid weight management during menopause, a recent study shows.

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Jun 1 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • medscape.com
UC researcher secures $3.3M grant to study microplastics’ impact on heart

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences awarded a $3.3M grant to University of Cincinnati researcher Hong‑Sheng Wang, PhD, to study how microplastics and nanoplastics affect cardiovascular health.

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Jun 1 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • uc.edu
UW Bothell professor was finding sources of dangerous water and soil pollution

Melanie Malone led a research project to identify and study contamination sites in Washington state. Then the EPA canceled her grant.

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Jun 1 • 5:57 PM EDT • Science • seattletimes.com
Is coffee bad for the heart? New research links it to a major risk—and multiple benefits

Drinking a lot of coffee may increase a person's heart attack risk, according to a new meta-analysis. On the other hand, coffee intake was linked to key benefits in the same study.

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Jun 1 • 5:19 PM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com
Everyday task may help detect early dementia signs before diagnosis, study finds

Scientists have discovered that a simple writing test could detect cognitive impairment in older adults before more serious symptoms develop.

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Jun 1 • 4:26 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
How The World Searches for Extraterrestrial Life May Be Holding Back Discoveries

Could scientists be overlooking life in space?

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Jun 1 • 4:09 PM EDT • Science • time.com
Many more US voters support gay candidates, but only if they look and act ‘straight,’ study finds

A first-of-its-kind study separates sexuality and gender expression to explore voter attitudes

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Jun 1 • 3:36 PM EDT • Politics • news.northwestern.edu
Vanderbilt Health study explores GLP-1 therapies to improve asthma outcomes in patients with obesity

The study is still recruiting participants. It will conclude in 2026 and provide insight for further investigations into the role GLP-1 agonists may offer in treating respiratory illnesses and overall immune responses.

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Jun 1 • 9:33 AM EDT • Health • news.vumc.org
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Paradigm Health Implements New Clinical Trial Solution to Support Observational Study Presented at ASCO

/PRNewswire/ -- Paradigm Health today announced its role in the execution of a multicenter, hybrid, observational post-marketing commitment study in the United...

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Jun 1 • 9:00 AM EDT • Health • prnewswire.com
A Chemical Production Loophole Could Delay the Recovery of Earth’s Ozone Layer by Up to 11 Years

A new study reveals that if left unchecked, unaccounted-for emissions of ozone-harming substances could delay the layer’s full recovery by almost a decade.

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Jun 1 • 8:44 AM EDT • Science • zmescience.com
Scientists discover inherited traits that break Mendel’s Laws of genetics

A major mouse study found that some inherited traits are passed down through epigenetic changes that break the classic rules of genetics. Researchers discovered hundreds of cases where these chemical DNA marks behaved unexpectedly, including some that seemed to emerge out of nowhere. They also identified the first known naturally occurring paramutation in a mammal, hinting that environmental influences may play a larger role in inheritance than scientists realized.

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Jun 1 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Clemson biologist leads global study on how flowers beat the heat

The research funded by a grant from the Human Frontier Science Program focuses on the flowering stage, one of the most vulnerable stages in a plant's life cycle.

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Jun 1 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • news.clemson.edu
Transition to electric vehicles in Brazil and Mexico driven by domestic politics and global pressures, study shows

The transition to electric vehicles in Brazil and Mexico has been driven by domestic politics and global pressures, a new study says. Decisions have been made in both countries shaped by factors beyond ...

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Jun 1 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • techxplore.com
Studying Indigenous attitudes to mental health

Scholar-Elect Will Smith will study whether Indigenous practices can solve some of the psychological problems we have today.

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Jun 1 • 6:16 AM EDT • Health • gatescambridge.org
Health workers face hidden exposure to cancer-linked hazards

A study reveals high exposure to cancer risk factors among health and social care workers in Europe, underscoring the need for enhanced protective measures.

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Jun 1 • 4:09 AM EDT • Health • news-medical.net
Boonsboro makes list of top 25 Maryland high school sports programs

A recent study conducted by Niche led to Boonsboro being ranked No. 22 in a list of top 25 best high schools in Maryland for athletes.

