Think that conversation will be boring? Science says think again

People underestimate how enjoyable everyday conversations really are, study says

American Psychological Association

LinkedInWeChat
WhatsAppEmail

The small talk you try to avoid because you think it will be boring may actually be more enjoyable than you think, and good for you as well, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. 

“We tend to assume that if a topic sounds dull, the conversation will be dull too,” said Elizabeth Trinh, MA, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan and lead author of the research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “But that’s not what people actually experience.” 

In nine experiments involving 1,800 participants, researchers found that people consistently underestimated how interesting and enjoyable conversations about boring topics would be.  

Participants were asked to predict how much they would enjoy talking about specific topics they identified as boring. Topics were many and varied, including World Wars I and II, non-fiction books, the stock market, cats, and vegan diets. In some cases, participants were asked to suggest a topic they found boring (responses included such topics as math, onions and Pokemon). Participants then had real conversations with strangers or friends, in person or online. Afterward, they reported how much they enjoyed the conversations. 

Across experiments, the pattern was clear: people expected the conversations to be fairly dull, but afterward they reported enjoying them much more than they had predicted. This pattern held even when both parties agreed the topic was boring. 

“We were both surprised and excited by how robust the effect was,” said Trinh. “People consistently expected conversations about seemingly boring topics to be less interesting than they turned out to be.” 

The reason may be that people focus too much on the topic itself, according to Trinh. Before a conversation begins, the topic is the easiest thing to judge. But once people start talking, the interaction becomes more important. 

“What really drives enjoyment is engagement,” she said. “Feeling heard, responding to each other, and discovering unexpected details about someone’s life can make even a mundane topic meaningful.” 

The findings matter because social connection plays a key role in mental and physical health. Strong relationships are linked to greater well-being and lower risk of loneliness. If people avoid conversations because they expect them to be boring, they may miss easy chances to connect. 

“If we skip talking to a coworker at the coffee machine, a neighbor in the elevator, or a stranger at an event, we may be missing small moments of connection,” said Trinh. “Even a brief conversation about everyday life may be more rewarding than we expect.”

Article: “Conversations About Boring Topics Are More Interesting Than We Think” by Elizabeth Trinh, MA, University of Michigan Stephen M Ross School of Business, Nicole Thio, MS, Cornell University Industrial and Labor Relations School, and Nadav Klein, PhD, INSEAD - Europe Campus. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published online April 13, 2026. 

Contact: Elizabeth Trinh can be reached via email at entrinh@umich.edu. 

The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA’s membership includes 190,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve lives.

---

Journal

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

DOI

10.1037/pspi0000521 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Conversations About Boring Topics Are More Interesting Than We Think

Article Publication Date

13-Apr-2026

Cacti fungal endophytes may help cacao tolerate drought

American Society for Microbiology

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBluesky
Email

Key Points:

• The beans of Theobroma cacao are used to make chocolate and other products, but these plants are threatened by increased drought associated with climate change.
• Researchers identified microbes in drought-resistant plants, like cacti, that live in extreme environments and found 5 fungal endophytes, which live harmlessly inside plants, associated with drought tolerance.
• Cacao plants grown in soil enriched with these endophytes showed greater drought tolerance.

Washington, D.C.—Beans of the cacao plant, Theobroma cacao, are used in chocolates, pharmaceuticals and other products, but they’re under threat. Increased drought associated with climate change has already begun to stress cacao-growing regions of Colombia and other countries, and models predict it will get worse. In recent research, scientists have found that fungal endophytes—microbes that live in a host plant without causing harm—may offer a novel strategy for boosting drought tolerance in cacao. 

For a study published this week in mSphere, mycologists added fungal endophytes from a species of cactus to the soil of growing cacao plants. They found that the inoculated plants showed less negative levels of leaf water potential, possibly due to better control of the stomatal conductance, which is a key determinant of photosynthesis. These alterations could help the plant retain more water as it grows. 

