Wetenschap en kunst

Wetenschap

Nature.com

https://www.nature.com






Sciencedaily.com

https://www.sciencedaily.com

Your brain can keep improving into your 90s, study finds

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A three-year study of nearly 4,000 adults ranging from age 19 to 94 found that brain health can improve at any age, challenging the common belief that mental sharpness must decline as we get older. Participants spent just a few minutes a day on brain-training activities, and researchers found measurable gains across multiple aspects of brain health, including thinking clarity, emotional well-being, and sense of purpose.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260613034222.htm



Alien planet spins revealed a hidden clue to how worlds form

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Using the Keck Observatory, astronomers measured the spins of dozens of giant planets and brown dwarfs orbiting distant stars. They found that giant planets can spin faster than much more massive brown dwarfs, challenging simple assumptions about mass and rotation. The results suggest that magnetic fields and formation processes play a major role in determining how fast worlds end up spinning.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260613034225.htm



Why grandparents matter more than ever for children's mental health

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A child psychologist says grandparents are more important than ever as youth mental health challenges continue to rise. He argues that children need supportive relationships, meaningful conversations, and a sense of purpose—not just pressure to achieve. Grandparents can help by listening, encouraging, and creating positive experiences that strengthen emotional resilience.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260613034206.htm


sci.news

https://www.sci.news

Astronomers May Have Found Supernova Remnant near Milky Way’s Central Black Hole

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Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton satellite, astronomers identified a possible remnant of ancient stellar explosion just a few dozen light-years from Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy.

The post Astronomers May Have Found Supernova Remnant near Milky Way’s Central Black Hole appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

https://www.sci.news/astronomy/sagittarius-c-supernova-remnant-14841.html


New Species of Ancient Bear-Dog Identified in Spain

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Paleontologists have identified a previously unknown species of amphicyonid -- the extinct family of carnivorous mammals popularly known as bear-dogs -- from two specimens unearthed at a rich fossil site in the Vallès-Penedès Basin near Barcelona, Spain.

The post New Species of Ancient Bear-Dog Identified in Spain appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

https://www.sci.news/paleontology/paludocyon-moyasolai-14840.html


Amazon’s Elusive Short-Eared Dog May Be More Common than Researchers Once Thought

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Hundreds of camera-trap records from Bolivia and Peru suggest the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis), one of the world’s least-known canids and one of Latin America’s least-known carnivores, may be thriving in intact upland forests.

The post Amazon’s Elusive Short-Eared Dog May Be More Common than Researchers Once Thought appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

https://www.sci.news/biology/short-eared-dog-14839.html


Scientists Capture First-Ever Images of Cozumel Dwarf Fox

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Researchers have obtained the first-ever photographs of the Cozumel dwarf fox (Urocyon sp.), an elusive dwarf fox living on the Caribbean island of Cozumel, off Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Captured in September 2023, the images provide the first confirmed evidence since 2001 that the elusive animal still survives on the island.

The post Scientists Capture First-Ever Images of Cozumel Dwarf Fox appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

https://www.sci.news/biology/cozumel-dwarf-fox-14838.html


Study: Cave Lions were Distinct Species that Occasionally Bred with Ancestors of Today’s Lions

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The extinct Eurasian cave lion (Panthera spelaea) and today’s African and Asian lions (Panthera leo) belong to separate evolutionary lineages that diverged roughly 1.7 million years ago -- far earlier than previously thought, according to an analysis of 12 cave lion genomes spanning more than 100,000 years.

The post Study: Cave Lions were Distinct Species that Occasionally Bred with Ancestors of Today’s Lions appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

https://www.sci.news/paleontology/cave-lions-14837.html


Science.org

https://www.science.org






The Lancet

http://www.thelancet.com

[Editorial] The next steps for chronic kidney disease

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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has emerged after decades of neglect, we noted in November 2025, with the adoption of the WHO resolution on kidney health. The resolution was a long overdue recognition of the need for concerted global attention. However, efforts to implement and operationalise these kinds of agreements are often met with opposition, inertia, and indifference. A Health Policy paper in this week's issue of The Lancet provides practical guidance on how to fulfil the resolution's promises, drawing on lessons from diabetes control and calling for integration in the broader non-communicable disease agenda.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)01183-9/fulltext?rss=yes


[Comment] Highlights 2026 photography competition: health and humanity in focus

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The Lancet's annual Highlights photography competition began in 2009; since then we have published photographs that capture a rich variety of health stories worldwide. In 2025 some of the winning images came from China, India, Kenya, Japan, Mali, Nepal, South Africa, South Korea, The Gambia, the USA, and Zimbabwe.1 Highlights 2026 is now open for submissions.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)01142-6/fulltext?rss=yes


[Comment] The Wakley Prize 2026: learning experience

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“In medicine, needless to say, the moment you feel as if you've mastered something is invariably the point at which your next experience will knock you straight back down to earth.”1 Physician and writer Rachel Clarke's words will ring true, painfully so, with anyone in practice, but especially early-career clinicians. Doctors emerge proudly from final examinations and assessments, brains overflowing with facts and figures, only to realise that the real process of learning has only just begun. For this year's Wakley Prize, we're interested in the early years of a health professional's career.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00919-0/fulltext?rss=yes




Newscientist.com

https://www.newscientist.com




How to sparkle in conversation with strangers

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In the face of loneliness, many people are turning to AI chatbots for companionship – but research shows it can’t replace human connection. Columnist David Robson explores how beneficial it can be to talk to strangers, with evidence-based tips on how to get the conversation flowing

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2530034-how-to-sparkle-in-conversation-with-strangers/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home



Phys.org

https://phys.org


Could leaves help feed humanity after disaster?

