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- Computer simulations can help people gain a better understanding of the situation faced by migrants. This is shown by a new study in which 148 teenagers were assigned random migration pathways, with different start and end points. Along the way, they encountered unforeseen events that affected their journey. Experiences from the game led to a partial shift in attitudes toward migration.
- In recent decades, income and wealth disparities have widened significantly in many European countries. At the same time, support for populist parties has grown. Previous studies have already pointed out that rising inequality may be contributing to the growth of populist movements. But how can this correlation be explained? Why are more and more people turning to populist parties?
- AI systems are increasingly shaping public opinion, often in very subtle ways. A new study reveals that current legislation, such as the EU AI Act, is ill-equipped to handle this shift. The findings, authored by researchers from the Weizenbaum Institute, were recently published in the journal Communications of the ACM.
- A prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important oil shipping routes, could severely disrupt global supply chains and destabilize energy markets, potentially leading to far-reaching economic impacts, according to a new study conducted by the Supply Chain Intelligence Institute Austria (ASCII) in collaboration with the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) and TU Delft.
- Jurors grappling with complex legal jargon are more likely to vote guilty while coming away less confident in their own performance and the judicial system, according to a new study published in the Journal of Applied Communication Research.
- A new University of Missouri study suggests mental health policies can play a significant role in how Americans choose political candidates. Past scholarly research has found that most Americans say they support mental health policies. Jake Haselswerdt, an associate professor of political science in Mizzou's College of Arts and Science, wanted to take the topic a step further by asking whether mental health policies actually matter when people choose to vote for a political candidate.
- A new study on ancient societies from around the world is rewriting what we thought we knew about democracy. A team of researchers analyzed archaeological and historical evidence from 31 ancient societies across Europe, Asia, and the Americas and found that shared, inclusive governance was far more common than was once believed. The findings are published in the journal Science Advances.
- American politics is increasingly characterized by high levels of polarization and divisive rhetoric, despite stated preferences among voters for civility and substantive debate. Sean J. Westwood and colleagues sought to understand what might incentivize a politician to use divisive rhetoric by analyzing 2.2 million public statements from the 118th U.S. Congress. The study is published in PNAS Nexus.
- The Asian community in the United States was microscopic six decades ago, for the wrong reasons. Because of discriminatory policies put in place that targeted the group—including federal legislation first enacted in the 19th century—Asian Americans in 1965 made up less than 1% of the U.S.'s total population, according to the Pew Research Center.
- Across Europe, education has become one of the biggest dividing lines in politics, and educational qualifications are now one of the best predictors of vote choice in Britain. This is particularly the case for new parties that compete more on cultural issues, including Reform and the Greens, who attract voters from different ends of the educational spectrum.
- Why do widely supported solutions to major problems, such as climate change, so often struggle to gain real traction? A new study suggests that part of the answer lies in understanding why people resist change, and how the combination of their preferences and social networks can help overcome that resistance.
- Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, are accessed daily by millions of people worldwide. In the weeks or months leading up to elections, many political parties use social media platforms as part of their campaigns to promote candidates, raise funds, or disseminate their proposed policies.
- During the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5, 2026, Paula White-Cain, senior adviser to the White House Office of Faith, introduced President Donald Trump as "the greatest champion of faith that we have ever had in the executive branch." Taking the podium after her, Trump declared, "I've done more for religion than any other president."
- In a new analysis, racial and ethnic disparities in fatal shootings of U.S. residents by police varied widely between states. Roland Neil of the RAND Corporation in California, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One.
- The news media is shaping reproductive narratives and stigma around childlessness, presenting it as a threat to national interests, a deviation from moral or cultural norms, as a risk and, sometimes, as a legitimate life path. In an article published in PLOS Global Public Health, Julia Schröders of Umeå University, Sweden, and colleagues, conclude that understanding these narratives will allow the development of media literacy initiatives to destigmatize and support more equitable health communication.
- The climate measures currently in place are unlikely to meet Paris Climate Agreement targets. Whether further political measures can move us closer to the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees and combating climate change depends heavily on public opinion and political support. Researchers at ETH Zurich led by Keith Smith, Senior Researcher in Professor Thomas Bernauer's research group, conducted a large-scale survey across 13 EU countries to find out which measures are publicly and politically acceptable, and why. Their findings are published in Nature Climate Change.
- Texas busing programs that transported newly arrived immigrants to Democratic-led cities boosted President Donald Trump's vote share in affected counties during the 2024 election, according to a new study from the USC Price School of Public Policy and the University of North Texas.
- Indigenous people in the United States are at higher risk of fatal police violence in and around American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) reservations, according to the first comprehensive national study on the subject from researchers at Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health and the University of Washington. The study, using data on the 203 AIAN people killed by police from 2013 through 2024, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors hope this work will inform policy action to better protect these communities.
- The growing use of AI-generated scientific and science-related content, especially on social media, raises important concerns: these texts may contain false or highly persuasive information that is difficult for users to detect, potentially shaping public opinion and decision-making.
- The Doomsday Clock—a symbolic device to signal an array of existential threats to the world since 1947—was recently moved to 85 seconds before midnight, the closest it has ever been to midnight. And that was before all-out war broke out in Iran.
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