How to share Earth with other animals
Earth is a big place, but size isn’t everything. The planet’s richest ecosystems are in rapid decline, forcing us to acknowledge the elephant in the room: Elephants, along with countless other creatures worldwide, are running out of room. Habitat loss…
Evolution of learning is key to better artificial intelligence
(Michigan State University) Researchers at Michigan State University say that true, human-level intelligence remains a long way off, but their new paper published in The American Naturalist explores how computers could begin to evolve learning in the same way as natural organisms did — with implications for many fields, including artificial intelligence.
Antimicrobial resistance is drastically rising
Researchers have shown that antimicrobial-resistant infections are rapidly increasing in animals in low and middle income countries. They produced the first global of resistance rates, and identified regions where interventions are urgently needed.
Neurological signals from the spinal cord surprise scientists
With a study of the network between nerve and muscle cells in turtles, researchers have gained new insight into the way in which movements are generated and maintained. In the long term, the new knowledge may have an impact on the treatment of, for example, ALS and spinal cord injuries.
Global Warming May Dwindle the Supply of a Key Brain Nutrient – Scientific American
Glaciers continue to melt. Sea levels are on the rise. And now scientists believe the changing climate may put our brains at risk. A new analysis predicts that by 2100, increasing water temperatures brought on by a warming planet could…
Are Saturnâs rings young or old?
Cassini data suggested that Saturn’s rings were only 10 to 100 million years old. A new study suggests that a “ring rain” onto Saturn makes the rings look younger than they really are, and that in fact Saturn’s rings date back billions of years.
Fruit flies’ microbiomes shape their evolution
(University of Pennsylvania) In just five generations, an altered microbiome can lead to genome-wide evolution in fruit flies, according to new research led researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. ‘The fact that we can see this effect in experiments done over such a short time scale suggests that the magnitude of the fitness effects the microbes have is incredible,’ says Schmidt.
New species of giant salamander is world’s biggest amphibian
Using DNA from museum specimens collected in the early 20th century, researchers identified two new species of giant salamander — one of which they suspect is the world’s biggest amphibian.
Geochemists measure new composition of Earth’s mantle
Geochemists have investigated the volcanic rocks that build up the Portuguese island group of the Azores in order to gather new information about the compositional evolution of the Earth’s interior. The results suggest that a larger amount of the Earth’s mantle has melted and formed the Earth’s crust than previously thought.
Carp aquaculture in Neolithic China dating back 8,000 years
Researchers analyzed fish bones excavated from the Early Neolithic Jiahu site in Henan Province, China. By comparing the body-length distributions and species-composition ratios of the bones with findings from East Asian sites with present aquaculture, the researchers provide evidence of managed carp aquaculture at Jiahu dating back to 6200-5700 BC.
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