Amid widespread concern that American political discourse has become less substantive and less civil, often devolving into personal insults, the question of why political elites engage in divisive rhetoric has continued to puzzle the public. A new study by University of Notre Dame political scientist Marc Jacob offers a provocative explanation: The answer, quite simply, is media attention.

Ant colonies function as superorganisms. Their success depends on thousands of individuals operating together and constantly distinguishing nestmates from outsiders. New research shows that ants can update their sense of who is a nestmate versus who is not throughout adulthood, learning to tolerate foreigners through repeated exposure. The work establishes a foundation for future studies that will image the ant brain to identify the neural circuits that allow social insects to interpret subtle chemical cues. 

Fear that their cancer will progress or worsen is one of the most common concerns among people living with this disease. Several studies indicate that between 20% and 70% of cancer patients experience significant levels of anxiety related to the progression of their health. Identifying and measuring this concern is key to providing appropriate psychological care and improving patients’ quality of life. This has been the aim of a study led by the University of Barcelona (UB), the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and CEU-San Pablo University, which for the first time has validated in the Spanish population the Spanish version of the Assessment of Survivor Concerns (ASC) questionnaire, a brief tool specifically designed to assess cancer- and health-related concerns.