From the article: New research seeks to understand what interventions may improve some of the destructive symptoms of narcissism. Researchers from the University of Maastricht investigated the consequences of exercises to induce two different types of compassion, self-compassion and compassion for others. Their findings indicate targeted interventions inducing feelings of compassion may work for some with grandiose or vulnerable narcissistic traits.

Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism are a pair of traits that result in behaviors that are damaging to the individual and those around them. Grandiose narcissism refers to a set of behaviors that can be characterized by arrogance, superiority and exploitation of others. Vulnerable narcissism is evident when individuals are extremely sensitive to judgment, lack self-esteem and are neurotic.

Those with the grandiose trait are likely to be unnecessarily competitive, denigrating, and manipulative in relationships with others. Those in relationship with people who experience vulnerable narcissism may deal with a person who plays the victim, is manipulative and lashes out emotionally or physically. Both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism are at greater risk for self-harming behavior.

From the article: A 7-year study of twins found that behavioral inhibition in childhood is associated with social anxiety in adolescence. Behavioral inhibition was primarily assessed through shyness. Parental stress and a number of other factors were found to influence the strength of this association. The study was published in Development and Psychopathology.

Behavioral inhibition is a property of one’s temperament that makes the person prone to withdrawing or reticence when faced with a novelty or threat. It is somewhat similar to shyness. However, shyness refers to feelings of discomfort in social situations, while behavioral inhibition affects the behavior in both social and nonsocial situations.

Behavioral inhibition has long attracted research interests in the field of mental health as it is seen as a “trait that biases reactions to later stressors in a way that can result in maladaptive behavioral patterns.” Childhood behavioral inhibition has also been reported to predict social anxiety in later years. This association is important, because anxiety disorders are among the leading causes of disability worldwide. They primarily affect 15–34-year-olds, with 8.6% of adolescents and 13% of adults meeting diagnostic criteria for the social anxiety disorder.

From the article: For many — those who are lactose intolerant, those who are vegan, those who (for whatever reasons) do not consume dairy milk — Ben & Jerry's has been a reliable stalwart when it comes to producing non-dairy desserts, most of which are primarily made with almond milk.

While the grocery store freezer shelves are now replete with non-dairy products (ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, frozen yogurt and the like), many customers remain loyal to Ben & Jerry's, especially as their non-dairy oeuvre seems to grow quite often.

Soon enough, though, there may be a new type of product on shelves with Ben & Jerry's emblazoned across its packaging.

As TIME reported last month, Unilever (a British company which lists Ben & Jerry's as one of their brands) is looking to produce dairy ice creams that actually utilize milk that isn't derived from cows whatsoever. This would mean that the ice creams and frozen desserts wouldn't be branded dairy-free, since they would contain this lab-created "milk," but they could potentially be consumed by those who might have lactose allergies or are personally or morally against consuming any sort of cow-derived dairy.

TIME notes that this would be developed in a "process called precision fermentation that uses substances like yeast and fungi to produce milk proteins in a vat." Andy Sztehlo who runs Unilever's ice cream research and development team, notes that the "product could be available in about a year," meaning that you might have your hands on some dairy-but-not-from-cows ice cream before you know it.

This process, often called "lab-grown milk," has been practiced by other companies, but no "major food companies" have produced any particular products with said milk, including any other ice cream brand.

From the article: Ethereum, the world's second-largest crypto asset by market cap, has drastically changed its energy usage, saving a country-size proportion of power consumption.

This radical update most likely reduced the power consumption of the crypto network by 99.84 percent to 9.99 percent, according to a paper published by peer-reviewed data-science journal Patterns on Tuesday.

"This perspective highlights how Ethereum, the second largest crypto asset by market capitalization, likely succeeded in significantly reducing its power demand through an event called The Merge," read the study.

"This event occurred on September 15, 2022, and consisted of Ethereum's proof-of-work mining mechanism being replaced with an alternative known as proof of stake."

The decrease in energy use might be enough to meet Austria's or Ireland's national electrical needs.

The success of The Merge may now serve as a roadmap to enable a switch from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake in Bitcoin and other crypto assets still utilizing Proof of Work, as per the study.

However, it would still be premature for the Ethereum community to declare a "complete victory" over the sustainability concerns facing crypto assets.

Blockchain was traditionally upheld and validated by a Proof of Work mechanism employed by various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.

A blockchain is a massive, dynamic database that records every transaction and underpins Ethereum, just like it does with all other cryptocurrencies.

In return, companies and volunteers who contributed their computers to the network's operation received new cryptocurrency coins. The likelihood of producing new coins increased as they performed more labor.