Detection, attribution, and projection of hot droughts at weekly, monthly, seasonal, and annual scales across the globe

Science China Press

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This study is led by Yitong Zhang and Zengchao Hao from the College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University. Research on the hot drought variability generally paid attention to a specific timescale relevant to its impacts, leaving a comprehensive understanding of changes across timescales lacking. This study identified regional and global changes in hot droughts at different timescales, including observed changes and attribution to human influence, as well as projected changes, based on the ERA5 reanalysis product and model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6).

An increase in the frequency and spatial extent of hot droughts for weekly, monthly, seasonal, and annual scales was observed in historical periods. A pronounced shift in the trend of spatial extent became evident after the 1990s. At the regional scale, increased changes in the frequency and upward trends of spatial extents were observed across most of the 26 IPCC SREX regions. Comparisons of changes in the frequency and spatial extent from ERA5, CMIP6 all-forcing (ALL), and CMIP6 natural forcing (NAT) simulations from 1951 to 2014 indicated that anthropogenic factors played a significant role in driving the observed increases in hot droughts. Increased frequency and spatial extent of hot droughts across multiple timescales were projected under the SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5 scenarios in the future period 2015–2100. A higher frequency of hot droughts was projected at northern South America, southern Africa, and Europe, across different timescales for the future period 2037–2100, with certain high latitude regions displaying decreased frequency at the annual timescale.

This study revealed the emerging pattern that warmer and drier weeks, months, seasons, and years are likely to become the norm in a changing climate. In tandem with improved efforts on impact and risk assessments of hot droughts, this study provides useful information for the implementation of tailored adaptation measures to mitigate the negative impacts of hot droughts across timescales.

 

See the article:

Zhang Y, Hao Z, Chen Y, Pang Y, Singh V P. 2025. Increases in global hot droughts across multiple timescales. Science China Earth Sciences, 68(10):3189–3199, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-024-1680-4

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Journal

Science China Earth Sciences

DOI

10.1007/s11430-024-1680-4 

 

Isotopic evidence reveals ethnic integration in the Guanzhong region during the sixteen kingdoms period in the perspective of dietary cultural identity

Science China Press

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Figure 1 Scatter plot of δ13C and δ15N values of bone collagen

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Credit: ©Science China Press

The Sixteen Kingdoms period (SKP) was a critical phase in the formation of the Chinese national community. The Guanzhong region, where agricultural and pastoral populations coexisted and interacted, served as a significant arena for the convergence and exchange of agricultural and nomadic dietary cultures, during this period. Therefore, revealing the integration between these two groups from the perspective of dietary cultural identity holds great importance for exploring the formation and development of the Chinese national community. Stable carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotope analysis of human bones provides the most direct evidence for revealing human diet and subsistence strategies, and has become one of the primary methods in archaeology for studying the integration of agricultural and pastoral populations. However, to date, there still has been a lack of stable isotopic evidence of human bones from the Sixteen Kingdoms period to investigate dietary cultural identity and the integration between agricultural and pastoral populations.

This study is undertaken by the research teams led by Prof. Hu Yaowu from the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology and Institute of Archaeological Science at the Fudan University, and led by Prof. Liu Daiyun in Shanxi Academy of Archaeology. They conducted stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of 36 human bone samples from 25 individuals of the Sixteen Kingdoms period (including long bones and ribs from the same individual) from tombs of Phases II and III of the Xi’an Xianyang Airport site (XXA (SKP)).

This study represents China’s first isobioarchaeological research focusing on the Sixteen Kingdoms period, and provides an excellent case study for exploring dietary cultural identity and agro-pastoral integration in the Central Plains during this period. The paper, titled " Dietary cultural identity and ethnic integration: stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bones in the Guanzhong region during the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304–439 AD)", were published in Science China Earth Sciences .

The isotopic data indicate that ancestors mainly consumed C4-based (millets) foods or animals fed on their byproducts, supplemented by C3-based (wheat, rice, etc.) foods, which reflects a subsistence strategy mixed with millet, wheat or rice agriculture and livestock husbandry (Figure 1). The isotopic results of individuals from middle and high rank burials, represented by the female individual from tomb M298, indicate the approval and strong reliance on the agricultural economy by the notables. Additionally, significant isotopic differences between long bones and ribs were observed in five individuals (Figure 2), suggesting significant dietary shifts before their death, which might be caused by the migration during their last lifetime.