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UC researchers are investigating whether leaf protein and sugar extracted from plant fiber could help sustain people if major global shocks disrupt food production. Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) Associate Professor David Denkenberger, who has spent more than a decade studying food resilience in extreme scenarios, says the work is part of a broader effort to identify practical ways to prevent mass starvation if global food systems are severely disrupted.

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-humanity-disaster.html



How directing water flows in the landscape could support groundwater and surface water streams

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Researchers at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research have investigated how water from streams can be stored in the aquifer during wet periods. Using an area in the lower Spree catchment in Brandenburg as an example, the team used a computer model to show that naturally occurring small basins in the landscape could absorb excess stream water, allowing it to seep slowly into the ground and subsequently stabilize groundwater and connected surface water bodies. In the calculations, the groundwater level rose locally by up to 2 meters (6.6 feet). Water flow in connected streams could be increased by up to 15%. The study was published in the Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies.

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-landscape-groundwater-surface-streams.html



Sciencenews.org

https://www.sciencenews.org






Geesteswetenschappen

Aeon.co

https://aeon.co






Artnews.com

https://www.artnews.com






CreativeBoom.com

https://www.creativeboom.com






Neural.it

http://neural.it/






theguardian.com/education/humanities

https://www.theguardian.com/education/humanities

Tim Winton among 100 high-profile Australians calling for university fees that don’t ‘punish’ arts students

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Open letter urges Labor to reverse JRG scheme, introduced by Coalition in 2021, as cost of humanities degrees reaches more than $50,000

Tim Winton knows what it’s like to be the first in a family to go to university – “what a breakthrough that is, the kind of opportunities it provides”.

It was at the Western Australian Institute of Technology, studying arts, that he wrote his first novel, An Open Swimmer, launching a four-decade writing career.

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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/28/open-letter-to-australian-government-university-fees-jrg-scheme


Large language models that power AI should be publicly owned | Letter

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The future of public knowledge rests on building open-access LLMs driven by ethics rather than profit, writes Prof Dr Matteo Valleriani

Large language models (LLMs) have rapidly entered the landscape of historical research. Their capacity to process, annotate and generate texts is transforming scholarly workflows. Yet historians are uniquely positioned to ask a deeper question – who owns the tools that shape our understanding of the past?

Most powerful LLMs today are developed by private companies. While their investments are significant, their goals – focused on profit, platform growth or intellectual property control – rarely align with the values of historical scholarship: transparency, reproducibility, accessibility and cultural diversity.

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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/26/large-language-models-that-power-ai-should-be-publicly-owned


Humanities teaching will have to adapt to AI | Letter

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Jim Endersby recalls how maths teachers responded to the arrival of cheap pocket calculators in the 1970s and likens it to current fears of AI use by university students

I agree with Prof Andrew Moran and Dr Ben Wilkinson (Letters, 2 March) that cheap and easy‐to‐use AI tools create problems for universities, but the reactions of many academics to these new developments remind me of the way some people responded to the arrival of cheap pocket calculators in the 1970s.

Reports of the imminent death of maths teaching in schools proved exaggerated. Maths teachers had to adapt, not least to teach students the longstanding rule “garbage in, garbage out”; if students had no idea of the fundamental principles and ideas behind maths, they would not realise their answer was meaningless. Today’s humanities teachers are going to have to adapt in similar ways.

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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/04/humanities-teaching-will-have-to-adapt-to-ai


The deep cultural cost of British university job cuts | Letters

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Arts and humanities are being hit hardest by cuts in higher education, write Prof Thea Pitman and Prof Emma Cayley, and Dr Ronan McLaverty-Head and another letter writer comment on cuts at Cardiff and another Russell Group university

In response to the shocking news predicting up to 10,000 imminent job losses across the UK higher education sector (Quarter of leading UK universities cutting staff due to budget shortfalls, 1 February), we write to flag up a fact that the article largely misses: the degree to which arts and humanities subjects are bearing the brunt of these cuts.

While the article singles out the loss of nursing courses at Cardiff University and the closure of chemistry courses across the country, it mentions the humanities just once in passing. Last week it was ancient history, modern languages, music, religion and theology at Cardiff University. Not so long ago, it was subjects including English, history, music and theatre at Goldsmiths, and art history, music, philosophy and religious studies at the University of Kent, to name just two. And with each passing week more arts and humanities courses and departments are cut.

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https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/feb/05/the-deep-cultural-cost-of-british-university-job-cuts


The Guardian view on humanities in universities: closing English Literature courses signals a crisis

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With degrees disappearing and reading rates plummeting, the arts face a critical moment in education and culture

The announcement that Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent is to stop offering English literature degrees has set several hares running, most of them in the wrong direction. The university said in effect that hardly anyone wanted to study English literature at degree level any more and the course was therefore no longer viable. If you can’t do EngLit in the city of Chaucer and Marlowe, where can you do it?

Canterbury’s tale is a familiar one. EngLit is in wholesale retreat at A level, with numbers down from 83,000 in 2013 to 54,000 in 2023, and there has been a decline at university, too, over the past decade, though statistics are disputed because the subject gets studied at degree level in many guises, including creative writing and linguistics. Overall, humanities subjects seem to be losing their appeal, with only 38% of students taking a course in 2021/22, down from nearly 60% between 2003/4 and 2015/16.

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https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/dec/05/the-guardian-view-on-humanities-in-universities-closing-english-literature-courses-signals-a-crisis