MIT researchers examined the role geography has played in the opioid crisis. They find state-level policies inadvertently contributed to the rise of opioid addiction, and that addiction itself is a central driver of the long-term problem.

Each year, the Frobenius Institute presents the Frobenius Research Award for outstanding ethnological dissertations in German-speaking countries. This year, the €3,000 prize was awarded to Maren Jordan for her dissertation “Temporalities of Reproduction: Fertility Transformations across Generations in the Sultanate of Oman.” 

Sharing happy moments with a partner may be good for older people’s health, lowering the level of the stress hormone cortisol in their bodies, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.  

As AI—and the ethical debate surrounding it—accelerates, scientists argue that understanding consciousness is now more urgent than ever. Researchers writing in Frontiers in Science warn that advances in AI and neurotechnology are outpacing our understanding of consciousness—with potentially serious ethical consequences.

One of the most common antidepressants, sertraline, contributes to a modest improvement in core depression and anxiety symptoms, including low mood, within two weeks, finds a new analysis of a major clinical trial led by University College London (UCL) researchers.