Psychology Headlines Around the World

Slavery Linked to Current U.S. Racial Gaps in Health and Mortality

Science — 2026-08-16T03:53:40-04:00

In 1953, civil rights activist James Baldwin wrote that "people are trapped in history and history is trapped in them"—an observation that would ring all too familiar to researchers studying racial health disparities in the U.S. today. A study published by the National Academies of Science, suggests that slavery may still cast a long shadow on the country's well-being, worsening health outcomes for some Black people more than 150 years after...

White House Bans Use of Medicaid for Youth Gender Identity Healthcare

United Press International - Health News — 2026-08-14T11:06:00-04:00

Source: United Press International - Health News

On Tuesday, the Trump administration finalized rule changes that ban the use of Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program funds for gender identity healthcare for children. The new rule—the administration's latest move to bar access to such healthcare—will go into effect on October 13. President Trump lauded the changes in a post on social media, calling gender-affirming healthcare measures "barbaric."

How Europe Can Prevent a Repeat of This Year's Devastating Wildfires

Science — 2026-08-14T08:21:03-04:00

Source: Science

A wave of wildfires across Southern Europe has so far this year burned more than half a million hectares—an area equivalent to Grand Canyon National Park—far exceeding the area burned by August 2025, the worst year on record. Indeed, since the 1980s, the number of "fire weather" days—scorching, dry, breezy days—has more than doubled across much of the region, exacerbated by climate change. What, then, can be done to avoid more years like 2026?

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Harvard for Alleged Anti-Semitism

PBS News Hour — 2026-08-14T08:05:41-04:00

Source: PBS News Hour

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit that accused Harvard University of turning a blind eye to harassment of Jewish students. The decision said that the administration failed to prove an ongoing violation of federal civil rights laws. Harvard wrote in a statement that it "cares deeply about members of our Jewish and Israeli community and remains committed to ensuring they are embraced, respected, and can thrive on...

Court Orders Meta and Instagram to Pay $567M for Kids' Mental Health

PBS News Hour — 2026-08-06T11:15:48-04:00

Source: PBS News Hour

A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms. Most of the money will be used to treat young people and increase awareness and prevention. The penalty is in addition to $375 million ordered against Meta in March after determining the company knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its...

Gratitude Makes People More Helpful, But Bystander Effect Persists

PsyPost — 2026-08-06T11:14:55-04:00

Source: PsyPost

A new study has found that feeling grateful increases a person's willingness to help others. However, experiencing gratitude does not make individuals immune to the bystander effect—a psychological phenomenon in which people are less likely to intervene when other bystanders are present. The findings suggest that gratitude boosts overall helpfulness but does not change our tendency to hold back when responsibility can be shared with a crowd.

Meta Says Its AI Model Breached a Third-Party Company During Testing

CBS News - U.S. News — 2026-08-06T11:14:35-04:00

Source: CBS News - U.S. News

Technology giant Meta revealed Wednesday that one of its artificial intelligence models hacked another organization during testing—the third time in recent weeks that an AI model has improperly accessed a third-party company. In a statement provided to CBS News, Meta said that "a misconfiguration by Irregular, an independent testing company Meta uses, inadvertently allowed one of our models access to the internet during evaluation."

Poll Suggests U.S. Adults Are Facing Increased Strain From Extreme Heat

Al Jazeera — 2026-08-06T11:14:04-04:00

Source: Al Jazeera

A new poll of U.S. adults finds that more are feeling a personal impact from extreme heat, yet a smaller number believe in climate change. The poll, released Thursday by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, surveyed 1,165 Americans in late July. According to the survey, 66% of Americans believe climate change is happening, down from 73% last year, but more U.S. adults now say that extreme heat has affected their...

Artificial Intelligence Has Been Used to Design Brand New Viruses

Google News - Health — 2026-08-06T11:13:43-04:00

Source: Google News - Health

Artificial Intelligence has been used to design new viruses that are fully functional and can replicate in the laboratory, say U.S. researchers. It is the first time AI has designed whole genomes. The resulting 16 novel viruses were created to infect bacteria and pose no threat to people, and the breakthrough has been labelled a "very significant turning point" in science, but experts also warn AI-designed viruses raise "urgent" safety and...

How Heatwaves and Wildfires Are Changing Daily Life Across Europe

Al Jazeera — 2026-08-03T13:36:21-04:00

Source: Al Jazeera

What was once considered exceptionally hot European weather, such as temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Prague, are becoming the norm. According to Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service, late May and June heatwaves brought average daily temperatures more than 10C (18F) above the norm in parts of France, the U.K., and Spain—a rise in temperature so large that it is reshaping ecosystems, economies, and daily life across much of the...

