Humans are social creatures; we live in family groups, socialise with friends, and work with colleagues both in person and online. Yet, how many friends do you really have? Evolutionary psychologist Professor Robin Dunbar says it won’t be more than 150. Proposed in the 1990s, ‘Dunbar’s number’ puts a limit on the number of stable relationships huma…

Humanity is overwhelmed by planetary tragedies: climate crisis, widespread hunger, desertification, migrations, destruction of biodiversity, corruption and many more. They are out of control because they are too complex for common-sense approaches like analysis and committees. But now there are grounds for hope. Dr Alfredo del Valle’s method, ‘Part…

In Switzerland, young adults face major challenges when transitioning from school to the workplace—especially those with special educational needs. How can peer support help them navigate career choices and build resilience? Professors Claudia Schellenberg and Annette Krauss explore this question through the Empower Peers 4 Careers project, and exa…

In East Asia, high marriage rates coexist with some of the world’s lowest fertility rates. So, why are so few children born in these societies? And how is this related to the strongly embedded cultural and Confucianist influences? Professors Sunha Myong, Jungjae Park, and Junjian Yi investigate the cultural and socioeconomic factors shaping these t…

The knowledge gained during the COVID-19 pandemic and other health emergencies could prove invaluable for devising responses to and planning for future health crises. Dr Landry Ndriko Mayigane and Dr Stella Chungong from the Health Security Preparedness Department of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergency Programme recently devised the ‘N…

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a vital enzyme in the immune system, with the potential to revolutionise antiseptics and cancer therapy. Professor Robert C. Allen has developed MPO-based antiseptics effective in blood which are systemically safe, while also demonstrating selective anticancer properties. Together with Jackson T. Stephens, the work overcome…

Hybrid psychological agents and transformative hybrid contexts offer new ways to bridge cultural divides, foster inclusion, and drive social change. Dr. Beatriz Macías-Gómez-Estern from Universidad Pablo de Olavide investigates hybrid learning spaces where diverse cultural, social, and institutional worlds connect. From service-learning projects wi…

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with treatment responses varying widely among patients. Dr. Carminia Maria Della Corte from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is at the forefront of research into using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to identify immune biomarkers. Her work explores the cG…

Memory is a problem for many people as they age. To combat this, wearable devices may help older adults recall precious memories through what is called 'life-logging', despite these technologies raising significant privacy concerns. Researchers at Singapore Management University, led by Thivya Kandappu, have developed PrivacyPrimer, a tool designed…

While we may associate Messenger RNA (mRNA for short) with the COVID-19 pandemic vaccination programme, its study in fact began over 60 years ago. Born in 1955 in rural Hungary, Katalin Karikó battled critics and scepticism for her research into mRNA for over 30 years before its role in the COVID-19 vaccination programme gained her recognition and,…

While the management of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is guided by recurrence risk assessment, current methods cannot accurately predict disease recurrence. Professor Oliver Bathe and his collaborators at the University of Calgary, Canada, have developed a test that includes genetic data linked to recurrence. Together, they identified three molecu…

The COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call for governments and their global stakeholders to reform the management processes of infectious disease outbreaks. Dr Stella Chungong and Dr Landry Ndriko Mayigane of the Health Security Preparedness Department of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme are encouraging countries to implem…

Almost every city in the modern world faces the difficult challenge of understanding its citizens’ opinions and turning them into meaningful decisions. Miloš Švaňa, a PhD student at Technical University of Ostrava, has decided to focus on this topic in his dissertation, with an aim to develop a framework for social media data analysis. By using fuz…

The actions of humans are typically influenced by societal norms and mainstream trends that are passed down from generation to generation, shaping our life choices and behavioural patterns. Jean-Paul Close, founder of the STIR Foundation and AiREAS, experienced the breaking of heritage and the revival of core human values first-hand, after he chose…

Joint manipulation, applying a manipulation force to the spine to improve joint mobility and reduce pain, often comes with an audible pop. Patients and some practitioners often regard this audible sound as a sign of a successful treatment, but is that necessarily true? Dr Rob Sillevis at Florida Gulf Coast University conducted a comprehensive inves…

We increasingly rely on electronic communications across society. You may have heard privacy protection methods for those messages, such as end-to-end encryption. However, can that protection be guaranteed against governments, industries or bad actors? How can we ensure privacy, but at the same time have the means to enforce laws and prevent malici…

Helium nanodroplets are fascinating objects that can be used as microscopic laboratories to form new types of nanomaterials. Researchers in COSY COST Action’s Working Group 4 , which recently celebrated its second anniversary, combine quantum, semiclassical and classical methods to investigate the physico-chemical properties of these droplets under…

A nanoparticle is a tiny particle typically in the size range of one to one hundred nanometres. Nano-scale systems can exhibit unique quantum mechanical properties due to their size. The European Association for Cooperation in Science and Technology, which recently celebrated its second anniversary, focuses on the science of confined molecular syst…

On most days, a weather forecast is a convenient answer to simple questions, like : do I need an umbrella? How windy will it be? For high stakes questions around landslide hazards, how do we deal with slope failure forecast? And are there any new tools improving our capabilities without waiting to learn from another disaster? Andrea Manconi, resear…

Osteoarthritis is the most common disease in the world, characterised by the progressive degeneration of cartilage in the joints. Dr Torbjörn Ogéus from the Stockholms led- & smärtspecialist clinic in Sweden, who is pioneering regenerative medicine approaches to treating osteoarthritis using patients’ stem cells. These treatments show significant i…

Transportation is a key part of our life, either travelling ourselves or in transporting goods. Fossil fuels are still the most widely applied fuel for transportation purposes, given that the vast majority of engines are traditional combustion engines. The harmful emissions from these engines are well researched, and their direct or indirect contri…

We humans share over 99% of our DNA with each other. This means personalised therapies for diseases such as cancer or neurodegenerative conditions have to be tailored to the most minute differences between us - or even between our own cells. Professor Mark Ebbert of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky leads a lab focusin…

For millennia, humans and horses have enjoyed a special relationship. Recent research shows that working with horses can improve human mental health and wellbeing. Professor Ann Hemingway is part of a multidisciplinary team that has demonstrated that equine-assisted services can improve outcomes for families impacted by domestic abuse and mitigate …

‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers’ – King Henry’s speech to rouse his troops before the Battle of Agincourt is one of the most famous in Shakespeare. But what does ‘Henry V’ tell us about theories of war in Elizabethan England? Professor Anne-Marie Walkowicz of Ohio’s Central State University in the USA argues that the play explores the ju…

What happens when CEOs are shielded by employment and severance agreements? Researchers from Singapore Management University, University of Hong Kong, Boston College, and led by Dr. Xia Chen put forward this critical question. The study investigates how CEO contractual protection impacts corporate debt contracting. With insights from a comprehensiv…