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In Europe, Tesla Sales Are Rising Despite Views on Elon Musk

Price cuts and low-interest-rate loans are luring buyers, including people offended by the company’s chief executive.

© Michael Nguyen/NurPhoto, via Associated Press

A Tesla Supercharger station in Germany. Tesla’s sales have rebounded sharply in Europe alongside sales of all electric cars.
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Trump Administration Forms Partnership to Bank DNA From Imperiled Species

The government is teaming up with Colossal Biosciences, a private company that claims to have revived extinct dire wolves, to store samples from at-risk animals and plants.

© Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

The Frozen Zoo in San Diego, which has been preserving cells for over 50 years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a partnership with Colossal Biosciences for a similar effort.
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First experiment to thicken Arctic ice with seawater shows promise — but there's a big catch

A simple method to thicken Arctic sea ice has shown promising results in its very first field experiment, performed in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada.

Researchers are considering several controversial geoengineering techniques to slow the catastrophic melt of Arctic sea ice, including stratospheric aerosol injection, which involves shooting tiny sulfur particles into the sky to blot out the sun. But in a new study, scientists evaluated the merits of a much safer and more straightforward approach: pumping seawater onto existing sea ice in winter and letting it freeze into a reinforcing layer.

Known as sea ice thickening, this method has been used by Nordic and Arctic communities for decades, and ice hockey rinks employ a similar technique to keep their ice sturdy, two of the study's authors told Live Science in an email.

"Practical applications [that already exist] include building ice roads and creating platforms for offshore oil exploration," said Edward Blanchard-Wrigglesworth, a research associate professor in the University of Washington's Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and Andrea Ceccolini, an honorary professor at University College London and the CEO of the startup Real Ice, which studies artificial sea ice thickening methods and receives funding from the U.K. government.

Modeling work hints that sea ice thickening could become a climate adaptation tool for Arctic communities by limiting coastal erosion near towns, facilitating travel and supporting animal migrations and hunting.

Now, researchers have assessed the method's efficacy in the field for the first time. Their results, published May 22 in the journal Earth's Future, indicate that both the thickness and brightness of sea ice can be enhanced significantly on small scales — making the ice more reflective, and therefore more resilient to melting.

In the experiment, the team set up eight test areas and three control sites in Cambridge Bay during the winter of 2024 to 2025. Using submersible pumps that each consume less power than a toaster, they flooded the test areas either once or twice with up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of seawater, while the control sites were never flooded. In spring, one control site was used for a melt pond drainage experiment, which involved drilling small holes in the ice to remove meltwater and expose the brighter ice underneath.

Overall, the test areas grew up to 12.6 inches (32 cm) thicker than the control sites by the end of winter, which is roughly equivalent to the ice thinning that has happened in the Arctic over the past 50 years, according to the study. Test areas that were flooded twice showed greater thickening than those flooded once. And in the melt period from late May to September, sea ice in the test areas appeared brighter and had slower melt rates, remaining thicker than the ice in the control sites. The melt pond drainage experiment also resulted in brighter sea ice than the other control sites.

When water is pumped onto sea ice, it saturates the snow that sits on top of the ice. "The snow-water mixture freezes into a new layer of ice, while the reduction in snow insulation allows colder atmospheric temperatures to accelerate natural ice growth from below," Blanchard-Wrigglesworth and Ceccolini explained.

Sea ice seen from a NASA aircraft.

Sea ice thickening could boost the amount of sunlight that is reflected back to space in the Arctic, thus cooling the region. (Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Thicker sea ice is usually brighter than thin sea ice, which boosts the amount of sunlight that is reflected back into space. "The broader implication is that these effects could enhance the Arctic's reflectivity through both increased surface brightness and longer-lasting sea ice," the researchers said. "If similar results could eventually be achieved at larger scales, increased Arctic albedo could contribute to regional cooling, with potential knock-on benefits such as slowing permafrost thaw and reducing ice loss from Greenland."

However, there is still a big question mark over how scalable and economically viable sea ice thickening is, given that it requires people and machines working in the field. According to a 2016 study, 10 million wind-powered pumps would be needed to cover just 10% of the Arctic Ocean, and 100 million to cover the entire Arctic. "It is reasonable to ask whether such an endeavor is financially feasible or even logistically possible," the authors of that study wrote.