“We are losing a lot of species due to climate change,” said Silvia Restrepo, Ph.D., senior author on the study and a plant pathologist at the Boyce Thompson Institute in Ithaca, New York, and the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. The new study, she said, shows how scientists can harness strategies by looking for solutions that have evolved in other organisms. 

Restrepo has long studied the effects of fungal endophytes, isolated from plants growing in extreme conditions in Colombia, on threatened crops. In previous work, her lab found endophytes that could improve the growth of potatoes. More recently, she said, she’s been working with cacao growers on drought resistance. 

For the new work, she and her collaborators collected root samples in 2 locations in Colombia from 12 Stenocereus cacti, a tree-like genus characterized by its ability to thrive in arid, hot conditions. They isolated more than 20 fungal endophytes from the samples and subjected the fungi to drought conditions. Five of the isolates lost less than 20% of their total biomass. The researchers added these isolates to soil of growing cacao plants and compared them to cacao plants growing in ordinary soil, then subjected both to drought conditions. 

The endophytes did not affect the height of the plants, but treated cacao plants developed more and larger leaves. In addition, plants inoculated with endophytes were better able to recover from the drought conditions. Endophytes from the genera Fusarium and Phoma also promoted plant growth under non-drought conditions.

Restrepo said scientists don’t know exactly why the endophytes help cacao with drought resistance. “The fine details are an open question,” she said. However, their analyses and observations suggest that the endophytes help the cacao plant manage the stomata, tiny pores that open and close to allow gas exchange, to avoid the rapid release of water vapor. 

She suspects the endophytes may also confer similar benefits to other crops. “It’s easy to test in tomato, potato and other crops,” she said. Her group is also developing an endophyte-based soil additive that farmers could use to help their crops better survive drought in Colombia and beyond. “We have to look at all possibilities to help the crops fighting against climate change.”
 

###

The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of over 38,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.  

ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to all audiences.

---

Journal

mSphere

How plants regulate their protein balance

International research team identifies cellular mechanism that maintains the stability of the plant proteome and controls stress responses

Heidelberg University

LinkedIn
MessageWhatsAppEmail

A specific cellular mechanism regulates the protein balance of plants, thereby influencing how they respond to environmental stress. A particular protein complex plays a key role in that process. It dynamically controls the degradation and recycling of proteins, a discovery made by an international research team led by Dr Markus Wirtz at the Centre for Organismal Studies of Heidelberg University. The investigations provide new insights into how this basic process – known as N-terminal acetylation – maintains the balance in protein turnover, thus contributing to the stability of the plant proteome.

Proteins are macromolecules made up of amino acids and have a variety of functions. For example, they serve as building blocks for cells, or, in the form of enzymes, can accelerate chemical reactions. For the growth, development, and survival of plants under changing environmental conditions, it is absolutely essential that the plant proteome – the totality of all proteins in an organism – remains in balance. To this end, proteins are constantly being synthesized, broken down, or recycled in a process known as proteostasis, explains Dr Xiaodi Gong, a postdoc in Dr Wirtz’ team.

In recent studies using the model plant organism thale cress, the research team gained new insights into how a fundamental cellular process regulates the degradation and recycling of proteins. A protein complex known as N-terminal acetyltransferase B (NatB) is of central importance here. It modifies approximately 20 percent of all proteins in eukaryotic cells by adding an acetyl group at a specific site. This process of N-terminal acetylation contributes to the regulation of protein balance.

As Markus Wirtz explains, NatB plays a much more dynamic role in determining the fate of proteins in this process than previously assumed in research. “We were able to show that the NatB protein complex marks certain proteins for degradation through the process of acetylation. Using this mechanism, the NatB complex regulates the activity of a protein kinase that controls protein recycling in plants,” says the scientist, who conducts research on physiological stress responses in plants at the Centre for Organismal Studies of Heidelberg University as part of the GreenRobust Cluster of Excellence.

