From 2018 to 2022, 48 anti-transgender laws were enacted in the USA across 19 states. This study shows that these anti-transgender laws increased past-year suicide attempts among transgender and non-binary young people by as much as 72%.

When applying to higher education in the Global North, students from the Global South face many challenges. Universities need to do more to ensure equity, argues Asim A. Ditta.

Blum et al. report evidence of lengthening of word-initial consonants across a diverse sample of 51 languages. On average, these consonants are 13 ms longer than word-medial ones, helping mark word boundaries in continuous speech, which is crucial for understanding speech.

Collective intelligence is the basis for group success and is frequently supported by information technology. Burton et al. argue that large language models are transforming information access and transmission, presenting both opportunities and challenges for collective intelligence.

This study examines links between genetics and alcohol use, and identifies 217 proteins in the human cortex and 255 genes at single-cell resolution. Leveraging population genetics with proteomic and transcriptomic data opens new paths in addiction science.

Agarwal et al. find that food orders from Black-owned US restaurants on a delivery platform increased by 39% after the murder of George Floyd, with evidence of increased racial sympathy and strategic platform support as mechanisms.

Greene et al. find that collaborative contact that equalizes the social status of opposing partisans can reduce political polarization.

Crawford et al. report data from over half a million pupils from 48 low- and middle-income countries, showing that pupils across the first three instructional years are failing to acquire the most basic skills that underpin reading comprehension.

This umbrella review of 56 meta-analyses and 296 effect sizes examines the risk factors, protective factors and consequences of cyberbullying. The authors also examine interventions to mitigate cyberbullying victimization.

Working memory is constructive in nature. In three electroencephalography/magnetoencephalography studies, Fan et al. provide converging behavioural and neural evidence that a one-dimensional syllable sequence is automatically reorganized into a two-dimensional representation in working memory, which reflects the hierarchical organization of language.

Hinduism seeks to provide insight into the nature of the universe and is not antithetical to science. Rohitash Chandra explains why he sees value in bringing together science and spirituality in the quest for knowledge.

Research conducted in classrooms has theoretical, methodological and practical implications, but also entails addressing challenges related to internal and external validity, replicability and ethics. Here we illuminate the issues involved in each step of the research process and offer practical recommendations to address them.

As digital technologies become ever more pervasive and sophisticated, understanding the nuances of the relationship between humans and machines becomes increasingly important. Spanning a range of disciplines, from computer science and psychology to medicine and education, this issue’s Focus includes a diverse array of voices and perspectives on the many ways in which humans and digital machines interact and communicate with each other, as well as the societal implications and ethical considerations of emerging technologies.