Yearly sea ice extent in the Arctic has shrunk by 20% since 1979, and this loss is accelerating with global warming. Therefore, if we want Arctic sea ice thickening to work at a large scale, "the pumps must be deployed almost immediately, while there is still a sufficient area of sea ice over which to flood," researchers wrote in a 2021 study.

The ecological and social impacts of Arctic sea ice thickening are not well understood, and further research will delay deployment, meaning it might be too late to roll out sea ice thickening by the time scientists have the data they need to ensure its safety and feasibility.

For these reasons and others, including governance issues and high maintenance needs, "sea-ice thickening is simply not feasible for use at a scale and at a rate that would be meaningful for sea ice protection," researchers wrote in a review published last year.

Deployment on anything but local scales would be challenging, Blanchard-Wrigglesworth and Ceccolini agreed. Nevertheless, the researchers said their most recent winter trials, which have yet to be published, showed encouraging results. In those trials, the sea ice in test areas grew 20 inches (50 cm) thicker than in control sites, The Guardian reported.

"We expect to have a clearer picture once the current melt season is complete," the researchers told Live Science. "In parallel, we are developing underwater robotic technology that could support autonomous deployments. Earlier this year, we conducted the first Arctic field tests of a prototype re-icing drone in Finland."

The drone is currently being refined in collaboration with the BioRobotics Institute in Pisa, Italy, according to The Guardian.

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I'm using the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake as an excuse to deck out my gaming station with the best Nintendo Switch 2 Lego, accessories and merch — here are my top picks as a super-fan

My love of all things Zelda is no secret to my colleagues, friends, and family. In fact, when The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (OoT) remake was first announced, our Global Editor-in-Chief, Marc McLaren, immediately messaged me to ask if I intended to take time off to play it (I do).

When the 40th anniversary of the franchise rolled around earlier this year, I was a little blue to see little-to-no news of a new game or remake, but my long-read ode to the lasting impact of Link's adventures through Hyrule at least gave me a distraction. Now, however, with months to go until I finally make my grand return to the Kokiri forest, my hype has reached new heights.

To pass the time, I plan to spend my money on, you guessed it, even more Zelda merchandise and Switch 2 accessories to accommodate my upcoming increase in playtime. In the current Amazon Prime Day deals, there's a wide selection of cases, storage, merchandise, and more to shop; I've included some of the best below, as well as the essential gear my gaming station will be decked with come OoT's release later this year. Not everything I've linked below is on sale, so look for the percentage-off badge if you're only looking for good deals.

Switch 2 Essentials

Nintendo Switch 2 Console

Nintendo
Switch 2 Console

Powera Advantage Wireless Controller for Nintendo Switch 2 - Zelda Master Sword, Officially Licensed, Hall Effects, Mappable Buttons, Pro Controller, C Button, Motion Controls

PowerA
Advantage Wireless Controller for Nintendo Switch 2

Sandisk Microsd Express Card, 512gb Msd Card, Read Speeds Up to 880 Mb/s, Write Speeds Up to 650mb/s, Sustained Write 220mb/s, Sandisk Quickflow Technology, Thermadapt, Uhs-I, U3, C10

SanDisk
MicroSD Express Card

Nintendo Sandisk Microsd Express Card for Nintendo Switch 2

Nintendo
SanDisk MicroSD Express Card for Nintendo Switch 2

Powera Protection Case for Nintendo Switch 2 - Zelda Hyrule Crest, Officially Licensed, Protective Storage, Holds Up to 9 Game Cards and 2 Microsd Express Cards, Integrated Play StandUS deal

PowerA
Zelda Case for Nintendo Switch 2

Powera Protection Case for Nintendo Switch 2 - Zelda, Officially Licensed, Protective Storage, Holds Up to 9 Game Cards and 2 Microsd Express Cards, Integrated Play StandUK deal

PowerA
Zelda Case for Nintendo Switch 2

Belkin Gaming Temperedglass Anti-Reflective Screen Protector for Nintendo Switch 2 Console, 9h Hardness, Scratch-Resistant, Anti-Fingerprint, Includes Easy Align Frame for Bubble Free Application

