It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, May 28, 2026
Settling down vs. settling: New study proves being single beats a bad relationship
While society often assumes that finding a romantic partner is the ultimate key to happiness, tracking relationship changes over time reveals a distinctly different reality. A massive longitudinal study proves that individuals actually experience higher emotional well-being when they are single compared to when they are enduring a poor- or moderate-quality relationship. Ultimately, while a high-quality partnership does boost overall happiness, the data confirms that settling for an unfulfilling romance takes a far heavier psychological toll than simply embracing singlehood.
A newly published study, led jointly by Dr. Menelaos Apostolou of the University of Nicosia and Prof. Elyakim Kislev of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, provides scientific backing to a well-known piece of life advice: it is emotionally better to be single than to remain in a bad relationship.
Published in the 2026 edition of the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the longitudinal study set out to test the hypothesis that relationship status constitutes a significant predictor of emotional well-being. To uncover these insights, the research duo analyzed data from thirteen waves of the Pairfam study, tracking a representative sample of 12,000 German participants.
The True Cost of a Bad Romance
While baseline findings indicated that participants' emotional well-being was significantly higher during waves in which they were in an intimate relationship compared to waves in which they were single, Apostolou and Kislev discovered that the quality of the relationship is the ultimate deciding factor.
"What makes this study unique is that we followed participants over several years to see how their happiness shifted as their relationship status changed," explains Prof. Elyakim Kislev. "The results clearly indicate that it isn't simply about being coupled up. The quality of the relationship is the deciding factor for our emotional health. If a relationship is poor or even just moderate in quality, an individual's life satisfaction and positive emotions are significantly lower than if they had just stayed single."
The psychological toll of an unhappy partnership was measurable across several metrics:
Participants' emotional well-being was higher when they were single than when they were in a poor- or moderate-quality intimate relationship.
In waves participants were in a poor or moderate-quality relationship, they experienced fewer positive emotions and lower life satisfaction than when they were single.
Conversely, participants experienced higher emotional well-being when in a good-quality intimate relationship than when they were single or in a poor- or moderate-quality relationship.
The Gender Divide in Singlehood
The research also uncovered nuanced differences in how men and women process relationship status. The study noted that singlehood was associated with more negative emotions for men than for women, though the observed difference was small. Single women, however, reported feeling less secure than single men.
Ultimately, the findings make a strong case that changes in relationship status, including changes in relationship quality, lead to changes in emotional well-being. For those debating whether to stay in a stagnant or unhappy union, the science points to a clear conclusion: individuals who transition into a good-quality intimate relationship experience the highest levels of well-being, whereas those who enter a poor or moderate-quality relationship experience the lowest.
As rising seas and extreme weather place growing pressure on coastlines worldwide, researchers at the University of East London (UEL) are launching an international project to rethink how coastal communities are protected.
The project aims to help shape future international engineering guidance for coastal infrastructure as climate change increases the risk of storm surges, flooding and tsunamis worldwide.
The project, led by Dr Ravindra Jayaratne from UEL’s School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering (ACE), will translate cutting-edge engineering research into practical guidance for governments, regulators and international civil engineering standards bodies.
The initiative brings together collaborators from the UK, USA and Japan and builds on two Royal Society-funded international exchange projects exploring how coastal defence structures fail during extreme wave events and how nature-based solutions such as saltmarshes and hybrid green-grey infrastructure could improve resilience.
With additional funding from the Policy Impact and Participatory Research (PIPR) scheme 2026, researchers will carry out fieldwork in The Wash, East Anglia, to gather environmental data on saltmarsh systems and coastal conditions, while also working with international partners including the University of Michigan and Waseda University in Japan.
Dr Jayaratne, Reader in Coastal Engineering, has more than 25 years’ experience in coastal engineering and flood modelling and has previously contributed research that was incorporated into international tsunami design standards.
The project will also support discussions around flood and coastal erosion risk management in the UK through engagement with organisations including the Environment Agency and DEFRA, alongside Japanese coastal authorities responsible for tsunami and flood resilience planning.
Dr Jayaratne said:
“Extreme coastal events are becoming an increasingly urgent global challenge as climate pressures intensify.
