Today in Science: Young adulthood is not the happy time it once was

The newsletter for science lovers July 12, 2024: A new kind of young adulthood, light is the backbone of everything we know about the universe and Houston is suffering from power outages AND extreme heat. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TOP STORIES The Sadness of Youth For decades, researchers have repeatedly found that happiness is high in young adulthood, dips during middle age, and then peaks again in older age. "It's an established fact. We called it one of the most striking, persistent patterns in social science," says David Blanchflower, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College. But Blanchflower and his team have recently released a paper showing a dramatic global shift in this happiness trend, beginning in 2018: Young adulthood now appears to be the least happy time of life, with rates of despair peaking early in life and declining as the years go by. Why this matters: People who exist at the extreme–with regular bad mental health days–are of most concern, experts say. Between 2020 and 2022, more than half of respondents reported no bad mental health days. But 7 percent acknowledged exactly 30 in the last 30 days. The proportion of those with this response nearly doubled from 1993 to 2023, Blanchflower found. The rate has grown fastest among young women, aged 18 to 25 years old, 11 percent of whom the researcher estimates are in despair and at highest risk for suicide. What the experts say: Trends from the last six years or so began even earlier, say researchers. "We never really thought about the lowest point being in youth," says Carol Graham, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "That is when people are just starting their lives. It shouldn't be when they are most anxious, are most depressed and have no hope for the future. There is something profoundly wrong there." Shuyao Xiao; Source: "The Declining Mental Health of the Young and the Global Disappearance of the Hump Shape in Age in Unhappiness," by David G. Blanchflower et al. NBER Working Paper No. 32337. National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2024 All the Light We Can See Nearly everything we know about the universe is because of light. Particles of light, called photons, can exist as particles AND as waves. The distance between peaks from one wave of light to another is called the wavelength–shorter wavelengths mean the photon is more energetic, while longer wavelengths indicate lower energy. Humans perceive differences in wavelengths as color, though the so-called visible spectrum only accounts for about 0.0035 percent of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Invisible gamma rays and x-rays have the shortest wavelengths, and microwaves and radio waves have longer wavelengths. Why this is so cool: The colors and wavelengths of light from objects in space tells astronomers how much energy those objects have, hence what kinds of objects they are–hot stars, remnants from massive exploded stars, or stars fueled by dark matter–and even what they are composed of. Plus, if an object in space is moving toward us, its wavelengths get crunched up, or if it's moving away the wavelengths get stretched out. This information tells astronomers how the objects in space are moving. What the experts say: Astronomers are able to detect more than light particles: Experiments now measure subatomic particles such as neutrinos and cosmic rays and gravitational waves, which ripple the fabric of spacetime itself. "We can combine that information with the light we detect, meaning we're now in the era of "multimessenger" astronomy, a powerful tool to help us understand what's going on over our head," astronomer and columnist Phil Plait writes. TODAY'S NEWS • Scientists have pinpointed the brain pathway that produces nausea in people taking weight-loss drugs like Ozempic. | 2 min read • New research shows that Jupiter's great red spot isn't as old as we thought it was--and it won't be around forever. | 5 min read • Days after Hurricane Beryl hit Houston and left millions without power, the city is experiencing a heat wave. | 5 min read • Nancy Hopkins, a molecular biologist who made major discoveries in cancer genetics, used a measuring tape to prove that her institution--MIT--undervalued the work of women scientists. | 35 min listen More News EXPERT PERSPECTIVES • In February, a farmer reported space debris had fallen on his field in Saskatchewan. Upon hearing the news, Samantha Lawler, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, embarked on an effort to hold SpaceX accountable. Lawler discovered a lack of international laws governing the incident, particularly troubling considering that SpaceX plans to launch as many as 42,000 satellites in the coming years. "Countries need to enforce the rules that already exist, and regulations need to be updated to account for the unprecedented numbers of launches and reentries now occurring," she writes. | 12 min read Three different views of debris from a SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle. This section of the Crew Dragon's trunk fell on Barry Sawchuk's farmland in Saskatchewan on February 26, 2024, and is but one of several large pieces discovered from the uncontrolled reentry event.Samantha Lawler More Opinion MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK • Not Everyone Has an Inner Voice Streaming through Their Head | 5 min read • Gen X Faces Higher Cancer Rates Than Any Previous Generation | 6 min read • PMDD Is a Menstrual Disorder Much More Severe than PMS | 5 min read FEEL GOOD SUMMER SCIENCE • Walking backward strengthens butt muscles, and takes the pressure off the knees. It can improve flexibility and strength over time, especially in older adults (though you may look a bit goofy doing it). | 3 min read • Anjali Goswami is an evolutionary biologist at the Natural History Museum in London. She argues that cats are the quintessential products of evolution. They are extremely specialized animals with limited developmental variation, demonstrating that they've hit peak evolution, she says. | 5 min read Whether unhappy early years are a byproduct of cell phones, social media, economic influences like resource scarcity, or other challenges, my anecdotal observation is that kids seem to play a lot less than they used to. Scientific studies have shown how crucial unstructured play is to developing confidence, social skills and problem-solving chops that are especially important for young people entering adulthood. Perhaps modern childhood focuses too much on extracurricular activities and less on freedom.   Thank you for reading Today in Science. Email me anytime and let me know what you think of this newsletter: newsletters@sciam.com. Have a wonderful weekend! —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters here. 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