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Jun 1 • 4:01 AM EDT • Sports • heraldmailmedia.com
Veterans face surprising threat after cancer diagnosis, study reveals

A new JAMA Oncology study finds veterans with cancer face elevated suicide risk that can persist for up to five years following their diagnosis.

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May 31 • 11:12 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
Knicks vs. Spurs NBA Finals: How each team was built is a study in contrasts
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May 31 • 7:12 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Study reveals unexpected health benefits after 5 minutes of prayer

Adult patients experienced significant relief from pain and anxiety after just five minutes of in-person prayer, as found in a randomized controlled trial.

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May 31 • 5:51 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
Quitting smoking could offer a major benefit beyond heart and lung health, study finds

New research analyzing over 32,000 adults over 25 years suggests quitting smoking may reduce dementia risk and support long-term brain health.

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May 31 • 4:25 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
Short bursts of exercise can add up to big health benefits, study finds

If you don't have time for a full 30-minute workout, that's OK.

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May 31 • 2:05 PM EDT • Health • ktvu.com
Health benefits of daily 'exercise snacks'

A study from the National Institute of Health found that doing something physical was better than nothing at all, and that short bursts of exertion can add up to big health benefits over time.

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May 31 • 1:53 PM EDT • Health • ktvu.com
Not Verizon, Not AT&T: JD Power Says This Phone Carrier Leads In Customer Satisfaction

JD Power conducted a Telecom Digital Experience Study and found that T-Mobile is the phone carrier that ranks highest in customer satisfaction.

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May 31 • 9:47 AM EDT • Technology • bgr.com
Scientists Think They’ve Discovered How Humans Could Recover Lost Vision

Mammals aren’t known for the ocular regenerative powers, but a study shows that nature has a few tricks up its sleeve.

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May 31 • 9:27 AM EDT • Science • yahoo.com
Scientists Think They’ve Discovered How Humans Could Recover Lost Vision

Mammals aren’t known for the ocular regenerative powers, but a study shows that nature has a few tricks up its sleeve.

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May 31 • 9:27 AM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
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Chimpanzees and bonobos have human-like friend circles, study finds

Great apes appear to build friendships much like humans do. By studying grooming behavior, researchers discovered that chimpanzees and bonobos form close inner circles along with wider networks of weaker social connections. Chimpanzees focus on a few trusted partners and become more selective with age, while bonobos maintain a more egalitarian social style.

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May 31 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
How 5 minutes of movement can change your life

Scientists say that sitting is the new smoking. The average American adult now sits for 9-10 hours per day. What’s the least amount of movement someone can do to offset the harms of our modern sedentary lifestyle? Manoush Zomorodi, host of NPR’s TED Radio Hour podcast, has spent the last several years trying to answer that question. After collaborating with Columbia University Medical Center on a major study, she brings Ayesha the answer.

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May 31 • 3:01 AM EDT • Health • npr.org
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Just 5 minutes of prayer could have surprising health benefits, study finds

A new study published in The Annals of Family Medicine found that adult patients experienced significant pain and anxiety relief after five minutes of prayer.

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May 30 • 10:50 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
Occupational Health and Safety Practices Among Primary Healthcare Workers in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) in low- and middle-income countries are exposed to substantial occupational risks; however, evidence regarding comprehensive occupational health and safet...

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May 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • cureus.com
Omega-3 fish oil shows promise against type 2 diabetes

A new study suggests fish oil may help reduce insulin resistance even in people who aren't obese. In diabetic rats, omega-3 supplementation improved blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and inflammation by shifting immune cells into a more anti-inflammatory mode.

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May 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Giant Study Reveals The Secret to Heart Health Isn't Low-Carb or Low-Fat

There's another factor that may matter more.

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May 30 • 7:12 PM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com
Giant Study Reveals The Secret to Heart Health Isn't Low-Carb or Low-Fat

There's another factor that may matter more.

