States with restrictive abortion policies saw slower growth in the proportion of female medical school applicants following the 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade, according to a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health by Amrit Kirpalani of Western University, Canada, and colleagues.

A major new study of more than 115,000 young people suggests teenage well-being may finally be recovering after years of concern over the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first large-sized bovines grew to up to half a ton 4 million years ago in the European Early Pliocene, an early step toward our modern diversity of large-bodied buffalo and cattle, according to a study published June 3, 2026, in the open access journal PLOS One by Leonardo Sorbelli of the Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Germany, and colleagues.

The extinction that ended the Age of Dinosaurs is best known for clearing the way for the Age of Mammals on land. Scientists have long suspected that the same catastrophe also transformed life in the seas, opening ecological space for the rise of modern marine fish faunas. Yet the timing and geography of that transition have remained uncertain because of the sparse fossil record.

A new study suggests that, for modern Japanese speakers, two traditional, patriarchal words for "husband" ("shujin," literally meaning "master") and "wife" ("kanai," "inside-the-house") may be losing their original meanings, though men in the study evaluated both traditional and neutral words for "husband" more positively than words for "wife."

A new study by researchers at the University of Tokyo explores whether reading manga on paper or on a tablet changes how the brain understands and remembers stories. Participants first read the opening half of a two-part manga story either on paper or on a tablet. Later, while inside an MRI scanner, they read the second half through LCD goggles and answered questions about the story.

Octopuses are remarkably intelligent creatures, as was demonstrated by Inky the Octopus's famous escape from the National Aquarium of New Zealand through a drainpipe back to sea in 2016. A new Dartmouth study shows octopuses can use mirrors to find food out of sight, demonstrating spatial cognitive abilities. The results are published in Current Biology.

The largest magnetic map of the universe ever produced—five times larger than all previous efforts combined—marks the beginning of a new generation of research into intergalactic magnetism. Magnetic fields influence how galaxies grow, how matter moves through space, and how the universe has evolved over billions of years.

Ahead of major soccer tournaments, a research team led by Achim Zeileis of the University of Innsbruck and Andreas Groll of TU Dortmund University calculates the chances of winning for all participating teams. For the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, their model identifies Spain as the slight favorite with 14.5%. Closely behind are England (12.4%), France (12.4%), and Germany (11.2%). Somewhat further back are Portugal (8.9%) and Argentina (8.2%), as well as the Netherlands (5.6%) and Brazil (4.7%). "Compared to previous tournaments, this year's title race is very tight," confirms Achim Zeileis.

Birgitta Schultze-Bernhardt and her team at the Institute of Experimental Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) have developed a new type of UV dual-comb spectrometer that detects gaseous air pollutants with unrivaled accuracy and sensitivity. Using ultraviolet double laser light, the device measures the concentration of harmful gases such as formaldehyde within half a second.

The rapid emergence of generative AI in higher education has raised concerns about students' reliance on the use of these tools for academic and personal tasks. Although generative AI can boost productivity and creativity, key learning skills may be undermined by overreliance on it.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. What goes up must come down. Physical laws like these govern all of the natural world—except for the tiny internal components of today's microprocessors, which operate according to the unique and complicated rules of quantum physics.

Big brands have built empires on slogans, declaring themselves the best among their competitors. These claims—glowing, subjective and impossible to verify—fall under what marketers call puffery. For decades, they've been treated as harmless fluff, waved through the court system on the assumption that consumers tune them out.

A new study published in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal suggests that spider webs—particularly those incorporating environmental debris—can serve as natural, non-destructive collectors of fungal material in agricultural ecosystems. The findings show that viable fungi can be recovered from these structures, including lineages that may represent previously undocumented diversity.

Southwest Research Institute, or SwRI, is studying impact flashes generated by high-speed collisions. One application of understanding impact flashes is to remotely identify what materials are involved in the collisions. Advances in understanding optical impact flashes can be highly beneficial for missile defense, making it possible to determine the composition of an intercepted missile and its payload.

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX)—which recently completed the largest survey ever taken of the early universe—has released all of its immense, information-rich database to the public. Built from more than half a petabyte of raw and processed data, it will allow astronomers to study how the first galaxies formed and evolved, measure how gas and stars were distributed within these galaxies, map the large-scale structure of the cosmos, and investigate rare and unexpected objects not easily found in traditional surveys.

The environmental footprint of data centers already rivals some of the world's largest countries, according to a United Nations University report, which also predicts their water and energy use and pollution will double in just four years as use of artificial intelligence grows.

Everyone knows that finding the right sauce recipe can make or break a barbecue, but now astronomers are using BBQSORS (pronounced "barbecue sauce") as part of the recipe to explain quasars, some of the brightest objects in the universe. These results were made possible by data from a new instrument on the Subaru Telescope.

In American politics, cursing and "four-letter words" are no longer confined to hot mics or hidden behind closed doors. Politicians and pundits are increasingly using so-called "bad words" in speeches, social media posts and campaign ads. Benjamin Bergen, professor of cognitive science, and Pamela Ban, associate professor of political science, both from UC San Diego's School of Social Sciences, examine why swearing among politicians is on the rise and what it reveals about persuasion, emotion and modern public discourse.

After six months of radio silence, NASA's Maven spacecraft at Mars has been declared dead.