Why cats meow at humans more than each other
This is a story that goes back thousands of years......»»
The first Europeans reached Ukraine 1.4 million years ago, new study finds
During warm periods in Earth's history, known as interglacials, glaciers the size of continents pulled back to reveal new landscapes. These were new worlds for early humans to explore and exploit, and 1.4 million years ago this was Europe: a Terra nu.....»»
How water guides the assembly of collagen, the building block of all humans
Water determines life: humans are three-quarters water. An international research team led by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) has now discovered how water also determines the structure of the material that holds us together: collagen......»»
Could Fukushima"s radioactive water pose lasting threat to humans and the environment?
The meltdown of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi power plant, caused by the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, represents the most severe nuclear power accident of the 21st century so far......»»
Nature experiences may hold the key to a healthier relationship with time
According to a new study published in People and Nature, there is mounting evidence that nature can help humans address the time pressure of contemporary urban lifestyles by contributing to the regulation of the human sense of time. A better understa.....»»
Not just humans: Bees and chimps can also pass on their skills
Bumblebees and chimpanzees can learn skills from their peers so complicated that they could never have mastered them on their own, an ability previously thought to be unique to humans, two studies said on Wednesday......»»
AI art and human creativity
Text-to-image generative AI systems like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and DALL-E can produce images based on text prompts that, had they been produced by humans, would plausibly be judged as "creative." Some artists have argued that these programs a.....»»
How insects tell different sugars apart
Whereas humans have one receptor on their tongues that can detect all sorts of sweet things, from real sugar to artificial sweeteners like aspartame, insects have many receptors that each detect specific types of sugars. Yale researchers have now unc.....»»
Tiny worms tolerate Chornobyl radiation, new research shows
The 1986 disaster at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant transformed the surrounding area into the most radioactive landscape on Earth. Humans were evacuated, but many plants and animals continue to live in the region, despite the high levels of radiat.....»»
Sunflower sea stars are critically endangered, but can humans help the species rebound?
There are so few sunflower sea stars remaining, researchers don't think there are enough for them to find each other on their own to reproduce—so the species is getting a helping hand from humans......»»
Study reveals the crow"s best friend: Humans
A new study from Tel Aviv University (TAU) has examined what happens to birds that are accustomed to living around humans, when their habitat is suddenly emptied of the presence of humans. Among other birds, the researchers tested crows, ringneck par.....»»
Similar genetic elements underlie vocal learning in mammals
The vocalizations of humans, bats, whales, seals and songbirds vastly differ from each other. Humans and birds, for example, are separated by some 300 million years of evolution. But scientists studying how these animals learn to "speak" have time an.....»»
SpaceX delays Crew-8 launch, but lines up Starlink launch instead
Bad weather conditions on the launch corridor for a human spaceflight from Kennedy Space Center have prompted a two-day delay, so SpaceX took the opportunity to roll out and try and shoehorn a launch without humans from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Fo.....»»
Building bionic jellyfish for ocean exploration
Jellyfish can't do much besides swim, sting, eat, and breed. They don't even have brains. Yet, these simple creatures can easily journey to the depths of the oceans in a way that humans, despite all our sophistication, cannot......»»
Change in gene code may explain how human ancestors lost tails
A genetic change in our ancient ancestors may partly explain why humans don't have tails like monkeys, finds a new study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine......»»
Amazon to spend $1 billion on startups that combine AI with robots
“We’re also a long way off from replacing all humans.” Enlarge / Digit, a bipedal robot, is being tested at an Amazon facility in the US. (credit: Financial Times) Amazon’s $1 billion industrial innovation fund.....»»
China names its capsule and lander for its upcoming human lunar missions
In a recent announcement, the Chinese Space Agency (CSA) unveiled the names for its forthcoming lunar mission components. The CSA have been working toward sending humans to the moon through a series of robotic missions. The 22-ton capsule that is tak.....»»
Researcher proposes paradigm shift in enzyme biochemistry
Although you may never have heard of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes, these proteins play diverse and critical roles in humans through the metabolic processing of drugs, pesticides, fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins, and chemical carcinoge.....»»
Blocking fertilization of parasite-causing malaria opens new doors in eradication efforts
More than 400 people develop malaria every minute, and it can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated at the first sign of symptoms. Eliminating the disease will require interventions that stop the transmission of the parasite from mosquitoes to humans.....»»
Researchers describe new technological platform to accelerate drug development
Drug development is currently an extremely long, expensive and inefficient process. Findings generated in a lab are often very hard to replicate once translated into animal models or in humans......»»
New species of fungi potentially harmful to humans identified in freshwater ecosystems
A study by the Mycology and Environmental Microbiology Unit of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili has identified new species of fungi that may cause infections or diseases in people and animals. Carried out in river ecosystems, the research is part of.....»»