To investigate this mechanism more closely, the researchers used genome editing to create plants in which the NatB protein complex was inactive. They observed a general decrease in protein turnover in these mutants. Quantitative analyses of the proteome also revealed that many proteins became more stable in the absence of NatB activity. This led to an accumulation of the protein kinase KIN 11, which is involved in the process by which plant cells recycle their components and recover nutrients under stress. Overall, the mutants that exhibited high KIN11 levels were significantly more resilient to a limited energy supply than untreated plants, particularly during prolonged darkness and the absence of photosynthesis.

Markus Wirtz: “Our findings establish NatB as a central regulator coordinating the interplay between protein degradation and recycling, thus contributing to the stability of the plant proteome.” At the same time, they demonstrate that a single biochemical modification is enough to fundamentally influence the stress response of plants. “A better understanding of these mechanisms opens up new avenues for basic research and also highlights ways to increase crop yields even under adverse conditions,” emphasizes the Heidelberg plant scientist.

Scientists from Université Paris-Saclay (France) and LMU Munich also participated in the research. The work was funded by the German Research Foundation and the French National Research Agency. The results were published in the journal “Nature Communications”.

---

Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-026-71208-2 

Article Title

The ribosome-associated N-terminal acetyltransferase B coordinates global proteostasis and autophagy in plants by creating Ac/N-degrons

 

Envisioning just futures

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

Rising living costs, energy insecurity, widening inequality, and escalating climate impacts are fueling discussions on fairness and justice in climate policy. Yet, assumptions in global emission scenarios that determine who benefits and who bears the costs are often only made implicitly. A new IIASA-led study addresses this gap by offering a practical way to assess and design emission scenarios that explicitly account for distributive justice.

The study addresses a key question: how can philosophical ideas about distributional justice be applied to the way emission scenarios are developed? In this context, distributional justice refers to how the benefits and burdens of climate action such as access to energy, resources, or consumption opportunities, are shared across different groups in society and over time.

“Scenarios perceived as unjust will fail to motivate collective action,” explains lead author Karl Scheifinger, a researcher in the Integrated Assessment and Climate Change Research Group of the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program and PhD candidate at Imperial College London. “While all scenarios have justice implications, the underlying assumptions are often not made explicit, leaving the distribution of benefits and burdens unclear. There is no single fair future, but we hope that by making future distributions more transparent, scenarios can better inform action in the present.”

The authors show that justice principles can be translated into concrete “trajectory requirements,” making it possible to systematically evaluate the distributional implications of a given scenario. The findings show that this approach can be used both to assess existing scenarios and to develop new ones that are designed consistently with different theories and/or principles. By directly linking scenario pathways to theories of justice, the method provides a simple, theory-based tool that works in practice. It also opens the door to involving stakeholders in shaping scenarios that reflect the diverse societal perceptions of justice.

For example, the approach can be used to examine how everyday activities linked to greenhouse gas emissions are distributed across society, and to inform debates on how they could be distributed fairly. Questions such as a fair distribution of number of flight travels or housing space across income groups are emotionally fraught, but carry important energy implications. Another question is how the consumption of meat could be fairly distributed across the globe in future. By making these consumption patterns visible, the framework helps to clarify different answers to distributional questions.

As part of the study, the team applied the framework to scenarios assessed in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, looking specifically at the aspects mentioned above (energy use for housing and transport, and meat consumption). They found that many existing mitigation scenarios are consistent with a range of justice principles, often assuming that those who are currently worse off benefit most over time. They also found that only a limited number of scenarios explore futures that place limits on energy or meat consumption.

The study highlights important implications for policy and public debate. It enables policymakers to assess the distributional impacts of emissions pathways in a way that is consistent with theories of justice, while also supporting the design of new scenarios aligned with stakeholder approaches to justice.

The approach is also relevant for upcoming IPCC assessments, where it could help to systematically evaluate the justice implications of mitigation pathways and broaden the range of options considered for achieving climate targets.

