A Concordia-led team of researchers has developed a new artificial intelligence-based method of detecting toxic online content that is faster and more accurate than existing tools. The system is designed to ensure social media platforms can reliably prevent user-generated content they deem harmful from appearing online.

Individuals subject to extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), or "red flag" laws, were significantly less likely to be arrested—including for violent and firearm-related offenses—while the orders were in effect than in the six months before. Strikingly, the drop in arrests did not end when the orders expired and continued for months afterward, according to a new study published in PNAS Nexus.

Every year, more people in England and Wales are involved in disputes before the civil courts than in the criminal courts. More than 1 million claims a year—for personal injury, debt, housing disrepair, faulty consumer goods or breach of contract, for example—are dealt with in the county court.

The Life House Impact Project, led by Dr. Georgia Bowers, Professor Andrew King and Dr. Richard Green, worked with older LGBTQ+ people to document their real concerns about housing and social care—and then brought those experiences into training for the people responsible for that care. The report shows that the proportion of staff who said they regularly or always met their LGBTQ+ service users' needs rose from 55% to 85% in the weeks following the training.

Half of young men in Switzerland are concerned that "real men" are increasingly being marginalized in society. A large-scale study by the Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development at the University of Zurich (UZH), in collaboration with männer.ch, shows how prevalent restrictive and dominance-based concepts of masculinity are. These ideas go hand in hand with misogyny, a propensity for violence and opposition to gender equality. Prevention efforts should start in schools.

In 2013, Chicago Public Schools closed 49 elementary schools—the largest mass public school closure in U.S. history at the time. A new study from researchers at the University of Chicago and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, published in Social Science & Medicine, shows that, in addition to limiting access to education, the school closures also led to increases in gun violence.

It's the time of year when parents are thinking of registering their children for kindergarten in September—a much-anticipated moment in the lives of many parents and their young ones.

"What do dads do on Tuesdays?" This wasn't a rhetorical question when I posed it to my wife as our daughter's birth approached. Before my daughter was born, I had seen my father just once in the past 27 years. That's more than 1,400 Tuesdays. In fact, as a kid I hardly saw fathering any day of the week, save for on TV sitcoms; absent dads were prevalent within my family and among my peers.

At the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Bielefeld University is looking for fans of all national teams. The Football Fever Study uses smartwatch data to record how match events affect fans' heart rates and stress levels. Anyone wearing a device from one of 13 supported brands, such as Apple, Google, Samsung and Garmin, can take part.

As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to fall, new research from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania finds that jury service is associated with more positive attitudes toward courts and judges—but that Americans' opportunities to serve are shrinking as jury trials become increasingly rare.

According to UNESCO, around 250 million children (16%) globally are out of school, although they are of an age to be at school in their countries. Available evidence suggests that out-of-school numbers are extremely high in conflict-affected countries, though the exact number is hard to quantify. For example, in the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Eritrea, more than 50% of primary school-age children are not going to school.

Children not only enjoy watching movies like Moana, but also learn lessons from them and apply those lessons to their own lives. That is the conclusion reached by communication scientists at Radboud University. For example, a movie can inspire children not to give up, to work together and to develop their own identity. In addition, movies can encourage children to think about social issues such as climate change and beauty standards.

Does it seem as though more people are coming out as neurodivergent these days?

Since 2022, Georgia's surrogacy industry has boomed, with oversubscribed clinics now recruiting women from across Central Asia via Instagram and TikTok. New research conducted at the University of Oxford's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) provides unprecedented insight into the hidden systems of emotional control sustaining Georgia's transnational surrogacy market.

A child at a playground tries to climb, jump or negotiate with a peer, and the attempt does not work. They fall, get left out of a game or reach another impasse. Then they try again.

Oxford's 2024 Word of the Year, "brain rot," refers to the loss of intelligence or critical thinking skills due to the overconsumption of specific types of content, most often in the digital sphere. A Binghamton University doctoral student has published findings that help explain how the structural forces of large tech companies make it difficult to focus, read and even engage in democracy.

New research is shedding light on how comparing ourselves to others affects happiness and life satisfaction. Led by McGill University researchers, the study shows that people who feel worse off financially than their peers are more likely to report signs of languishing, even when their actual income is similar. The paper is published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

The CEO of dating app Hinge recently suggested that generation Z, "struggling to have the confidence to put themselves out there," needs AI to help them find love. Apparently, without AI tools, younger people will struggle to express who they really are.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Sydney Scott was accustomed to Whole Foods and "organic" labels. Yet instead of simply filling her cart, she found herself asking why those labels were so compelling to many people.

More than 3,000 Australians die by suicide each year, yet one of the strongest known drivers of suicide risk—unemployment—remains largely overlooked in Australia's suicide prevention programs. Now, Adelaide University researchers are calling for a fundamental shift in how suicide is prevented, arguing that work, unemployment and financial insecurity must be recognized as critical factors in Australia's suicide prevention response.