MDPI Articles Cited in the News: April 2026
MDPI publishes a wide variety of exciting and novel research published across its Open Access journals. In this blog article, we explore a selection of high-quality MDPI research mentioned by popular news outlets such, as CNN and Forbes. Throughout April, we see the discovery of a new artificial canal connected to the infamous Rhine River in Western Europe, and the identification of some of the earliest records of muscle tissue. Furthermore, we learn how important parent mediation is to protect children from online risk exposure, and how specific coping mechanisms can help keep couples content in their long-term romantic relationships.
An Artificial Canal Connecting the Roman Burgus at Trebur-Astheim (Upper Rhine Graben, Germany) with the River Rhine
Published in Land | Mentioned in Popular Mechanics
Researchers from Germany discover a 2.5m deep artificial canal connecting essential roman trading routes. The researchers utilised a variety of analytical tools to reconstruct and characterise the major features of the canal alongside its precise geographical placement.
The newly discovered canal connected a military watchtower called a burgus at Trebur-Astheim, Germany with the River Rhine – an essential waterway across western Europe critical to industrial transportation. With the river’s length spanning across major cities including Basel, Stratsbourg, Cologne, and Leverkusen, it also plays a major role in political discourse alongside it’s cultural and historical significance. It presently continues to be a major route for inland transportation.
Using advanced radiocarbon dating, the researchers found that the use of the artificial canal traced all the way back to the Roman period and the Early Middle Ages, where it then fell out of use during the late 7th or 8th century. Like most roman canals, historical data shows that these canals were multi-purpose, critical for military use and other activities of the local Trebur royal palace.
These important archaeological findings remain significant to the heritage and cultural preservation of the region, in addition to our current understanding of ancient roman society.
Dyadic Coping and Communication as Predictors of 10-Year Relationship Satisfaction Subgroup Trajectories in Stable Romantic Couples
Published in Behavioural Sciences | Mentioned in Forbes
What makes a romantic relationship tick? Long-term romantic relationships have been extensively studied by psychologists and relationship experts, as previous research shows that satisfaction levels deteriorate over time.
Research published in the Open Access journal Behavioural Sciences sought to find out whether two key relationship skills, dyadic coping and communication, could predict the trajectory of long-term relationship satisfaction by following 300 couples for over 10 years.
Dyadic coping refers to a coping strategy adopted by couples to overcome stress together as a unit, in order to promote relationship longevity and satisfaction. Examples of dyadic coping strategies include joint problem solving, communicating empathy, and conveying solidarity.
The results demonstrated how dyadic coping and communication played key roles in predicting relationship satisfaction, with these components setting apart highly satisfied and stable couples from couples that were relatively stable but strongly declining in satisfaction.
The Palaeobiology of Two Crown Group Cnidarians: Haootia quadriformis and Mamsetia manunis gen. et sp. nov. from the Ediacaran of Newfoundland, Canada
Published in Life | Mentioned in CNN
The earliest record of muscle tissue, the Haootia quadriformis is an eight-legged eumetazoan body fossil found in the Ediacaran of Eastern Newfoundland, Canada.
Taking a closer look at these magnificent evolutionary time capsules, researchers from Memorial University of Newfoundland and The University of Oxford record a new group of fossils with four arms, taxonomically categorised within the Mamsetia manunis genus, that existed around 565 million years ago.
The study carefully examines Mamsetia’s arrangement of muscle fibres and specific anatomical features which support its categorisation as being some of the earliest medusozoan identified alongside Haootia.
Discovery and analysis of these ancient specimens of fossilized muscle tissue provide important insights into the field of palaeobiology, which seeks to continuously carve out the origins of our past.
Early Adolescents and Exposure to Risks Online: What Is the Role of Parental Mediation Styles?
Published in Social Sciences | Mentioned in The Conversation
Parental moderation, whether it’s for movies or music, has long been a crucial part of protecting children from inappropriate content and maintaining their privacy.
With many minors having unregulated and unmonitored access to online content, the risk of viewing potentially harmful or unsuitable media is heightened. Research published in Social Sciences analyses the role of parent mediation in mitigating online risk exposure, particularly in children with special educational needs (SEN). Children with SEN are more vulnerable to online risk due to complex emotional and social difficulties.
The present study analysed how parental mediation techniques impacts exposure to online risks. They found that adolescents ages 11-15 years old with higher social adjustment and high levels of parental mediation were linked to significantly lower online risk exposure. Higher social adjustment refers to
Parents, therefore, play a crucial protective function in shielding children from online risk exposure. Furthermore, parental mediation had a marginal effect on exposure to online risk in adolescents with SEN. However, further research and a larger sample size is needed to fully elucidate these findings.
The main techniques of parental mediation encompass open dialogue and conversations, helping children to safely navigate digital platforms and understand the importance of consuming age-appropriate content.
This research highlights the importance of educating parents to create safe spaces for their children to foster open conversations, and to ultimately help parents moderate their child’s experience on the internet.
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