Social & Behavior
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 10-Dec-2025 10:11 ET (10-Dec-2025 15:11 GMT/UTC)
Gen Z views world as "scary place" with growing cynicism about ability to create change
Society for Risk AnalysisMeeting Announcement
- Meeting
- Society for Risk Analysis 2025 Conference
Study shows how everyday repairs sustain autonomy in a Japanese squat
Ritsumeikan UniversityPeer-Reviewed Publication
A new study from Ritsumeikan University reveals how everyday repairs and spatial adjustments help maintain autonomy within a Japanese squatted space. Based on participant observation in the Takayama Architecture Summer School squat, the research shows that social activism can emerge from ordinary acts, such as fixing a door or rearranging a room, enabling diverse groups to coexist and shape their environment without the need for professional expertise
- Journal
- Space and Culture
Be careful trusting TikTok for gout advice
Oxford University Press USAPeer-Reviewed Publication
A new paper in Rheumatology Advances in Practice indicates that Tik Tok videos about gout are commonly misleading, inconsistent, or inaccurate.
- Journal
- Rheumatology Advances in Practice
- Funder
- Health Research Council of New Zealand
U.S. debt ceiling disputes show measurable impact on global crude oil markets
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Journal CenterPeer-Reviewed Publication
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to explore the impacts of U.S. debt ceiling uncertainty on crude oil markets and further reveal the specific influence mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper introduces a debt ceiling uncertainty index based on news reports and selects six representative crude oil futures and spot markets to investigate the heterogeneous impacts of U.S. debt ceiling uncertainty on crude oil markets. More specifically, on the one hand, the nonparametric causality-inquantiles test method is used to discuss the asymmetric impacts of debt ceiling uncertainty on the different conditional distributions of crude oil series. On the other hand, the dynamic effects of debt ceiling uncertainty on crude oil markets are analyzed, combining with the time-varying parameter vector autoregressive model.
Findings – The conclusions of this paper are as follows: First, the U.S. debt ceiling uncertainty has obvious nonlinear impacts on each crude oil market, and the effects are greater under the normal condition of crude oil markets rather than under their extreme conditions. Second, the shocks from debt ceiling uncertainty to crude oil markets are mainly illustrated as negative and can be significantly enhanced by important debt-related events. Over time, the reactions of crude oil markets turn to weak positive and gradually dissipate after 6 months. Finally, enterprise production, investor sentiment and government shutdown play important roles as transmission intermediaries for the influence of debt ceiling uncertainty on the crude oil market.
Originality/value – The findings are beneficial for investors to accurately judge oil price trends and prevent investment losses caused by debt risks and also help producers prevent the impacts of crude oil price changes on production and operation activities. Moreover, it is conducive to the management department to maintain the stability of the crude oil market, thus enabling the crude oil financial market to better serve the real economy.
- Journal
- China Finance Review International
Humans rank between meerkats and beavers in monogamy ‘league table’
University of CambridgePeer-Reviewed Publication
First study to analyse rates of full vs half siblings in a range of mammals provides new evidence for monogamous behaviour in humans compared to other animals.
- Journal
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Call to increase funding for ‘invisible’ Deaf victim-survivors of domestic abuse
Heriot-Watt UniversityReports and Proceedings
- Funder
- The British Academy