When comparing the isotopic data of humans from the Han (202 BC–220 AD) to the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD) in the Guanzhong region as well as Xiongnu and Tuoba Xianbei in the steppe, we find that the nomads had already adopted and developed millet agriculture before migrating into Guanzhong region and that they further adopted the agricultural economy during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. This indicates the more positive attitudes of the nomads to the agricultural system when they moved into Guangzhou region, which promotes the integration of different populations and dietary cultures ultimately.

During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, large numbers of nomadic pastoralists from the northern steppe migrated into the Guanzhong region. The δ15N value of XXA(SKP) are significantly lower than those of the Han Dynasty while the δ13C values are slightly lower than those of the Han Dynasty (Figure 3), indicating a reduced consumption of animal proteins and millets and increased consumption of wheat or rice. This clearly demonstrates that the nomadic groups migrated southwards not only maintained the millet-based agricultural economy inherited from the Han Dynasty but also proactively developed wheat or rice agriculture.

It should be noted that the acceptance and adoption of agricultural economy by nomadic groups in the Guanzhong region can be traced back to their ancestors in the northern steppe. As shown in Figure 3, Xiongnu (The Egiin Gol (EG) and Baga Gazaryn Chuluu (BGC) in Mongolia) and Tuoba Xianbei groups (Zhalainuoer (ZN), East Wuzhuer (EW), Tuanjie (TJ), Sandaowan (SDW) and Bagou cemeteries (BG)) had partially adopted millet agriculture as one of necessary subsistence strategies. More reliance on millets is observed during the Qin (221–207 BC) and Han dynasty (Fig.3) in the Guangzhou region. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, nomads migrated southwards into the Guanzhong region and adopted agricultural economy as well when they had prolonged interaction with agricultural populations.

This study provides the first direct evidence of nomads’ strong approval on the agricultural system originated in the Central Plains. The acceptance of agricultural economy by the nomadic regimes during the Sixteen Kingdoms period in Guanzhong, was not an abrupt transformation but a gradual social evolutionary process. The continuity and development of agricultural economy during this period facilitate ethnic and cultural integration and lay the economic foundation for the formation and development of the Chinese national community.

Chen Feng (PhD) and Sun Chenshuang (PhD) serves as the first and second author of this paper, while Professor Hu Yaowu serves as the corresponding author, who are all from the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology and Institute of Archaeological Science at the Fudan University. Liu Daiyun and Tian Youqian from the Shanxi Academy of Archaeology are co-authors. This work was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 21&ZD237) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42172007)

 

See the article:

Chen F, Sun C, Liu D, Tian Y, Hu Y. 2025. Dietary cultural identity and ethnic integration: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bones in the Guanzhong region during the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304–439 AD). Science China Earth Sciences, 68(10): 3343–3355, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-025-1676-y

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Journal

Science China Earth Sciences

DOI

10.1007/s11430-025-1676-y 

 

"Where are you going all alone?" Men as victims of verbal harassment through virtual reality

Università di Bologna

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The study involved 36 young men with an average age of 23, who were immersed in a virtual reality scenario in which they embodied a young woman

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Credit: University of Bologna

“Hey, where are you going all alone?” “Why don’t you give me a nice smile?” Unfortunately, many women and girls know all too well what it means to be victims of verbal harassment. They are familiar with its emotional and psychological impact. And what about men? What would they feel if they were in the place of harassed women?

A group of researchers from the University of Bologna, the University of Messina and the CNR-ISTC (Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies) used virtual reality to allow a sample of young men to embody a female avatar subjected to verbal harassment. This research group published the results of their study in Scientific Reports.

“We used immersive virtual reality technologies to give participants a direct experience of catcalling in an everyday context,” explains Chiara Lucifora, researcher at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Bologna and first author of the study. “The results show that undergoing this experience elicits strong feelings of anger and disgust, closely linked to moral disapproval.”

The study involved 36 young men with an average age of 23, who were immersed in a virtual reality scenario in which they embodied a young woman.  In the first scene, the female avatar was in her bedroom, standing in front of a mirror and getting ready to go to a party. In the second scene, she arrived at a subway station, where several male characters interacted with her.

