University of Murcia

How much homework do teachers assign? If children spend more time doing homework, do they get better grades? What should homework be like in order to be useful? There are conflicting opinions on this subject, as well as a great deal of academic research. In this article, we present evidence to unravel some of the controversies –with a focus on primary education, which is usually completed between the ages of six and twelve.

When Neanderthals and modern humans had offspring together, little Neanderthal DNA from the X chromosome entered the human gene pool. A study published in the journal Science traced ancient gene flow and found a relative excess of 62% modern human ancestry on Neanderthal X chromosomes. This suggests that the couples who had children were mostly Neanderthal men and modern human women, although the authors cannot rule out the possibility that demographic processes played a significant role.

The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced on Tuesday from Dubai that Spain will ban children under the age of 16 from accessing social media and will adopt other measures to increase control over digital platforms and ensure that their executives are held accountable for violations. Sánchez made this announcement in his speech to the plenary session of the World Government Summit and announced that next week the government will approve a series of measures, including this ban.

A phase 3 clinical trial conducted in China tested 210 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer—the most common type—to see whether the time of day when immunotherapy and chemotherapy were administered influenced their effectiveness. The data indicate that, on average, those who received therapy after 3 p.m. did not see their cancer worsen for 5.4 months. In contrast, those who received it before that time did not see their cancer worsen for an average of 11.7 months, almost twice as long. Overall, response rates were 56.2% and 69.5%, respectively. The results, published in Nature Medicine, suggest that scheduling therapy early in the day may offer a simple and cost-free way to improve treatment efficacy.

Moderate-intensity physical activity, such as walking at an average speed of 5 km/h for an additional five minutes per day, is associated with a 10% reduction in all-cause mortality among most adults, according to a study published in The Lancet. The research also found that reducing sedentary time by 30 minutes per day was associated with an estimated 7% reduction in all-cause mortality if adopted by most adults. The study analyzed data from more than 135,000 adults from Norway, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom, with an average follow-up of eight years.

A study published in the journal Scientific Reports reveals an increase in simplicity, negativity, and stress-related words in pop song lyrics in the United States over the last few decades. The authors also conclude that this phenomenon was attenuated in times of social crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which ‘highlights the role of music in both shaping and reflecting moods.’ The data included more than 20,000 songs from the US charts between 1973 and 2023. 

A review conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration analyzed the effects of colchicine—a medication commonly used to treat some rheumatic diseases—on people who had already experienced a cardiovascular event. The review included 12 clinical trials with more than 23,000 patients and concluded that colchicine reduces the risk of stroke or heart attack in these individuals. Overall, for every 1,000 people treated, there were 9 fewer heart attacks and 8 fewer strokes compared to those who did not take the medication, with no apparent serious side effects.

An international team has used the CRISPR gene-editing tool to modify a key gene for the replication of the classical swine fever virus in pigs. The experiment, conducted on four animals, showed complete protection against the disease. According to the researchers, this breakthrough could serve as an additional method for controlling this type of virus, which entails significant economic and animal welfare costs. The results are published in the journal Trends in Biotechnology. 

The Karolinska Institute has awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for describing how the immune system is regulated so as not to harm us. His groundbreaking discoveries on peripheral immune tolerance have spurred the development of new treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

If the United States did not change the time twice a year, there would be a lower incidence of obesity and strokes. This is the conclusion of a study by Stanford University (USA) published in PNAS that compared how three different time policies — permanent standard time (winter), permanent daylight saving time, and biannual time changes — could affect circadian rhythms and the health of the population. By modelling light exposure, circadian impacts and health characteristics county by county, the researchers estimate that permanent standard time would prevent about 300,000 cases of stroke per year and reduce the number of people with obesity by 2.6 million, compared to biannual changes. Permanent daylight saving time would also be positive, although with a smaller impact.