Lonely flies, like many humans, eat more and sleep less
COVID-19 lockdowns scrambled sleep schedules and stretched waistlines. One culprit may be social isolation itself. Scientists have found that lone fruit flies quarantined in test tubes sleep too little and eat too much after only about one week of so.....»»
New Waymo data shows self-driving tech drives safer than humans
Self-driving technology company Waymo said its robotaxis are making roads safer in the markets where it operates — and sharing data to back those claims......»»
For many animals sleep is a social activity, but the interconnections are not fully understood
Group sleeping can impact when animals sleep, how long they sleep for, and how deeply they sleep. For example, groups of meerkats time their sleep according to "sleep traditions"; olive baboons sleep less when their group size increases; bumblebees s.....»»
New filter removes chemical contaminants from water even at very low concentrations
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products pose a major environmental threat. These chemicals, found in everyday items like medicines and cosmetics, can pollute waterways, harming the plants and animals living in the waterways and the humans who use.....»»
Australian government trial finds AI is much worse than humans at summarizing
Llama2-70B failed to capture "complex context," but updated models might do better. Enlarge / ASIC evaluators found AI summaries were often "wordy and pointless—just repeating what was in the submission." (credit: Getty Images).....»»
Miniature treadmills accelerate studies of insects walking
Fruit flies walking on miniature treadmills are helping scientists learn how the nervous system enables animals to move in an unpredictable and complex world......»»
RNA editing plays critical role in fruit flies" sense of smell and social interactions
Imagine your DNA as a set of instructions or a recipe book that tells your body how to make everything it needs to function, from proteins to cells. Every time the body needs to build something, it reads these instructions. But sometimes, the body ca.....»»
Dozens of viruses detected in Chinese fur farm animals
Dozens of viruses have been detected mixing in animals at fur farms in China, some of which are new and have the potential to spill over into humans, researchers said Wednesday......»»
Drosophila study discovers mechanism that could control longevity, cancer cell production
Researchers at UC Merced have used fruit flies to uncover a cellular process common to many organisms that could dramatically impact the understanding of cancer and aging......»»
The world"s fastest single-shot 2D imaging technique films ultrafast dynamics in flames
Candle flames and airplane engines produce tiny soot particles from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as their precursors, both of which are harmful to humans and the environment. These carbon-based particles are also common in space, making up.....»»
Denmark reports cases of bluetongue disease that can be fatal to sheep but is harmless to humans
Denmark reported Tuesday cases of bluetongue in the country's east, a non-contagious, insect-borne viral disease that is harmless to humans but can be fatal for so-called ruminant animals—mainly sheep but also cows and goats......»»
New knowledge about a fungus that turns 60–80% of the flies in your home into zombies
What can we learn from a fungus that eats most of the flies in your home from the inside, turns them into zombies and then lures other flies to necrophilic intercourse? Possibly quite a lot, according to researchers at the University of Copenhagen......»»
Is there such a thing as an objectively beautiful building? Here"s the science
Some people assume that there's a type of beauty that everyone can agree on. But did early humans really admire slender bodies the way we do today? After all, fashions come and go—there have been plenty of fads throughout history that we find hard.....»»
NASA lines up return date for Boeing Starliner minus humans
A Butch- and Suni-less Boeing Starliner has been given a date to return to Earth by NASA......»»
Revealed — How much Target is selling the Keurig K-Cafe Special for on Labor Day
Keurig Around these parts we love the , surprises, and sneaky reveals just as much as the next batch of humans. What we don’t like? Unnecessary extra effort. But we’re willing to go through extra steps to help you out. In Target’s L.....»»
Ancient viral genomes preserved in glaciers reveal climate history—and how viruses adapt to climate change
As humans alter the planet's climate and ecosystems, scientists are looking to Earth's history to help predict what may unfold from climate change. To this end, massive ice structures like glaciers serve as nature's freezers, archiving detailed recor.....»»
The Mediterranean dried out 5.5 million years ago, offering sobering lessons for humanity today
What would happen if humans dried out the Mediterranean sea, turning it into a giant salt lake? Would its wildlife survive, and if so, how long would it take to recover?.....»»
How fruit flies use internal representations of head direction to support goal-directed navigation
Animal behavior is known to rely on transforming sensory information into motor commands, often influenced by an animal's internal needs. While in mammals and other large animals this process is supported by complex brain processes, simpler versions.....»»
Rocket Report: Blue Origin flies six to space; when will Starship launch again?
It seems like we'll have to wait a bit for ABL to put another rocket on the launch pad. Welcome to Edition 7.09 of the Rocket Report! When will SpaceX launch the next test flight of Starship? It certainly doesn't look to be imminent,.....»»
What a submerged ancient bridge discovered in a Spanish cave reveals about early human settlement
A new study led by the University of South Florida has shed light on the human colonization of the western Mediterranean, revealing that humans settled there much earlier than previously believed. This research, detailed in a recent issue of the jour.....»»
Uncovering the secret communication of marmoset monkeys: They have names
A new study from Hebrew University reveals that marmoset monkeys use specific calls, known as "phee-calls," to name each other, a behavior previously known to exist only in humans, dolphins, and elephants. This discovery highlights the complexity of.....»»