A new study suggests that, for modern Japanese speakers, two traditional, patriarchal words for “husband” (“shujin,” literally meaning “master”) and “wife” (“kanai,” “inside-the-house”) may be losing their original meanings, though men in the study evaluated both traditional and neutral words for “husband” more positively than words for “wife.” Ri Nin and Kazuo Mori of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan, present these findings in the open access journal PLOS One on June 3, 2026.

A new study by researchers at the University of Tokyo explores whether reading manga on paper or on a tablet changes how the brain understands and remembers stories. Participants first read the opening half of a two-part manga story either on paper or on a tablet. Later, while inside an MRI scanner, they read the second half through LCD goggles and answered questions about the story. Brain scans taken during the reading and questioning showed differences in activity depending on which medium they had just read. People who first read the opening half of the stories on a tablet took longer to answer more demanding questions that required combining information from both halves than those who first read it on paper. This research could impact educational decisions or even hardware and software related to digital reading. 

As California lawmakers consider legislation that would require “high sugar” warning labels on restaurant menus, a University of California, Davis, study shows that the labels are effective in dissuading diners from ordering sugary items.

Researchers tested menus with added-sugar warning labels against unlabeled menus in an online study with more than 10,000 people nationwide during six weeks in 2024-25. Compared to no label, diners ordered on average more than 10 grams less added sugar when they saw triangle icon containing a spoon and exclamation point with explanatory text. Additionally, a noticeable, easy-to-see, icon-only label also caused people in the study to reduce the added sugar in meals they ordered by almost 7 grams.