Reference
Scheifinger, K., Brutschin, E., Mintz-Woo, K., Zimm, C., Kikstra, J.S., Rogelj, J., Żebrowski, P., Schinko, T., Pachauri, S., Sovacool, B.K., Fritz, L., & Riahi, K. (2026). Exploring patterns of distributional justice in global climate change mitigation scenarios. npj Climate Action DOI: 10.1038/s44168-026-00364-4

 

About IIASA:

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. www.iiasa.ac.at

---

Journal

npj Climate Action

DOI

10.1038/s44168-026-00364-4 

Article Title

Exploring patterns of distributional justice in global climate change mitigation scenarios

 

Personality shapes survival as wildlife faces growing human pressure

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Location: Mitzpe Shalem, Dead Sea 

view more 

Credit: Amir Ben Dov

New study shows that individual animals differ consistently in how much risk they are willing to take, and that these personality differences directly shape how they move, behave, and ultimately survive in environments increasingly dominated by humans. By combining lab experiments with real-world tracking of fan-tailed ravens, the researchers found that risk-prone individuals tend to stay near human activity and face higher mortality, while more cautious individuals avoid humans and survive longer. The findings are important because they reveal that adaptation to human-driven environmental change is not uniform across a species; rather, it depends on individual behavior, suggesting that ongoing anthropogenic pressures may actively reshape wildlife populations by favoring certain personality types, with far-reaching ecological consequences.

 

Along the stark and shimmering coastline of the Dead Sea, where desert cliffs meet one of the world’s most extreme environments, a quiet drama is unfolding in the skies above.
Fan-tailed ravens, intelligent, adaptable, and ever-watchful, are making life-or-death decisions every day. And according to new research those decisions may come down to personality.

In a new study led by Dr. Miguel Guinea and Prof. Ran Nathan from Hebrew University, in collaboration with the Prof. Thomas Bugnyar from University of Vienna (Austria) and Prof. Joah Madden from University of Exeter (UK), researchers have uncovered how consistent individual differences in behavior, what scientists often call “animal personality”, shape how wild animals respond to the rapidly expanding footprint of human activity.

As tourism, infrastructure, and development continue to encroach on natural habitats worldwide, animals are increasingly forced to navigate unfamiliar and often risky environments. The new study reveals that not all individuals respond the same way and those differences can have profound consequences for survival.

Combining controlled laboratory experiments with cutting-edge GPS tracking in the wild, the research team followed fan-tailed ravens (Corvus rhipidurus) living along Israel’s Dead Sea coastline. In the lab, researchers tested ravens tendency to take risks across different contexts: tendency to approach unfamiliar objects, forage on unfamiliar food items and in proximity of humans, and  make use of new environments. These contexts were selected as representative of the environmental changes ravens have experienced in their natural habitat due to the expansion of human activities.

What emerged was striking: individual ravens not only consistently avoided (or took) risks in the same contexts but also across all contexts. Individuals that were willing to eat on unfamiliar food items were willing to approach novel objects, forage in proximity of humans and make use of new environmental structures, while other simply avoided all potential risks.

But the real revelation came when these personalities were tracked in the wild.

Using high-resolution GPS data, the researchers discovered that these behavioral differences became even more pronounced in natural settings. Risk-prone ravens tended to linger near tourist areas, taking advantage of easy food sources but exposing themselves to greater danger. In contrast, risk-averse individuals avoided human activity, ranging farther across the landscape and foraging at the edges of their territories.

The consequences of these choices were stark.

Over extended monitoring periods, risk-averse ravens were significantly more likely to survive than their bolder counterparts. While risk-taking may offer short-term rewards, such as access to food near humans, it appears to come at a long-term cost.

“Our findings show that consistent behavioral traits are not just quirks, they can determine life or death,” said Dr. Miguel Guinea. “This is particularly crucial for fan-tailed ravens in the Dead Sea, a population declining so rapidly that it may soon disappear from the region.”

