And one relationship is particularly important ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
November 5, 2025—What determines your attachment style? Plus, a mysterious gamma-ray burst from another galaxy, and the future of NASA is at a turning point. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Orlando Sierra/AFP via Getty | | Supporting our work means amplifying science. Consider a subscription to Scientific American and back independent science journalism! Today in Science readers can get started for just $1. | | Our earliest relationships, especially those with our mothers, may be the most influential in our lives, according to a new study. Between 2018 and 2022, researchers checked in with 705 young adults interviewed as part of a much larger study on the impact of relationships when they were 15 years old. They asked participants about their current relationships with their parents, best friends and romantic partners. They found that early relationships with their mothers predicted future attachment styles with all their primary relationships. Why this is interesting: Attachment styles suggest how avoidant or anxious people are in their relationships. People with attachment anxiety may have fears of abandonment and need more reassurance, while those with an avoidant style may struggle to rely on or trust people. Those who feel secure in their relationships are comfortable being close to others and can trust them when they need support. This new study suggests that folks who felt closer to their mothers during childhood tended to feel more secure in their adult relationships, which demonstrates the enduring impact of those first relationships, says Keely Dugan, an assistant professor of social personality psychology at the University of Missouri and lead author of the study. What the experts say: The authors "provide some of the strongest prospective evidence to date supporting a foundational assumption of attachment theory: that early relational experiences shape how adults relate to others"—not just in general but also within specific types of relationships, says Omri Gillath, a social psychologist at the University of Kansas.—Andrea Tamayo, Newsletter Writer | | In July, NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope spotted an unusual gamma-ray burst (GRB) in a different galaxy, some five billion light-years away. GRBs are extremely energetic explosions that rank among the most powerful astrophysical events in the universe, commonly caused by either a merging pair of neutron stars or a very massive star ending its life in a supernova called a collapsar. They are so luminous they can be seen from billions of light-years away. This one is called GRB 250702B. What the experts say: Astronomers aren't quite sure yet what caused the giant burst. The length of the burst cannot fully be explained by the typical star collapsar scenario, nor could it have arisen from something more violent–such as a star being shredded by a black hole. "There are, of course, even wilder possibilities—it may be that this event represents some fantastic and heretofore entirely unwitnessed phenomenon," writes Yvette Cendes, a professor in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Oregon. | | | | |
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| | If you'd like to better understand your own patterns in relationships, especially to dive more into attachment styles, I recommend our podcast from a couple years ago. A LOT goes into relationships: yes, some attachment tendencies, but also communication styles, personality compatibility, even genetics. | | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor
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