Recordings of local forest soundscapes help to improve wellbeing
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 13-Jun-2026 14:15 ET (13-Jun-2026 18:15 GMT/UTC)
Young children who spend more time on screen-based activities and less time talking with adults tend to have weaker language skills, according to a recent study from the University of Tartu. The findings highlight that daily interaction – rather than screen limits alone – plays a key role in early language development.
Stronger pretend play ability at ages two to three linked to fewer mental health difficulties in early primary school
Links remained after accounting for family income, mother’s mental health, language ability and parent-child attachment
Mental health difficulties affect about 14 percent of Australian children, yet prevention efforts focus on later childhood or adolescence.
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) will house the first two Max Planck Centres in Southeast Asia, the Max Planck – Singapore Centre for Data-Driven Chemistry and the Max Planck – NTU Singapore Centre for Biocultural Worlding.
These centres are flagship collaborative research initiatives between the Max Planck Society (MPG) in Germany and leading international research institutions. They serve as hubs of scientific excellence, bringing together top researchers from around the world to address frontier questions across diverse disciplines.
The Max Planck – Singapore Centre for Data Driven Chemistry aims to study how the complex volume of chemical research data can be digitalised and analysed effectively to better understand chemical processes and shed light on new reactions.
The Max Planck – NTU Singapore Centre for Biocultural Worlding will study how the close connection between nature and human cultures shape the future of our planet, and what kinds of knowledge and approaches are needed to respond effectively.
A chemical widely used in food preservation is implicated in an uptick in recent UK deaths by suicide, with a disproportionately high number of cases among young people and boys/men, finds a comprehensive analysis of available data for the period 2019-24, published in the open access journal BMJ Public Health. There’s now an urgent public health need to review unrestricted access to this source, to avoid further preventable deaths, say the researchers.