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May 30 • 7:12 PM EDT • Health • sciencealert.com
When used in the ‘wild’ conditions of the real world, large language AI stumbles

Asking medical questions of AI with language spoken “in the wild”—meaning with consumer-level LLM prompts—brings back answers with decidedly mediocre accuracy—76%—a new study shows.

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May 30 • 5:37 PM EDT • Health • healthexec.com
Trump tells agencies to align with study calling for narrower childhood vaccine recommendations

President Trump is giving his endorsement to a January study by the Department of Health and Human Services that calls for cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every American child.

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May 30 • 3:17 PM EDT • Health • latimes.com
Trump tells agencies to align with study calling for narrower childhood vaccine recommendations

President Donald Trump on Friday gave his endorsement to a January study by the Department of Health and Human Services that calls for cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every American child.

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May 29 • 10:20 PM EDT • Health • cnn.com
Repairing DNA damage: Scientists discover a surprising new benefit of melatonin

A new study suggests melatonin supplements may help night shift workers boost their body's DNA repair processes, potentially offsetting some of the damage linked to working overnight. The findings are early but raise the possibility of a simple strategy to help reduce long-term health risks associated with night shift work.

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May 29 • 10:14 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
34,000 Small Businesses Said AI Is Working. The Data Says Otherwise

A QuickBooks study of 34,000 businesses reveals the gap between AI adoption and measurable results. Five metrics every small business should track now.

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May 29 • 7:41 PM EDT • Business • forbes.com
Will sports draw locals to downtown San Antonio? Developers are behind the potential.

A Gensler study shows that San Antonio is welcoming and vibrant, but has work to do in making its downtown a place locals choose to go.

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May 29 • 1:54 PM EDT • Sports • sanantonioreport.org
I quit job in NYC to move abroad; why living in Italy is right choice

I left my career as a culture writer in NYC behind to study Italian in Florence, Italy. The transition abroad was hard, but it's forced me to grow.

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May 29 • 11:51 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
Republican mistrust in healthcare widens US health gap, study finds

Republicans increasingly avoid doctors and vaccines, widening health gaps with Democrats, researchers say

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May 29 • 9:00 AM EDT • Health • theguardian.com
Mental Health Disorders Now No. 1 Cause of Disability Worldwide

By HealthDay Staff HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, May 29, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Mental health disorders are now the leading cause of disability worldwide, according to a major new study. Researchers found nearly 1.2 billion people were living with a mental health disorder in 2023 — almost twice as many ...

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May 29 • 9:00 AM EDT • Health • usnews.com
Protein traffic jams may explain aging, memory loss, and Alzheimer’s

Scientists at Stanford may have uncovered a hidden reason our brains decline with age. Studying the ultra-short-lived turquoise killifish, researchers discovered that the cellular machinery responsible for building proteins begins to jam and malfunction over time. Tiny structures called ribosomes start colliding and stalling while reading genetic instructions, triggering a chain reaction that leads to faulty proteins and harmful clumps linked to diseases like Alzheimer’s.

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May 29 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Study shows low cardiovascular health in American pregnant women: here’s how to maintain it

Study shows low cardiovascular health in American pregnant women: here’s how to maintain it

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May 29 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • uab.edu
Mirror life: Scientists clash over threat of lab-engineered bacteria

Bacteria created using mirror images of natural biomolecules would pose a grave threat to life on Earth, some researchers warn, but a new study suggests they would struggle to survive in the wild

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May 29 • 7:00 AM EDT • Science • newscientist.com
Study: LA Canine Outbreak Caused By Low Vaccination Rates, Crowded Boarding

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, May 29, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Critical gaps in vaccination and infection control led to a leptospirosis outbreak that sickened more than 200 Los Angeles County dogs in 2021, according to a new study. The outbreak occurred at doggie daycares, where close ...

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May 29 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • usnews.com
Single infusion of controversial drug changed severe depression symptoms within hours, study finds

Researchers say a single intravenous ketamine infusion can rapidly relieve severe depression and suicidal thoughts when traditional antidepressants fail.

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May 29 • 12:06 AM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
Ancient Killer Is Rapidly Gaining Resistance to Antibiotics, Study Warns

This is a global problem.