Belkin
Tempered Glass Anti-Reflective Screen Protector

Legend of Zelda games

If you're not caught up on the latest and greatest Switch generation Zelda games, you've got plenty of time ahead of the Ocarina of Time's remake releasing to pour some hours into adventure.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (nintendo Switch)

Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

Nintendo
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (nintendo Switch)

Nintendo
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening - Nintendo Switch Standard Edition

Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening

Essential Zelda merch

From Lego sets to card games and novelty toys, there's a lot of great Zelda merch out there. I own a lot (really, an embarassing amount) of the below merchandise already; join me in my submission to capitalism's whim.

Lego the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – the Final Battle - Building Set for Adults, Ages 18+ - Nintendo Collectible With Link & Zelda Minifigures - Bedroom or Game Room Decor - 77093

LEGO
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – the Final Battle

Great Deku Tree 2-In-1

LEGO
Great Deku Tree 2-In-1

Lego Super Mario Game Boy Building Set for Adults - Nintendo Display Model Kit With 2 Cartridges Incl. Zelda, Plus Lenticular Screens - Gamer Gift for Fans - 72046

LEGO
Super Mario Game Boy

Paladone Bokoblin Chest Light Officially Licensed the Legend of Zelda, Night Light With Sound Effects, Gamer Gift and Room Decor Accessory for Boys and Girls, Collectible Game Icon

Paladone
Bokoblin Chest Light

Usaopoly | the Legend of Zelda Chess | Board Game | Ages 8+ | 2 Players | 60+ Minutes Playing Time

USAopoly
The Legend of Zelda Chess

The Legend of Zelda Réplique Proplica Master Sword 105 Cm Black

TAMASHII NATIONS
The Legend of Zelda Réplique Proplica Master Sword 105 Cm Black

Paladone the Legend of Zelda Heart Container Light - Officially Licensed Nintendo Lamp for Game Room, 2 Light Modes, Mood Lighting Gift for Gamers

Paladone
The Legend of Zelda Heart Container Light

Nintendo Nes Cartridge Retro Drink Coasters for Gamers - Officially Licensed, Featuring Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, & More Classic Games, Set of 8 - Paladone

Paladone
Nintendo Nes Cartridge Retro Drink Coasters

amazon

amazon

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Getting a Switch 2 for the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake is going to be a worthy investment if you're a super-fan like me — so I’d make sure you get yours before the upcoming price spike

I know we're all buzzed about the imminent opening of pre-orders for GTA VI. But for me, that ties for most exciting gaming news this month, after Nintendo announced The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is also dropping later on this year. So if you're as into Zelda games as I am and have a decent chunk of cash spare, I'd absolutely recommend you pick up a Nintendo Switch 2 this Prime Day.

As an ardent fan, The Legend of Zelda series lives absolutely rent-free in my head. I cut my teeth on the sublime pixel art of A Link to the Past on the SNES, donned many mantles in Majora's Mask, and banished the gloom in Twilight Princess. But it's almost certainly Ocarina of Time that made the biggest impression on me at the time, thanks to its epic time-hopping story and, at the time, groundbreaking 3D visuals.

So even though I've played the game to completion an almost shameful number of times, you better believe that I'll be picking up the remake on day one of its release. If you're similarly set on reliving one of the greatest games of all time but don't yet have a Nintendo Switch 2, I have one piece of advice for you: grab your console now.

While epic Prime Day discounts are pretty thin on the ground, there's still a good reason to pick one up now. Thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis, Nintendo has already revealed that price rises are coming to the Switch 2. It's been confirmed that, come September, the price US buyers will pay is increasing from $449 to $499 — and while the exact price rise hitting the UK market is yet to be revealed, expectations are that it will be in roughly the same ballpark as in the US.

With its larger, gorgeously vivid 1080p display, silky smooth performance and more sturdy build, the Switch 2 feels every bit the upgrade over its predecessor. And while you can't currently get it for much of a discount, with the price increasing by $50 in September, this may well be the best deal you'll get for a long while.