“This research is about ensuring that the latest scientific evidence is translated into practical engineering guidance and policy that can help protect vulnerable coastal communities.
“Nature-based solutions such as saltmarsh systems have significant potential to work alongside conventional hard engineering structures, but policymakers and engineers need stronger evidence and clearer hybrid frameworks to support implementation.”
The project will produce technical policy briefings, decision-support tools and international stakeholder roundtables aimed at bridging the gap between academic research and real-world infrastructure planning.
Alongside influencing engineering standards, the researchers hope the work will contribute to wider international discussions around climate adaptation, sustainable infrastructure and disaster risk reduction.
Dr Jack Clough, co-investigator from UEL’s Sustainability Research Institute, said:
“Coastal resilience is no longer simply an engineering issue - it is increasingly connected to climate adaptation, environmental sustainability and long-term community resilience.
“Bringing together engineering, environmental science and policy expertise allows us to explore more sustainable and adaptable approaches to coastal protection.”
Oceanic Regime shifts affect subarctic moth communities — Impacts divide species into winners and losers
Regime shifts in the Atlantic Ocean, which have subsequently affected the Baltic Sea, are also impacting moths in Lapland, according to a new study conducted at the University of Turku in Finland.
Researchers investigated how the populations of various moth species have fluctuated between 1972 and 2017, and which climate variables are linked to moth populations. The study was conducted at the Kevo Research Station located at Utsjoki in the northernmost part of Finland. The results show that the total moth biomass had moderately increased at Kevo in the past 45 years.
“In our study, we discovered that total moth biomass and biomass of different moth groups are clearly connected to the regime shifts in the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea,” says Postdoctoral Researcher Julia Fält-Nardmann from the University of Turku.
Regime shifts are changes in marine ecosystems where they shift from one stable state to another, for example, due to abrupt changes in salinity or temperature.
“Two regime shifts occurred during the four decades covered by our monitoring data. The same large-scale climate systems linked to the Atlantic Ocean regulate both the marine environment of the Baltic Sea and the terrestrial ecosystems of Lapland,” describes Principal Investigator Jari Hänninen from the University of Turku.
In addition, individual moth groups were affected by the minimum and maximum temperatures of different seasons and degree-day variables of the entire year.
“Local weather variables impact moths, for example, through the timing of budburst of their host plants and through overwintering conditions—larvae that overwinter in the ground, for instance, may suffer from repeated freezing and thawing of the soil,” Fält-Nardmann explains.
Different impacts of climate change are reflected on moths in Lapland
In Finland, the monitoring of moth populations using light traps has been a long-standing practice. The northernmost light traps were set up at the beginning of the 1970s at the Kevo Research Station of the University of Turku in Utsjoki, Lapland. These kinds of long-term monitoring data have now become an extremely valuable source of information for studying the impact of climate change on different living organisms.
Moths, and especially their larvae, play a key role in the fragile subarctic ecosystems. Many species exhibit cyclical patterns, meaning that during peak years their numbers can be thousands of times greater than during the periods between mass outbreaks. For mountain vegetation, this means widespread defoliation recurring roughly every ten years, while for insectivores, it means significant variations in food availability across different years and generations.
The results of the recently published study, which show an increase in the total moth biomass, clearly differ from the alarming global trends of declining insect populations. However, the total biomass is only part of the overall picture. In Lapland, as elsewhere in the world, insect populations that specialise in certain host plants have declined. At the same time, species that feed on a variety of host plants have become more common. Similarly, moths that overwinter as eggs, for example, fare better in a warming climate than species that overwinter as larvae.
The remote location of the Kevo Research Station can also partly explain the results.
“Elsewhere, the negative impact of human activities can obscure the results of corresponding studies. Kevo is far away from cultivated land and urban areas, which makes it an ideal place to study the impact of climate change on organisms,” Fält-Nardmann highlights.
“Furthermore, the climate in polar regions has warmed much faster compared to other parts of the world.”
