Recent Science News

Stock analysts who lost face-to-face access during lockdown made worse earnings forecasts
Studying 220,992 forecasts by 1,392 U.S. analysts, researchers found that those near company headquarters, peers and investors lost accuracy after COVID lockdowns forced remote work, especially star analysts; the edge returned once offices reopened.

Liberals judge identical science as sounder when it favours liberals over conservatives
In three experiments with 1,880 Germans and Americans, left-leaning people judged a report claiming liberals out-think conservatives as more valid than the identical report about White and Black people. White US conservatives showed the mirror image; Black conservatives showed no preference.

Republicans expect meat to taste better, Democrats favor plant-based food
In two US studies, Republicans rated meat as tastier and ate it more often, while Democrats rated plant protein foods higher. Plant-based endorsements from a participant's own party leaders barely helped and even made a beef and pork meatball taste worse.

After a nuclear war, seaweed farms could supply 45% of food needs within 14 months
A global simulation finds tropical seaweed farms could be scaled up to the equivalent of 45% of human food demand in 9 to 14 months after a nuclear war, and growth increases with the severity of the war as cooling stirs up ocean nutrients.

Younger US generations are less polarized than Baby Boomers, 50 years of surveys show
Using US survey data from 1972 to 2021, researchers found that rising polarization comes from people within each generation sorting by party, while Millennials are among the least polarized cohorts and Boomers the most sorted.

Americans place Jesus on their own side of politics, whatever their faith
In nationally representative US data, where Christians placed Jesus on the left-right scale was best predicted by their own ideology and their views on Christian nationalism, not by religiosity. Non-Christians showed nearly identical patterns.

NBA owners pay for loyalty and starts, card collectors pay for individual stats
Comparing 185 retired NBA players' salaries with their Topps rookie card prices, a 1% rise in offensive output lifted card values 1.9% and salaries 2.4%. Only owners rewarded tenure and starts, and neither group showed racial bias.