In half of the cases, the interactions consisted of simple requests, such as “Excuse me, what time is it?” or “Do you know when the subway arrives?” In the other half of the sample, the male characters addressed the woman with harassing remarks, such as “Hey, where are you going all alone?” or “Why don’t you give me a nice smile?”

Disgust and anger were the main emotions reported by participants whose female avatar was subjected to verbal harassment. According to the researchers, this type of reaction reflects the ability to put oneself in the victim’s shoes and indicates moral disapproval of the behaviour experienced.

“Disgust is a key emotion that prompts rejection of behaviours perceived as violent or degrading, while anger can be seen as a drive to change situations perceived as unjust,” Lucifora confirms. “Experiencing these emotions can therefore lead to greater moral sensitivity, making the harmful nature of violent behaviours more evident.”

Only one of the 18 young men who embodied the female avatar targeted by harassment reacted by responding aggressively to the catcalling. Another participant reported that he would have reacted differently had he been in the role of a man, but, since he was embodying a female character, he chose instead to walk away.

Another noteworthy finding concerns fear. The group that experienced verbal harassment reported levels of fear similar to those of participants who did not undergo the catcalling scenario. According to the researchers, this may indicate that simply experiencing the initial situation — a young woman alone, at night, in a subway station — is enough to generate a sense of fear, even among men.

“Taken together, these results show that virtual reality can be an effective tool for increasing emotional sensitivity both in clinical settings and educational contexts,” Lucifora concludes. “In clinical contexts, this technique could be used to enhance empathy and emotional awareness in people who engage in harassment, while in educational settings it could help demonstrate the negative impact of harassment by allowing people to experience first-hand the emotional distress caused by these behaviours.”

The study, entitled “Virtual embodiment increases male sensitivity to catcalling experiences” was published on Scientific Reports. The study included contributions from Chiara Lucifora, Aldo Gangemi, Chiara Pia Miglietta and Claudia Scorolli (Department of Philosophy, University of Bologna).

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Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-025-19418-4 

Article Title

Virtual embodiment increases male sensitivity to catcalling experiences

In the second scene, the female avatar arrived at a subway station, where several male characters interacted with her.

In the first scene, the female avatar was in her bedroom, standing in front of a mirror and getting ready to go to a party.

Credit

University of Bologna

 

Teacher collaboration boosts cognitively activating teaching practices

Research further highlights the moderating role of collective innovativeness in this relationship

P

ECNU Review of Education

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Cognitively activating teaching is recognized as an innovative and effective instructional approach, yet it is still underutilized worldwide. These practices require teachers to design challenging tasks, encourage open-ended reasoning, and engage students in active knowledge construction.

In the study led by Bellibaş from the Department of Public Policy, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, researchers have analyzed data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, covering 48 countries and economies. Using multilevel modeling, the findings show that teacher collaboration is a significant predictor of the use of cognitive activation strategies, even after controlling for teacher characteristics and school contexts. Their work was made available online on June 2, 2025, and was published in Volume 8, Issue 4 of journal ECNU Review of Education in November, 2025.

“Such collective endeavors, through positive interactions, could promote innovative teaching strategies and foster their motivation to transform classroom instruction,” state Bellibaş et al.

The study also identifies the moderating role of collective teacher innovativeness, which can be defined as teachers’ shared openness to new ideas and their willingness to experiment with new teaching approaches. In schools where innovativeness is high, the positive impact of collaboration on innovative teaching practices becomes notably stronger. Factors such as school size, location, and socio-economic composition also affect the prevalence of cognitively activating practices, raising equity concerns.

The study highlights the importance of fostering both collaboration and an innovative school climate to improve instructional quality globally. Encouraging collaborative professional cultures and fostering school environments that support innovation may lead to more widespread adoption of high-impact teaching strategies.

“Our findings underscore that simply encouraging collaboration is not enough; we must also actively cultivate an innovative school climate where teachers feel empowered to experiment with new ideas, ultimately leading to a more equitable and widespread adoption of high-impact teaching strategies worldwide,” emphasize Bellibaş et al.

 

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Reference
DOI: 10.1177/20965311251327234

            

Funding information:
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Journal

ECNU Review of Education

DOI

10.1177/20965311251327234 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Would Teachers’ Professional Collaboration Promote Cognitively Activating Teaching Practices? The Moderating Role of Collective Innovativeness