Researchers have taught an algorithm to ‘taste’
For non-connoisseurs, picking out a bottle of wine can be challenging when scanning an array of unfamiliar labels on the shop shelf. What does it taste like? What was the…
Scientists build tiny biological robots from human cells
Researchers at Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute have created tiny biological robots that they call Anthrobots from human tracheal cells that can move across a surface and have…
Antarctica’s ancient ice sheets foreshadow dynamic changes in Earth’s future
Nineteen million years ago, during a time known as the early Miocene, massive ice sheets in Antarctica rapidly and repeatedly grew and receded. The Miocene is widely considered a potential…
Children who play baseball risk elbow injury
Youth baseball players are prone to elbow pain and injuries, including repetitive overuse changes and fractures, based on the maturity of their bones, according to a new study being presented…
Brittle stars can learn just fine — even without a brain
We humans are fixated on big brains as a proxy for smarts. But headless animals called brittle stars have no brains at all and still manage to learn through experience,…
Unknown animals were leaving bird-like footprints in Late Triassic Southern Africa
Ancient animals were walking around on bird-like feet over 210 million years ago, according to a study published November 29, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Miengah Abrahams…
How shifting climates may have shaped early elephants’ trunks
Researchers have provided new insights into how ancestral elephants developed their dextrous trunks. The study, published today as an eLife Reviewed Preprint, combines multiple analyses to reconstruct feeding behaviours in…
How to stay on task
Our ability to pay attention to tasks — a key component of our everyday lives — is heavily influenced by factors like motivation, arousal and alertness. Maintaining focus can be…
Macaque trials offer hope in pneumonia vaccine development
The global impact of the coronavirus pandemic has ignited a renewed focus on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University are making great strides in combating pneumococcal…
Spike in premature births caused by COVID, halted by vaccines, study finds
COVID-19 caused an alarming surge in premature births, but vaccines were key to returning the early birth rate to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new analysis of California birth records.…