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May 28 • 8:15 PM EDT • Technology • sciencealert.com
Princeton scientists identify first experimental evidence of a 'co-extinction' connection: Without elephants, dung beetles disappear

A new study from Princeton University, the Smithsonian Institute, the Mpala Research Centre and many partner institutions has now documented the interconnection between the largest animals in the savanna and some of the smallest.

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May 28 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • princeton.edu
A silent kidney crisis is spreading far faster than experts expected

A sweeping global study found that chronic kidney disease now affects nearly 800 million people and has become one of the world's leading causes of death. Often silent in its early stages, the condition is also a major contributor to heart disease and may be even more common than current estimates suggest.

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May 28 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists say evolution may work differently than we thought

A major research study is challenging one of evolution’s most influential ideas: that most genetic changes that become permanent are essentially neutral. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that beneficial mutations are actually far more common than scientists have long assumed. The puzzle is that these advantageous mutations rarely spread through entire populations. Their answer? Nature keeps changing the rules.

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May 28 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Bone Density Measures Give Insight Into Overall Health Risk in Older Women

An observational study suggests that bone mineral density may serve as a marker of systemic health.

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May 28 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • medscape.com
Antarctica’s ice sheet hit a climate tipping point 1 million years ago

A new study suggests Antarctica’s ice sheet hit a climate tipping point about one million years ago, making it far more reactive to temperature and CO2 changes. Researchers warn this surprising sensitivity could offer clues about how the continent may respond to today’s warming world.

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May 28 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
"Bad actors" in the body are emboldened mentally and physically by stress, Mount Sinai study shows
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May 28 • 6:30 PM EDT • Health • cbsnews.com
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Mount Sinai study examines impact of stress on mental, physical health
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May 28 • 6:20 PM EDT • Health • cbsnews.com
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Traditional Hot-Button Issues Still Dominate Political Talk from the Pulpit

A study finds that when American clergy address politics, it's primarily about abortion, Israel, and homosexuality.

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May 28 • 1:36 PM EDT • Politics • christianitytoday.com
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Study shows some parents are stressed about their children's mental health
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May 28 • 10:34 AM EDT • Health • 10tv.com
Inside the fight against ‘zombie deer disease,’ scientists confront changing politics

Many states, including Louisiana, have adopted policies aimed at stopping healthy deer from coming into contact with infected deer and environments. But those efforts could soon be dialed back at the will of state legislators, worrying scientists who study the disease and its expansion.

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May 28 • 10:00 AM EDT • Politics • lailluminator.com
New study shows atmospheric compounds formed from tire wear may pose human health risk

Tire rubber contains antioxidant chemicals, most notably 6PPD and DPPD, that are released into the air as tiny particles during normal driving. A single compound formed from 6PPD, known as 6PPD-quinone ...

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May 28 • 10:00 AM EDT • Health • phys.org
Polish scientists and students rally in campaign for 3% funding target

