University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU)

The report 'Experiences of researchers who interact with the media and social networks in Spain', carried out by FECYT’s Science Media Centre Spain (SMC) in collaboration with the research group Gureiker, from the University of the Basque Country, analyses data from a survey, the first of its kind in Spain, on the relationship with the media and social networks of the expert sources contacted by the SMC Spain from March 2022 to July 2024. The results show that scientists have a positive or very positive perception of their participation in the media (83.12%). However, 51.05% of respondents admit to having suffered an attack after communicating science. Women receive significantly more attacks than men: 56.86% of female scientists report attacks compared to 46.21% of male scientists. The social network X (formerly Twitter) is the most common avenue for this type of attack. 

According to a Lancet Public Health commission on commercial gambling, stricter regulations are needed on a global scale to reduce its impact on health and wellbeing worldwide. The authors argue that the harms caused by gambling are a threat to public health, exacerbated by the rapid expansion and digital transformation of the industry. These harms include physical and mental health problems, increased risk of suicide, gender-based violence and financial problems.

The Twinning project is a UK-based initiative that organises soccer-based programmes, with the collaboration of professional clubs such as some Premier League clubs, to improve the mental and physical health of prisoners. Research has studied the behaviour of more than 670 of these participants and a group that did not participate, as well as collecting data related to the possible reintegration of those who were in this programme. According to the authors, who publish their research in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, ‘the results indicate that social bonding is associated with better behaviour in prison and a greater willingness of host communities to support reintegration efforts’.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2024 to researchers John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton for discovering the foundations that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks. Hinton for discovering the foundational basis that enables machine learning with artificial neural networks. This technology, inspired by the structure of the brain, is behind what we now call ‘artificial intelligence’. 

The Anthropocene began around 1952, according to a study based on geological records from 137 sites around the world, published in PNAS. The term ‘Anthropocene’ describes the period in Earth's history when human activities have drastically altered the planet; in March, an international scientific body dismissed it as an official geological epoch.

Using artificial intelligence (AI)-generated datasets to train future generations of machine learning models can contaminate their results, a concept known as ‘model collapse’, according to a paper published in Nature. The research shows that, within a few generations, original content is replaced by unrelated nonsense, demonstrating the importance of using reliable data to train AI models.

Access to safe public spaces to meet, employment, education and public health are some of the main measures recommended to make cities more friendly to the mental health of young people and adolescents. The analysis, based on surveys of 518 people in several countries, is published in the journal Nature and is intended to serve as a guide for urban planning policies that reduce inequalities and take into account the needs of young people.

A team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany has analysed nearly 10,000 ancient genomes and found six cases of people with Down's syndrome and one with Edwards' syndrome. Most of them died before or shortly after birth. The findings correspond to different periods up to 5,500 years old and several of them have been found in Navarra. According to the authors, "the care with which the burials were carried out and the objects found with these individuals indicate that ancient societies probably treated people with trisomies 18 and 21 as members of their communities". The findings are published in Nature Communications.

In a recent publication, we discovered that efforts to monitor genetic diversity in Europe are incomplete and need to be extended to account for potential climate change impacts on species of conservation interest.

A meta-analysis, pooling the results of 40 previous studies - involving more than 310,000 children and adolescents in total - concludes that treatment rates for mental disorders in these age groups are "generally low, especially for depression and anxiety". The research, published in JAMA Network Open, shows that the treatment rate for any mental disorder is 38%, ranging from 31% for anxiety, 36% for depression, 49% for conduct disorders and 58% for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).