The research group from the University of Turku led by Jari Hänninen have earlier published a study where the same regime shifts were found to have an impact on the biomass of zooplankton in the Baltic Sea. However, unlike that of the moths, the biomass of these tiny marine arthropods has declined, which in turn affects the fish populations that eat them, such as the Baltic herring.
Scientists have shown conclusively for the first time that tiny marine organisms in polar oceans survived the mass extinction event that wiped out prehistoric dinosaurs because they needed less energy and were more tolerant to darkness.
The study, led by the University of Bristol and published in the journal Nature, sought to solve a longstanding evolutionary enigma: what factors determined whether marine species would survive a mass extinction event known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary some 66 million years ago? Findings revealed that being small and accustomed to darkness proved to be the vital attributes.
Study lead author Dr Rui Ying said: “It’s an exciting breakthrough. For so many years scientists have been unable to test what actually decided whether a species prevailed or perished because the extinction event involves multiple environmental changes like ocean acidification and darkness.”
“It is difficult to understand the causality because of the lack of fossil data and environmental proxy data, especially at century timescale. Using a numerical model, I looked at the base of the food chain – plankton – which helped us to identify the most likely cause and the best survival strategies for plankton.”
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary is an ancient and much-studied geological signature marking the mass extinction that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs, separating the Mesozoic Era (the age of reptiles) from the Cenozoic Era (the age of mammals). It is thought that the impact of an asteroid, called Chicxulub, caused the extinction of around 75% of species in the fossil record by triggering catastrophic environmental changes.
Despite decades of research, the mechanisms linking the environmental changes to the selective extinction patterns observed in the fossil record have until now been unresolved. But by creating and deploying a unique model which maps ecosystem traits globally, the scientists have been able to establish what attributes resulted in the marine plankton community’s survival.
Dr Ying, who is now a Senior Research Associate at the University of East Anglia, said: “The model is based on trades and the trade-off of how often they are eaten by predators and what they can eat against specific attributes, such as temperature, light level and body size.”
Study co-author Dr Fanny Monteiro, Associate Professor in Ocean Sciences at the University of Bristol, explained: “The body size and abundance of small plankton mean the organisms rely on less energy, increasing their likelihood of survival. An ability to deal with lower light and darkness and turbulent waters in higher latitudes also makes them more adaptable to polar regions. In contrast, species adapted to higher light and warmer waters were more vulnerable to this type of mass extinction.”
The model allowed the traits of millions of organisms to be analysed and quantified with unprecedented accuracy, providing important insights into the physical and chemical changes linked to diversity. Besides shining a light on the distant past of marine life, the research can also help inform forecasts of how ecosystems might respond in future.
Study co-author Professor Daniela Schmidt, Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: “This study not only demonstrates how trait-based models can help us better understand biodiversity crises in ancient history, but it also has potential to indicate how less light and hotter environments, as a result of global warming, might impact current and future ecosystems.”
Study lead author Dr Rui Ying showing an example of the Cretaceous paleogeography/bathymetry model in the paper. On the right is the simulated ocean current with small arrows representing the direction of water movement.
Flinders University's Thomas Turner (left) and Dr Russell Bicknell (right) with Turner's illustration of the 500-million-old anthropod Magnicornaspis garwoodi.
New research, to be published in BMC Biology at NOON GMT on 28 May, helps to fill in questions about the so-called “Furongian gap” from about 497 million to 485 million years ago, when palaeontologists previously thought there were far fewer fossils than periods before or after it.
“Palaeontologists have wondered whether this time of markedly less diversity of life could be linked to ocean chemistry, cooling climates or environmental instability,” says corresponding author Dr Russell Bicknell, from Flinders University’s College of Science and Engineering.
“But perhaps we haven’t been looking at the right sedimentary rocks or fossil-bearing deposits to get a clear picture of the kinds of soft-bodied organisms and early anthropods (animals with exoskeletons) which inhabited the planet at that time.”
An international team led by Flinders University research fellow Dr Bicknell and Dr Julien Kimmig from Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have described a new 500-million-old fossil anthropod related to the lineage which evolved into spiders and scorpions.
Named Magnicornaspis garwoodi, this enigmatic animal features broad head shields, segmented bodies and defensive spines that belong to the corcoraniids group.