Polish scientists and students have been flooding social media with calls on the government to raise research and development spending as part of 3% for Science, 100% for Poland, a campaign born earlier this month out of frustration with chronic underfunding in the academic sector. On May 27, thousands took the slogan on to the streets.The EU has been trying to convince member states to raise their R&D expenditures to 3% of GDP for more than two decades, but the idea has never gained traction in capitals. Finance ministers were too busy plugging budget holes created in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, then the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran.Critics say that countries missed or ignored the target because it is voluntary, but also because research communities have rarely raised their voice to put pressure on national governments. The European Commission hopes to make the target legally binding in the upcoming European Research Area Act, an EU-wide regulation that should be announced by the end of the year. Academia in Poland has been faced with a funding crisis for years, often leaving its members with no other choice but to work abroad in order to access better resources, or leave the sector altogether in the hope of earning a decent living. The risk, in the long-term, is that brain drain stifles local innovation capacity and technological competitiveness.In just a few weeks, the movement rallied nationwide support, including from major academic bodies and trade unions such as the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland and the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its public petition collected more than 23,000 signatures. On May 27, it formed the first large protest for science in Poland, gathering thousands of people in front of the parliament building in Warsaw.Ilona Uryga-Bugajska, representative of the Marie Curie Alumni Association Poland Chapter, was there. “The protest was peaceful, with no incidents reported, and the entire event took place in a respectful and calm atmosphere,” she said. Banners she saw in the crowd carried slogans such as “A little longer and I’ll be teaching in a supermarket,” “National culture, starvation salary,” “Stop the destruction of science,” “Passion will not pay the rent,” “Without action, don’t expect a better future,” and “Pull science out of the hole.” She also observed a strong presence of young researchers, who are on the frontline of Poland’s academic crisis.“Academics are usually people who prefer discussion, analysis, dialogue and compromise. We are not a group that protests easily,” said Katarzyna Marzec, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University Medical College and AGH University of Krakow, who also took part. “But many of us feel that we have been pushed against the wall.”Aleksandra Rutkowska, translational neuroscientist and research group leader at the Medical University of Gdańsk, agreed. “Frustration in the scientific community is very high,” she said. “Science is often used politically as a symbol of innovation and modernity, but the everyday reality inside many institutions is much more difficult. There is a large gap between the public narrative and the actual condition of the sector.”Maria Wiktoria Górna, head of the structural biology group at the University of Warsaw and one of the organisers of the movement, told Science|Business that the campaign would continue without proven results. This might involve another strike in the autumn, she said. “Empty promises are not enough by now.”Campaign demandsAccording to Uryga-Bugajska, the organisers officially presented their demands and concerns to representatives of the government present at the event. These included Marek Gzik, deputy minister of science and higher education, and Karolina Zioło-Pużuk, secretary of state of that same ministry.The headline demand, for the government to increase national spending on R&D to 3% of GDP by 2030, should be within Poland’s economic capacity, Rutkowska said. “The real question is whether there is genuine long-term political commitment to treating science as a strategic priority rather than a slogan.”In 2024, R&D expenditure in Poland stood at 1.41% of GDP, which is slightly above the average for central and eastern Europe, with countries such as Czechia recording 1.82%, Hungary 1.31% and Romania 0.46%. However, it falls noticeably short of the EU average of 2.24%, which just a handful of countries exceed, including Germany, Belgium and Sweden.Campaigners are also asking for fair wages for scientific staff, including PhD stipends and junior academic salaries, which are widely considered uncompetitive. Starting doctoral scholarships amount to some €843 gross per month, when the statutory minimum wage stands at €1,135. By pushing early-career researchers out of Poland, growing precarity has caused a generational gap in the academic workforce, with just 25% of lecturers aged under 40. In this context, the movement fears that scientific careers could soon be accessible to a privileged minority only.Grzegorz Spólnik is a case in point. After 15 years working in mass spectrometry at the Polish Academy of Sciences, he decided to leave partly “to earn enough money to live a normal life,” he said. “At that time, my earnings were similar to those of people working in grocery shops, and the work-life balance is something that does not exist in science, or is very hard to achieve.”Now a senior field service engineer for Polish laboratory equipment supplier Bioanalytic, he would consider going back to research, “but never in the public sector, maybe some start-up or a big private company with ambitious R&D.”The campaigners want to see more support for basic research and have called for €236 million to be added to the budget of the National Science Centre (NCN) in 2027 so that the average grant application success rate does not fall below 25%.“At the protest, there was a banner I particularly liked: ‘NCN is not a lottery.’ Unfortunately, for many researchers, it increasingly feels exactly like one,” Marzec said. “Personally, I am one of the lucky ones. I work at two of the strongest institutions in the country, where the research standards are very high. I know that in many other institutions, the situation is much worse and obtaining funding for research at an early-career stage is becoming nearly impossible.”Rutkowska also considers herself fortunate. After studying abroad and holding a postdoctoral position, she returned to Poland, where her pay was supported through an NCN-funded project linked to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. “This also made me very aware that good research conditions in Poland often depend on external competitive funding rather than on stable support from the system itself,” she said.Long-term strategyBeyond the lack of funds for both salaries and grants, scientists believe that the issue is structural. “The biggest problem at the moment is the complete lack of a clear long-term strategy for the development of science and research from the current government,” Marzec said. “Everything ends with declarations and promises that are never truly followed by concrete actions or structural reforms.”Rutkowska agreed, citing a lack of infrastructure, continuity and long-term institutional support.“Running a research group in Poland often means functioning as an entire institution at once,” she said. “I am a principal investigator, a mentor, a recruiter, a project administrator and, when needed, still someone who returns to the lab bench to help with experiments,” she went on. “This creates a large hidden workload that takes time and energy away from actual science. At times, it feels as though scientists are no longer expecting extra help; we simply hope the system will stop creating additional obstacles that make research unnecessarily difficult.”Related articlesStrategic thinking: Germany funds joint research with Poland and FrancePoland to transfer €30M of regional funds to boost Horizon Europe participationPoland is funding fewer basic research grants as high inflation hitsIn short, “academics are expected to teach, publish papers, apply for grants and conduct high-quality research, while funding and salaries remain very limited,” said Uryga-Bugajska, who returned to her home country after 13 years in the UK.According to Marzec, another issue is the way that research institutions are evaluated. Previously, this took place every four years, with a clear differentiation between stronger and weaker institutions. “The current government, perhaps to avoid political backlash, effectively concluded that everyone is doing well, so in practice no meaningful evaluation took place,” she said.But in her view, “some form of serious assessment is necessary” to ensure the excellence and international competitiveness of Polish institutions, and to determine how to best use public resources and where institutional structures need reform. “Some institutions may need to rethink hiring practices in order to attract ambitious young researchers who are capable of obtaining competitive grants and building internationally visible research groups.” Rutkowska has already had to adapt. “When hiring PhD students, I often have to combine different funding sources creatively to make positions attractive enough for talented people to stay in science,” she said. “Many young researchers do not see a stable future in academia in Poland, and that is deeply worrying.”

