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APS Responds to FY 2027 Presidential Budget
APS sent a letter to congress urging them to preserve the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) at the National Science Foundation.
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Why It’s Important to Talk About Race With Children
... In 2022, even though research on white parents discussing racism was still emerging, my colleagues and I argued that they needed to have these conversations with their children. At the time, we pointed to the subtle things children can absorb racial biases from—the diversity (or lack thereof) of their parents’ social circles, the characters they see on television and the differences they notice between social classes. But in 2025 subtlety is a thing of the past. In attacking diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, the Trump administration is legitimizing and emboldening racism in ways that children—especially white children—undoubtedly notice.
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Songbirds Reveal the Dark Side of Making New Brain Cells as Adults
Every day the human body replaces billions of cells, flushing out the old and generating the new, healthy ones. The average lifespan of a red blood cell is just under four months, while skin cells last about a month and those in the intestinal lining exist for just a few days. This turnover is the default, but there’s one part of the body in which humans and other mammals don’t seem geared toward generating new cells: the brain. ...
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We’re Not Speaking as Much as We Used To — And Scientists are Concerned
People aren't talking to each other as much as they used to, and our gift of gab and our cognition may suffer as a result. Scientists compared the number of words people spoke per day over nearly a decade and a half. Valeria Pfeifer, from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said they found that in 2019, people spoke an average of about 12,700 words per day compared to 15,900 back in 2005. The decline was significantly worse in younger individuals than older, leading the scientists to suggest the rise in smartphone use and social media may be playing a role. The study is in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.
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For Young Adults, Recollection of Alcohol Addiction May Differ From Reality
When young adults are asked to recall their drinking habits, their recollections may not always match what actually happened in their day-to-day lives, a new study suggests.
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The New Midlife Crisis: Mental and Cognitive Health in Middle-Aged Americans Is Declining
Research has shown that nations with more income inequality, including the United States, have higher levels of loneliness.