UK price: now £369.95 at Amazon (was: £385.00)View Deal

I'll admit I didn't upgrade from my Switch right away, in a large part because of the lack of killer exclusives available for Nintendo's new console in the first few months after its release. But when I finally did, I could absolutely see why we awarded it 4.5 stars in our Nintendo Switch 2 review.

Not only is its screen flat out gorgeous, packing plenty of brightness and vibrant colors, but it's silky smooth, hitting highs of 120Hz for compatible games. And performance is impressive — even a much more demanding title like the recent Indiana Jones and The Great Circle port feels great, despite being locked at 30fps rather than the 60fps (or above) hit by other platforms. That's an impressive feat for a handheld console this compact.

And the roster of games available for the Switch 2 has expanded massively since release. Donkey Kong Bananza feels like the exact breath of fresh air the series needed, adding a fun new gimmick in its landscape-smashing shenanigans, while I've genuinely been hoping to see a Metroid Prime 4 for almost two decades now. But it's Pokémon Pokopia that has most thoroughly hijacked my brain's dopamine system, allowing me to pour countless hours into building mansions and amusements for my 'mons.

However, if I hadn't already upgraded, there's no doubt that The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time remake would have pushed me over the top. Getting to relive my nostalgia-soaked memories of one of the greatest adventures of all time with a fresh new coat of paint is a compelling hook indeed. And for any fan dead set on experiencing it, I'd honestly recommend you getting your Switch 2 ordered now before you have to fork out for that extra markup.

If you're still dead set on holding out for a bargain price, keep an eye on our widget below or check out our Amazon Prime Day live blog if you're in the US or our Amazon Prime Day deals roundup in the UK.

More Prime Day deals in the US

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A “Magical” Ancient Curse Artifact Turned Up in an Unexpected Location—and in the Wrong Language

A “cursed” ancient Roman tablet, intended to invoke divine and demonic wrath upon one’s enemies, has been deciphered by researchers at Heidelberg University in Germany.

The magical lead tablet, originally discovered by Dutch archaeologists in the Netherlands, was crafted in the second century AD. Strangely, it is written in ancient Greek, although in an Egyptian style, rather than the Latin that would be expected for what was then a Roman province of Lower Germania.

Today, the excavation site within the city of Heerlen in the southeast of the Netherlands, near the German border, is home to the country’s largest ancient Roman ruins.

Curse Tablets

The object is not entirely unique, as it belongs to a category of curse tablets called katadesmoi in Greek and defixiones in Latin. The Greeks and Romans believed that cold, heavy iron was especially useful in binding supernatural entities, making it the go-to material for crafting such objects.

As this artifact’s material was both cold and heavy, it reminded ancient people of the bleak underworld. Additionally, lead is also easy to work with in practice, as it is both inexpensive and easy to inscribe.

These small tablets were typically inscribed with curses and then buried, with the intention of bringing misfortune upon rivals in matters of sport, law, or love.

At the time the tablet was created, Heerlen was a Roman military settlement known as Coriovallum. Dutch archaeologists unearthed the 9.3-by-4.8-centimeter katadesmos from a pit beneath the former town square.

Deciphering an Ancient Curse

Researchers at the University of Heidelberg’s Institute for Papyrology used reflectance transformation imaging, a technique that combines photographs taken under different lighting conditions to enhance subtle surface details. Their analysis revealed three distinct types of characters within the inscription.

The combination of Egyptian-style invocations of deities and demons written in ancient Greek is highly unusual for a region where Latin was the dominant written language. Also notable are three symbols known as “Characteres”—magical symbols believed to facilitate communication with supernatural entities—along with two male and two female names.

Dr. Rodney Ast, Academic Director of the Institute for Papyrology, suggests that these four individuals were either the targets of the curse or those on whose behalf it was created. However, Dr. Julia Lougovaya, a research associate at the institute, notes that the male names are Latin while the female names are Greek, a distinction that may hold additional significance.

“It cannot be ruled out that one of the two women was the author of the inscription and had brought the supposed ability to communicate with divine powers through such curses with her from Roman Egypt,” said Dr. Lougovaya.

