People who lean politically to the right are more likely to fall for conspiracy theories than those on the left – but not for other types of false or misleading information. And regardless of ideology, we tend to accept political claims that align with our own beliefs. This is shown in a doctoral thesis from Linköping University, Sweden.

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have discovered the adaptive significance of the remarkable waste-management behavior in the social spider mite Stigmaeopsis longus, a tiny herbivorous arthropod that lives in cooperative groups. These mites protect their eggs from the adverse effects of fecal accumulation by defecating in designated areas near the nest entrance. This study is the first to experimentally demonstrate the adaptive function of excretory behavior in a social spider mite, offering new insights into the evolution of sociality and nest-based living in arthropods.

The Vatican’s eco-friendly farm, recently inaugurated by the first ever Augustinian pope, echoes his order’s forgotten early history, new research argues. Dr Krisztina Ilko challenges major assumptions about the medieval Catholic Church and early Renaissance.