By Robin Bailey, Assistant professor, University of Cambridge
Christmas can be hard. For some people, it increases loneliness, grief, hopelessness and family tension, and the festive season has a way of turning ordinary concerns into urgent ones. Not because something terrible is guaranteed to happen, but because more is often at stake: money, time, family dynamics, travel and expectations.
A large study found a small but consistent dip in people’s wellbeing in the run-up to Christmas. One psychological process that often shows up under this pressure is worry.
It…
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By Flynn Ames, PhD candidate, Meteorology, University of Reading
A small, icy moon of Saturn called Enceladus is one of the prime targets in the search for life elsewhere in the solar system. A new study strengthens the case for Enceladus being a habitable world.
The data for those new research findings comes from the Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn from 2004-2017. In 2005, Cassini discovered geyser-like plumes of water vapour and ice grains erupting continuously out of cracks in Enceladus’ icy shell.
In the latest study, Nozair Khawaja, from the…
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By Robert Applebaum, Senior Research Scholar in Gerontology, Miami University
US health care policy will remain fractured until lawmakers address the core question of who is responsible for health care costs.
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By Alexandria Mitchem Hansen, Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, Columbia University
Rats and other rodents and pests can make great archivists.
That’s because they forage food and build dens, storing fabric, paper, animal bones, plant remains and other materials under floorboards, behind walls and in attics, crawl spaces and wells. There, these materials might dry out and remain undisturbed for hundreds of years.
By analyzing the materials in these nests, archaeologists…
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By Margaret Murray, Associate Professor of Public Communication and Culture Studies, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Boredom is a common part of life, across time and around the world. That’s because boredom serves a useful purpose: It motivates people to pursue new goals and challenges.
I’m a professor who studies communication and culture. I am currently writing a book about modern parenting, and I’ve noticed that many parents try to help their kids avoid…
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By Mary J. Scourboutakos, Adjunct Assistant Professor in Family and Community Medicine, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University
C-reactive protein – a marker of inflammation – is as easily measured with blood work in a doctor’s office as cholesterol.
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By Stephanie Leiser, Director, Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, University of Michigan
According to our recent survey of officials in Michigan communities, local democracy is humming along and city hall is taking care of business.
The federal government was shut down in October and November 2025, but cities and towns around the United States continued to fill potholes, purify drinking water, respond…
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By George Michael, Professor of Criminal Justice, Westfield State University
Black Americans and white nationalists have joined forces in the past. And a number of cultural and political shifts have broadened Fuentes’ appeal to Americans of all races.
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By Yonatan Morse, Associate Professor, University of Connecticut
The countries, whose respective leaders recently won widely disputed elections, offer contrasting examples in how autocracies operate, evolve and change.
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By Bobbi Sutherland, Associate Professor, Department of HIstory, University of Dayton
The Middle Ages weren’t as dreary and desperate as you’d think, and peasants often had weeks of idle time during the holidays. On Christmas Day, the party was just getting started.
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