Prof. Ran Nathan added, “This study highlights how integrating lab-based behavioral assays with real-world movement data can reveal patterns we would otherwise miss. It’s a powerful approach for understanding how animals cope with human-driven environmental change.”

As anthropogenic pressures intensify across the globe, the study suggests that variation in risk-taking behavior could play a critical role in determining which individuals and populations persist.

Since wildlife responses to human activity are not uniform, studies examining how different populations of wild animals respond to anthropogenic changes are essential. Wild animals in cities tend to show bolder traits than their counterparts in natural habitats. In the Dead Sea, however, human-driven environmental changes appear to have occurred too rapidly for fan-tailed ravens to adapt their behavior, contributing to their rapid population decline.

By bridging the gap between controlled lab experiments and real-world behavior of free-ranging animals in their natural habitats, the team has opened a new window into how animals navigate the Anthropocene.

In the windswept expanse of the Dead Sea, the choices of a raven, whether to approach or avoid, to risk or retreat, echo a larger story about resilience, adaptation, and the uncertain future of wildlife in a human-dominated world.

 

Location: Mitzpe Shalem, Dead Sea

Credit

Amir Ben Dov

Journal

Ecology Letters

DOI

10.1111/ele.70366 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Integrating Lab- and Field-Based Approaches to Decipher Individuals' Response to Anthropogenic Change

 

Cancer care in conflict zones remains critically neglected

“Cancer is an escalating yet neglected health crisis among refugees, migrants, and populations affected by conflict.”

Impact Journals LLC

WeChat

BlueskyMessage

 

image: 

Oncotarget (a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal) aims to maximize research impact through insightful peer-review; eliminate borders between specialties by linking different fields of oncology, cancer research and biomedical sciences; and foster application of basic and clinical science.

view more 

Credit: Copyright © 2026 Rapamycin Press LLC dba Impact Journals Oncotarget ® is a registered trademark of Rapamycin Press LLC Impact Journals ® is a registered trademark of Rapamycin Press LLC RAPAMYCIN PRESS ® is a registered trademark of Rapamycin Press LLC

BUFFALO, NY – April 13, 2026 – A new review was published in Volume 17 of Oncotarget on March 31, 2026, titled “Cancer without borders: Policy frameworks for oncology care in humanitarian and conflict settings.”

The study—led by corresponding author Pragnesh Parmar, along with Gunvanti Rathod from AIIMS Bibinagar, Telangana, India—brings together evidence from peer-reviewed studies, global health reports, and case examples from regions such as Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine to examine the structural, ethical, and policy barriers limiting access to cancer care in humanitarian settings. Their findings show that oncology services are often excluded from emergency health priorities, resulting in delayed diagnosis, treatment interruptions, and reduced access to palliative care.

The review further highlights that disrupted infrastructure, legal constraints, and fragmented policies disproportionately impact vulnerable populations—including women, children, and the elderly—who often present with advanced disease stages due to delays in care.

“Addressing cancer in humanitarian contexts is not merely a technical challenge but a moral imperative.”

The authors conclude that integrating oncology into humanitarian response frameworks is essential to ensure equitable access to care and improve outcomes for displaced populations. They emphasize the need for coordinated global strategies, including cross-border care models, tele-oncology, and policy reform, to address this critical gap in global health systems.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28856   

Correspondence to: Pragnesh Parmar – drprag@gmail.com (ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8402-8435)

Abstract video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXlhIBZyJ6Q

Keywords: cancer, cancer care, humanitarian crisis, tele-oncology, global health policy, oncology triage

Click here to sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article.

________

To learn more about Oncotarget, visit Oncotarget.com and connect with us on social media:

X
Facebook
YouTube
Instagram
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Spotify, and available wherever you listen to podcasts

Click here to subscribe to Oncotarget publication updates.

For media inquiries, please contact media@impactjournals.com.

---

Journal

Oncotarget

DOI

10.18632/oncotarget.28856 

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Cancer without borders: Policy frameworks for oncology care in humanitarian and conflict settings