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May 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net
Wind energy is not bad for your health, new research shows

In this study, Osea Giuntella and his colleagues found no adverse physical or mental health affects after the installation of nearby turbines.

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May 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pittwire.pitt.edu
Polish scientists and students rally in campaign for better conditions

Polish scientists and students have been flooding social media with calls on the government to raise research and development spending as part of 3% for Science, 100% for Poland, a campaign born earlier this month out of frustration with chronic underfunding in the academic sector. On May 27, thousands took the slogan on to the streets.The EU has been trying to convince member states to raise their R&D expenditures to 3% of GDP for more than two decades, but the idea has never gained traction in capitals. Finance ministers were too busy plugging budget holes created in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, then the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran.Critics say that countries missed or ignored the target because it is voluntary, but also because research communities have rarely raised their voice to put pressure on national governments. The European Commission hopes to make the target legally binding in the upcoming European Research Area Act, an EU-wide regulation that should be announced by the end of the year. Academia in Poland has been faced with a funding crisis for years, often leaving its members with no other choice but to work abroad in order to access better resources, or leave the sector altogether in the hope of earning a decent living. The risk, in the long-term, is that brain drain stifles local innovation capacity and technological competitiveness.In just a few weeks, the movement rallied nationwide support, including from major academic bodies and trade unions such as the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland and the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its public petition collected more than 23,000 signatures. On May 27, it formed the first large protest for science in Poland, gathering thousands of people in front of the parliament building in Warsaw.Ilona Uryga-Bugajska, representative of the Marie Curie Alumni Association Poland Chapter, was there. “The protest was peaceful, with no incidents reported, and the entire event took place in a respectful and calm atmosphere,” she said. Banners she saw in the crowd carried slogans such as “A little longer and I’ll be teaching in a supermarket,” “National culture, starvation salary,” “Stop the destruction of science,” “Passion will not pay the rent,” “Without action, don’t expect a better future,” and “Pull science out of the hole.” She also observed a strong presence of young researchers, who are on the frontline of Poland’s academic crisis.“Academics are usually people who prefer discussion, analysis, dialogue and compromise. We are not a group that protests easily,” said Katarzyna Marzec, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University Medical College and AGH University of Krakow, who also took part. “But many of us feel that we have been pushed against the wall.”Aleksandra Rutkowska, translational neuroscientist and research group leader at the Medical University of Gdańsk, agreed. “Frustration in the scientific community is very high,” she said. “Science is often used politically as a symbol of innovation and modernity, but the everyday reality inside many institutions is much more difficult. There is a large gap between the public narrative and the actual condition of the sector.”Maria Wiktoria Górna, head of the structural biology group at the University of Warsaw and one of the organisers of the movement, told Science|Business that the campaign would continue without proven results. This might involve another strike in the autumn, she said. “Empty promises are not enough by now.”Campaign demandsAccording to Uryga-Bugajska, the organisers officially presented their demands and concerns to representatives of the government present at the event. These included Marek Gzik, deputy minister of science and higher education, and Karolina Zioło-Pużuk, secretary of state of that same ministry.The headline demand, for the government to increase national spending on R&D to 3% of GDP by 2030, should be within Poland’s economic capacity, Rutkowska said. “The real question is whether there is genuine long-term political commitment to treating science as a strategic priority rather than a slogan.”In 2024, R&D expenditure in Poland stood at 1.41% of GDP, which is slightly above the average for central and eastern Europe, with countries such as Czechia recording 1.82%, Hungary 1.31% and Romania 0.46%. However, it falls noticeably short of the EU average of 2.24%, which just a handful of countries exceed, including