Judge Denies Bid by Musk's xAI to Block Minnesota Nudification Ban

United Press International - Health News — 2026-08-01T12:54:02-04:00

Source: United Press International - Health News

Minnesota in May became the first state in the nation to pass legislation banning the practice of using AI to digitally remove clothing from a pictured individual. Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI—which develops the chatbot and image generator Grok—then filed the suit over the ban Tuesday, but a federal judge turned down the request three days later. "See you in court, creep," Governor Tim Walz said in a statement on X,...

Anthropic's AI "Gained Unauthorized Access" to "Real-World Systems"

CBS News - U.S. News — 2026-07-31T06:28:11-04:00

Source: CBS News - U.S. News

Three different versions of Anthropic's artificial intelligence model Claude "gained unauthorized access" to outside organizations on three separate occasions during testing that was supposed to keep them away from "real-world" systems, the company reported on Thursday. The announcement comes just days after rival company OpenAI first revealed that its models improperly accessed the internet and went rogue during security testing.

101 Fun Facts About the Brain and Behavior, According to Science

PsyPost — 2026-07-31T13:20:26-04:00

Source: PsyPost

You are sniffing right now. On top of each ordinary breath, you take roughly 240 extra small inhalations an hour, sampling the air without any idea you're doing it. We know because people born without a sense of smell don't—and put a normal smeller in an odorless room, and the habit fades within the hour. That's one of 101 findings below, all from peer-reviewed research. And it's not even the strangest one.

A Daily GLP-1 Pill Could Curb Heavy Drinking, Study Suggests

Google News - Health — 2026-07-31T13:20:21-04:00

Source: Google News - Health

A GLP-1 pill a day may help keep problem drinking at bay. Researchers have conducted a small randomized trial of oral semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, for people with alcohol use disorder. Compared to those taking a placebo, people on semaglutide reported fewer days of heavy drinking, among other benefits. The findings, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, suggest that GLP-1s could have a role in treating...

The Dark Side of Tourism in Mexico: Human Trafficking

DW- top stories — 2026-07-31T13:20:13-04:00

Source: DW- top stories

By May, a record-breaking 20 million tourists had visited Mexico so far in 2026. But with increased tourism comes a heightened risk of human trafficking and sexual exploitation—especially of women and children. Said one woman who suffered this fate, these crimes happen "because there are bad people who sell other people. And there are bad people who buy other people." In Mexico human trafficking is now one of the most lucrative economies in...

Climate Change Driving a "Shift" in Childhood Malaria Risk Across Africa

CarbonBrief — 2026-07-30T03:54:02-04:00

Source: CarbonBrief

Rising temperatures are redistributing the risk of childhood malaria in Africa, resulting in areas of "new risk" in the east and south of the continent but also "relief hotspots" in western Africa. This is according to a new study, published in Nature, which provides the "most comprehensive look to date at the impact of climate change on any infectious disease." The World Health Organization estimates that more than 600,000 people died of...

Top Court in Poland Rejects Recognizing EU Same-Sex Marriages

DW- top stories — 2026-07-28T08:34:34-04:00

Source: DW- top stories

Poland's highest court on Tuesday overturned a law that would have led to the legal recognition of same-sex spouses who married in other EU member states and subsequently moved to Poland. The government in Warsaw had been moving to accommodate a ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union saying that majority-Catholic Poland, which does not permit same-sex marriage domestically, must at least recognize unions contracted elsewhere in...

Approval of U.S. Supreme Court Performance Drops to Record Low

United Press International - Health News — 2026-07-28T08:34:11-04:00

Source: United Press International - Health News

Americans' approval of the job performance of the U.S. Supreme Court has dropped to a record low of 33%, a Gallup poll released Tuesday shows. The dip in approval in this year's poll was largely driven by Republicans, who approved of the court by a near-record high of 79% last year; that percentage has fallen to 58%—the lowest by Republicans since 56% in 2023. Approval ratings from Democrats (12%) and independents (35%) stayed nearly the same...

Dreams Aren't Random—Your Brain Is Rewriting Reality

Science Daily - Top Health — 2026-07-27T13:14:07-04:00

Source: Science Daily - Top Health

Dreams are not random mental noise. A large study of more than 3,700 dream and waking reports found that what we experience during sleep is shaped by both our personalities and the world around us. Rather than simply replaying daily events, the dreaming brain mixes memories, emotions, imagined possibilities, and familiar settings into vivid new scenarios. The findings, based on AI analyses of dream reports, appear in the journal Communications...

Cuban President Accuses U.S. of Genocide and Goal of Takeover

Al Jazeera — 2026-07-27T13:13:49-04:00

Source: Al Jazeera

Cuba's president has accused the United States of carrying out "cold-bloodedly calculated genocide" against his people and seeking to seize the Caribbean island nation. President Miguel Diaz-Canel lashed out during a rally on Sunday commemorating the start of the Cuban Revolution in 1953. His anger was a reaction to Washington's continued pressure, including a crippling oil embargo that has produced regular blackouts and economic hardship.