Ancient Magical Practices

Magic played an important role in Egyptian society, where rituals aimed at healing and protection formed a visible part of religious life, while malicious spells were typically practiced more discreetly.

“In the early centuries A.D., Near Eastern, Egyptian, Jewish, and sometimes even Christian traditions increasingly merged and spread throughout the entire Roman Empire of that time – a development that the discovery from Heerlen impressively underscores,” explained Prof. Joachim Quack, Director of the Institute for Egyptology at Heidelberg University.

A forthcoming scholarly publication will provide the full transcription of the inscription and details of the analysis. The tablet is also scheduled to go on display at a museum in Heerlen in the future.

Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.

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Star Fox isn’t the most exciting remake, but it’s still a fun time

With protagonist Fox McCloud appearing in a surprise cameo in the recent Super Mario Galaxy Movie, it’s clear that Nintendo wants to bring its niche on-rail space shooter series to a wider audience. To that end, this new Star Fox makes a lot of sense. It’s a remake of the 1997 title Star Fox 64, which is beloved by fans and a good starting point if you’ve never played one of the games before.

Review info

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Release date: June 25, 2026

The problem for me is that this is far from the first time that Nintendo has brought Star Fox 64 back. I grew up with the Nintendo 3DS, and experienced it as Star Fox 64 3D. This was followed by some hands-on time with the Wii U reimagining Star Fox Zero, and then finally a playthrough of the original release when it came to Nintendo Switch via Nintendo Switch Online.

Every single mainline Star Fox game that’s come out since I was about eight years old has been a version of Star Fox 64, and now, as an adult, I’m getting yet another one in Star Fox for Nintendo Switch 2.

I really wish the gaming giant had been a little bolder with this release, adding even just a smidge of new gameplay to freshen up the old campaign. Still, Star Fox 64 is a cult classic for a reason, and thanks to its strong base, this remake is still plenty of fun to play through for what is, hopefully, one last time

Into the Lylat Wars

A Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 screenshot.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The premise is simple, if a little unconventional. You’re a dashing fox in a universe populated by anthropomorphic animals where civilization has managed to crack space colonization despite an apparent lack of opposable thumbs.

Rather than rooting through sci-fi bins, you’re the leader of a mercenary squad (staffed by you, the bird-like Falco, the lagomorphic Peppy, and slimy Slippy toad) that lends its services to the highest bidder — in this case an intergalactic army that’s waging war against the evil scientist dictator Andross.

Fully voiced and animated cutscenes to convey all this information are one of this remake’s biggest new additions, and they feel like a natural inclusion. They’re not super long or expansive by any means, but all flow well and are decently acted throughout even if there are a few moments where the animation can look a bit cheap.

They provide some much-needed downtime in between each of the levels, which are hectic, high-score challenges that see you steering your ship, the Arwing, through intense battles. The action unfurls in a largely on-rails format, but that doesn't mean that this isn’t a degree of strategy to it.

A Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 screenshot.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

You can swerve all across the screen, hitting barrel rolls to deflect incoming fire and blasting your laser canons. Your craft very much exists in a 3D space, so enemies often come up behind you, requiring evasive maneuvers like somersaults or hitting the brakes.

There's a boost too, which, deployed at the right time, can see you zooming under falling debris or through closing gaps — often picking up a power-up or two in the process. It’s all remarkably smooth to control, and sections where you pilot other vehicles keep the stages feeling fresh.

Each campaign is extremely short, taking just over an hour to complete, and has you working your way through a map of the galaxy littered with 16 unique planets.

Best bit

A Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 screenshot.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The challenge mode lets you replay all of the levels from the campaign but with some new tricky objectives. These reward you with unlocks like profile badges and lore to read, and I can already see it being a huge hit with completionists.

You can’t visit all of them in one playthrough, which, alongside the two main story paths, gives you plenty of reasons to replay it at least a couple of times. That said even when you bear that in mind, the experience is still pretty fleeting and doesn’t feel befitting of the $49.99 / £41.99 / AU$84.95 digital (or $59.99 / £44.99 / AU$99.95 physical) asking price.

This is especially true if you’ve played all the other versions of Star Fox 64, as you’re basically just paying for a new, admittedly quite pretty, coat of paint.