Germany, Belgium and Sweden.Campaigners are also asking for fair wages for scientific staff, including PhD stipends and junior academic salaries, which are widely considered uncompetitive. Starting doctoral scholarships amount to some €843 gross per month, when the statutory minimum wage stands at €1,135. By pushing early-career researchers out of Poland, growing precarity has caused a generational gap in the academic workforce, with just 25% of lecturers aged under 40. In this context, the movement fears that scientific careers could soon be accessible to a privileged minority only.Grzegorz Spólnik is a case in point. After 15 years working in mass spectrometry at the Polish Academy of Sciences, he decided to leave partly “to earn enough money to live a normal life,” he said. “At that time, my earnings were similar to those of people working in grocery shops, and the work-life balance is something that does not exist in science, or is very hard to achieve.”Now a senior field service engineer for Polish laboratory equipment supplier Bioanalytic, he would consider going back to research, “but never in the public sector, maybe some start-up or a big private company with ambitious R&D.”The campaigners want to see more support for basic research and have called for €236 million to be added to the budget of the National Science Centre (NCN) in 2027 so that the average grant application success rate does not fall below 25%.“At the protest, there was a banner I particularly liked: ‘NCN is not a lottery.’ Unfortunately, for many researchers, it increasingly feels exactly like one,” Marzec said. “Personally, I am one of the lucky ones. I work at two of the strongest institutions in the country, where the research standards are very high. I know that in many other institutions, the situation is much worse and obtaining funding for research at an early-career stage is becoming nearly impossible.”Rutkowska also considers herself fortunate. After studying abroad and holding a postdoctoral position, she returned to Poland, where her pay was supported through an NCN-funded project linked to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. “This also made me very aware that good research conditions in Poland often depend on external competitive funding rather than on stable support from the system itself,” she said.Long-term strategyBeyond the lack of funds for both salaries and grants, scientists believe that the issue is structural. “The biggest problem at the moment is the complete lack of a clear long-term strategy for the development of science and research from the current government,” Marzec said. “Everything ends with declarations and promises that are never truly followed by concrete actions or structural reforms.”Rutkowska agreed, citing a lack of infrastructure, continuity and long-term institutional support.“Running a research group in Poland often means functioning as an entire institution at once,” she said. “I am a principal investigator, a mentor, a recruiter, a project administrator and, when needed, still someone who returns to the lab bench to help with experiments,” she went on. “This creates a large hidden workload that takes time and energy away from actual science. At times, it feels as though scientists are no longer expecting extra help; we simply hope the system will stop creating additional obstacles that make research unnecessarily difficult.”Related articlesStrategic thinking: Germany funds joint research with Poland and FrancePoland to transfer €30M of regional funds to boost Horizon Europe participationPoland is funding fewer basic research grants as high inflation hitsIn short, “academics are expected to teach, publish papers, apply for grants and conduct high-quality research, while funding and salaries remain very limited,” said Uryga-Bugajska, who returned to her home country after 13 years in the UK.According to Marzec, another issue is the way that research institutions are evaluated. Previously, this took place every four years, with a clear differentiation between stronger and weaker institutions. “The current government, perhaps to avoid political backlash, effectively concluded that everyone is doing well, so in practice no meaningful evaluation took place,” she said.But in her view, “some form of serious assessment is necessary” to ensure the excellence and international competitiveness of Polish institutions, and to determine how to best use public resources and where institutional structures need reform. “Some institutions may need to rethink hiring practices in order to attract ambitious young researchers who are capable of obtaining competitive grants and building internationally visible research groups.” Rutkowska has already had to adapt. “When hiring PhD students, I often have to combine different funding sources creatively to make positions attractive enough for talented people to stay in science,” she said. “Many young researchers do not see a stable future in academia in Poland, and that is deeply worrying.”