The researchers – who include Dr Aaron Goodman from the University of Illinois, Thomas Turner (Flinders University honours student and palaeoartist) and Dr Patrick Smith (Macquarie University) – say the fossil is important because it helps to fill blanks in fossil history. It joins a growing list of Furongian sites that challenge the notion of a barren late-Cambrian world.
Each new Furongian fossil discovery narrows this supposed gap and reveals increasingly sophisticated ecosystems thriving during the late Cambrian.
“Together, these discoveries increasingly suggest that Furongian ecosystems remained diverse and ecologically complex,” says ARC DECRA research fellow Dr Bicknell, who investigated the long-shelved museum specimen during his time at the American Museum of Natural History.
“Importantly, it comes from a geological setting not previously recognised for exceptional preservation.”
Research co-author Dr Kimmig says the discovery fits within a broader pattern emerging over the past two decades.
“The Furongian may not represent a true collapse in biodiversity, but rather a gap where scientists have looked and what kinds of rocks have been studied,” says Dr Kimmig, from the KIT Institute of Applied Geosciences and Head of Palaeontology and Evolution at Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe.
The specimen has been stored as part of the Smithsonian collections in Washington DC for decades.
“This highlights one of the most important aspects of palaeontology: major discoveries do not always emerge directly from fieldwork,” adds Dr Kimmig.
“Museum collections contain enormous quantities of under-studied material collected during geological surveys and expeditions over the past century.
“Revisiting these collections with modern techniques can fundamentally reshape understanding of ancient ecosystems.”
The article – “New exceptionally preserved arthropod from the Furongian of Canada” (2026) by Russell DC Bicknell), Julien Kimmig, Aaron Goodman (University of Illinois, US), Thomas Turner (Flinders) and Patrick M Smith (Macquarie University) – is published in BMC Biology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-026-02617-4
Neuropsychology researchers at LMU have discovered a rhythm in the midbrain that could serve as a bio-physiological signature for specific states of consciousness.
The thalamus is a deep-lying structure in the center of the brain which gathers and relays signals from many different areas of the brain. It functions like a gate for perception and attention and is thought to play a key role in supporting conscious states. In a study published recently in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, Professor Tobias Staudigl (Psychology, LMU) and his team, in collaboration with PD Dr. Elisabeth Kaufmann (Neurology, LMU), have discovered a previously unknown rapid activity pattern in the human thalamus.
This rapid oscillation, in the frequency range of 20 to 45 Hertz, occurs exclusively during waking hours and REM sleep, the phase of sleep with rapid eye movements and intensive dreams. It is entirely absent in non-REM sleep, when eye movements are absent and consciousness is strongly reduced. In this sleep phase, the brain activity is dominated instead by slower oscillations.
Measurements with implanted electrodes
In this study, the researchers investigated patients undergoing deep brain stimulation therapy, a form of treatment for epilepsy. The therapy involves implanting electrodes in the thalamus of the patients to reduce the number of epileptic seizures. From a scientific perspective, this offers an exciting and very rare opportunity to directly record neural activity in the human thalamus. Recording neural activity from such deep brain structures is notoriously difficult using common methods such as surface EEG. The researcher’s findings were based on direct field potential recordings in the central thalamus, combined with surface EEG measurements, eye movement analyses, and the classification of sleep patterns in individual patients. This allowed them to precisely track how thalamic oscillation patterns change when the subjects were awake or in various sleep phases.
“Our results show that the central thalamus plays an important role in regulating brain states. In the context of existing research, our results show that this small deep-lying brain structure could actively influence our states of consciousness,” explains Dr. Aditya Chowdhury, lead author of the study. Tobias Staudigl adds: “These characteristic rhythm patterns can be reliably attributed to specific states and thus have the potential to serve as a measurable biological signature of states of consciousness.”
A deeper understanding of the signal discovered in the thalamus would also be of much interest from a clinical perspective. The signal could be used to optimize existing therapeutic approaches and, in the long run, lead to new approaches for the treatment of other neurological diseases. Staudigl was recently awarded funding by the European Research Council to further explore the clinical potential of the discovery.