There is thankfully a new battle mode to try out, and it’s pretty good on the whole. It’s in an online 4v4 player versus player (PvP) format, with one team playing as the Star Fox squad and the other cast as their rivals Star Wolf. Each of the three maps has its own associated game mode, ranging from simple control point capture to fighting to drag limited space cargo back to base.

I’ve had a great time with it so far, though I can imagine that online populations will quickly dwindle given the small map pool. Hopefully a post-launch update will add some more.

Should I play Star Fox?

Play it if...

You’ve never tried Star Fox 64
If you’ve never experienced Star Fox 64 before, then Star Fox is the best version that’s readily available right now. The updated graphics are pleasant, and it feels fantastic to control.

You find it on sale
My main issue with Star Fox is its high asking price. If you can find it heavily discounted, then it’s well worth picking up.

Don't play it if...

You’re sick of the Nintendo 64 game
If you’ve played the previous Star Fox 64 remakes, then I would recommend skipping Star Fox. It looks pleasant, sure, but it really doesn't add much new beyond its cutscenes.

Accessibility features

As with most first-party Nintendo releases, the accessibility features here are thin. Subtitles are used throughout the game, though their appearance cannot be customized. You can invert the axis of the control scheme and disable features like controller rumble, but that’s basically it.

How I reviewed Star Fox

I played Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 for roughly eight hours, experiencing all of its major campaign routes, unlocking every planet, and trying out challenge mode.

I also dived into its multiplayer offering, using my earlier hands-on experience with other players when trying it at Nintendo HQ and testing matches against bots. I mainly played the game in handheld mode using the Joy-Con 2 controllers, though I did briefly test it in docked mode on a 4K Samsung TV to ensure the performance and Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller support is up to scratch.

First reviewed June 2026

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From Virtue to Vice: Tracing the Shift in Moral Themes of Popular Music Lyrics Since the 1960s

A groundbreaking study conducted by researchers at the Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London, reveals a profound cultural shift in the moral fabric embedded within popular music lyrics over the past six decades. By leveraging advanced computational techniques combined with artificial intelligence and linguistic analysis, the team has mapped an evolving landscape in song lyrics that reflects broader societal changes in emotional expression and moral values. This unprecedented research charts the decline of traditional virtues and a concurrent rise in language expressing moral vices, offering a new window into the collective psyche and cultural dynamics of modern society.

Popular music has long been acknowledged as a mirror to societal trends and sentiments, but this study elevates that understanding by quantitatively analyzing over 380,000 English-language songs released from 1960 through 2023. The researchers employed sophisticated natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to decode the moral themes present in song lyrics, categorizing emotional and ethical content within a scalable, data-driven framework. This expansive dataset incorporated multiple genres and both mainstream Billboard hits and lesser-known tracks, ensuring a comprehensive reflection of popular music’s lyrical evolution.

At the core of the research was the classification of lyrics according to moral foundations theory and sentiment analysis. The study tracked expressions linked to moral virtues such as care, decency, and loyalty alongside vices including harm, cheating, subversion, and degradation. Findings indicate a marked decline in lyrics invoking virtues, while negative sentiments—particularly those communicating conflict, anger, disgust, and antisocial behavior—have steadily surged. This dichotomy reveals not only changes in lyrical content but hints at a deeper transformation in cultural narratives and societal priorities over time.

Dr. Vjosa Preniqi, the lead author and a scholar in digital music research, elucidated the significance of these findings: music transcends entertainment—it functions as a cultural storyteller, encoding and broadcasting evolving societal values. Her insights emphasize that shifts in lyrical moral expression are nuanced and influenced by multiple factors, including genre-specific storytelling traditions and varying “shock-factor” tendencies within particular musical styles. This variation underscores the complexity of interpreting music as a cultural artifact and highlights the layered nature of moral discourse embedded within artistic expression.

Methodologically, the research utilized two expansive datasets: the WASABI dataset, featuring over 377,000 English lyrics spanning 1960 to 2010, supplemented by 5,500 top-charting singles from Billboard’s year-end charts extending into 2023. By integrating these datasets with machine learning models capable of semantic analysis and moral sentiment classification, the study achieves a level of granularity previously unattainable in cultural studies of music. This approach enables the detection of longitudinal trends in the interplay between emotional content and moral narratives on a scale unparalleled in previous literature.