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May 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net
Scientists unlock evolution of gigantism in Scottish island wrens

A new study of British wrens has provided new insights into the inner workings of "island syndromes," according to research led by the University of Birmingham. The paper, published in the Evolutionary ...

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May 28 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • phys.org
Scientists thought brain inflammation was driving long COVID but the scans told a different story

A new brain imaging study has found no evidence of widespread brain inflammation in patients suffering from prolonged symptoms after COVID-19 infection. Instead, the most severe long COVID symptoms were associated with increased brain activity in regions involved in mood and emotion.

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May 27 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Earth’s orbital wobble triggered rapid climate chaos during the dinosaur age

New research suggests Earth’s climate can swing wildly on surprisingly short timescales — even during hot, ice-free greenhouse periods. By studying ancient sediments from the Late Cretaceous, scientists uncovered repeating climate shifts tied to tiny changes in Earth’s orbital wobble. These cycles may have repeatedly pushed the planet between humid and arid states every few thousand years.

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May 27 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Raleigh ranks No. 4 among large US metros for small business growth

The Raleigh-Cary metro area is a top large metro for small business performance, according to a new CoworkingCafe study, trailing only Miami, Austin, and Washington, DC.

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May 27 • 5:00 PM EDT • Business • carolinajournal.com
Do anti-obesity medications affect bone health?

Learn about a new study to examine if GLP-1 weight loss medications have an effect on bone density.

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May 27 • 4:21 PM EDT • Health • news.cuanschutz.edu
Colorectal cancer risk linked to gut microbiome alterations | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

More than a decade after removal of an adenoma—a precancerous mass—from the colon, alterations to the gut microbiome and metabolites remain and may drive heightened risk of colorectal cancer, according to a new Harvard Chan School study.

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May 27 • 3:20 PM EDT • Health • hsph.harvard.edu
Heart-healthy lipid profile benefits brain health in adolescents, study finds

A new Finnish study shows that blood markers of dysfunctional lipid metabolism are associated with poorer cognitive function in 15–17-year-olds. The findings are significant because brain development ...

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May 27 • 3:20 PM EDT • Health • medicalxpress.com
Good fitness in your 30s may shape artery health decades later

People with good physical fitness in their 30s and 50s have more elastic arteries later in life. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal Scientific Reports, titled ...

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May 27 • 2:20 PM EDT • Health • medicalxpress.com
UNO Research Shows What Motivates Female Students to Pursue STEM Research Experiences

The study of urban and rural schools revealed the important role science fairs play in inspiring young learners.

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May 27 • 1:53 PM EDT • Science • unomaha.edu
Powering drug discovery with analytical chemistry

Advances in analytical instrumentation are helping researchers study drug behavior, improve biomedical research, and train the next generation of scientists.

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May 27 • 12:30 PM EDT • Science • drugdiscoverynews.com