Neanderthal populations in southern Europe collected shellfish throughout the year, with a marked preference for the colder months, according to a new international study led by researchers from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), the IsoTOPIK Lab at the University of Burgos (UBU), and the Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria at the University of Cantabria (UC).

Despite widespread claims that social changes have intensified loneliness, no study has yet examined how loneliness has changed over time in Japan. To address this gap, graduate student Momo Homma from the Department of Psychology at Chuo University, Japan and Professor Kenkichi Takase from the same institution conducted a cross-temporal meta-analysis to investigate how loneliness has changed over time in Japan and identify the factors contributing to this change. The results indicated that loneliness increased in Japan from 1983 to 2023. Furthermore, the increase was particularly pronounced among adolescents and women, and social indicators such as marriage rates were found to covary with loneliness. These findings provide a foundation for future research on loneliness and help identify target populations for interventions aimed at reducing loneliness.