One of the most striking revelations of the study is that the increasing prevalence of moral vices in lyrics does not simply reflect artistic rebellion or sensationalism but may symbolize broader societal shifts. The language of harm, subversion, and degradation capturing anger and disenchantment appears increasingly normalized within popular culture, potentially mirroring heightened social fragmentation, evolving attitudes towards authority, and intensified exposure to conflict in everyday life. This observation supports the thesis that popular music acts as a barometer, dynamically reflecting collective emotional states and moral orientations.

Another dimension explored by the study is the interplay between gender categories of artists and the moral tenor of their lyrics. Despite the acknowledged binary limitations in classifying artist gender within the datasets, patterns emerged showing that female artists more frequently express themes of care, loyalty, and social connection in their songwriting. In contrast, lyrics by male and mixed-gender groups tend to underscore themes related to conflict, harm, and degradation. These gendered moral narratives expose the complex ways identity, social roles, and cultural expectations are negotiated through musical storytelling.

Furthermore, genre-specific analysis elucidates diverse moral landscapes within popular music. Certain musical styles, such as soul and folk, are more closely associated with narratives centered on care, compassion, and communal values. Other genres, including punk, heavy metal, and hip-hop, often embrace vices and narratives of rebellion, subversion, and darker emotional states. This differentiation highlights how genre conventions shape and channel moral expression, reflecting distinct subcultural values and emotional registers within the broader musical ecosystem.

Senior author Dr. Charalampos Saitis underscores the reciprocal nature of music and culture, emphasizing that music both influences and responds to societal transformations. The capacity to quantitatively track these changes in moral storytelling within millions of song lyrics offers an innovative tool for sociologists, psychologists, and cultural theorists interested in the dynamic interplay between art and social values. These insights carry implications for understanding identity formation, cultural cohesion, and the emotional climate of contemporary society.

The technological underpinnings of the study represent a significant advancement in digital humanities and computational social science. By harnessing state-of-the-art artificial intelligence techniques, the researchers effectively decode complex moral and emotional dimensions traditionally accessible only through qualitative analysis. Such methods pave the way for future interdisciplinary research exploring cultural production, emotional expression, and moral evolution across diverse media, moving beyond anecdotal evidence to empirical, high-resolution cultural analytics.

This groundbreaking research arrives at a critical juncture when debates surrounding mental health, social fragmentation, and cultural transformation dominate public discourse. The study’s insights suggest that music, as a pervasive and influential cultural medium, encapsulates shifting emotional norms and value systems that both reflect and shape collective human experience. Understanding these trends holds profound importance for policymakers, educators, artists, and cultural leaders seeking to engage with society’s evolving moral landscape.

In conclusion, the evolution in moral expression documented by this study reveals a society increasingly confronted with complexity, ambivalence, and conflict as encoded in its popular music. The gradual erosion of lyrical virtues signals a transformative cultural moment, one where music captures the tensions and contradictions of a world in flux. This research not only amplifies our understanding of music as cultural commentary but also opens paths for deeper engagement with the ethical dimensions of artistic expression in the digital age.


Subject of Research: Evolution of moral expression in popular music lyrics from 1960 to 2023

Article Title: Evolution of moral expression in song lyrics

News Publication Date: 24-Jun-2026

Web References: 10.1038/s41598-026-53778-9

Keywords: moral values, popular music, song lyrics, cultural change, digital music analysis, artificial intelligence, sentiment analysis, emotion expression, social values, genre differences, artist gender, moral foundations

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NGSO trade association launches without industry giant SpaceX

A composite image of 33 exposures captures reflective Starlink satellites, making them appear to streak over the sky of southern Brazil. Credit: NASA / Egon Filter

Amazon and several other non-geostationary satellite operators have formed a trade association to represent their fast-growing market, with SpaceX notably absent despite having by far the largest NGSO constellation.

The post NGSO trade association launches without industry giant SpaceX appeared first on SpaceNews.

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