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Categories: Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds, Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published New tusk-analysis techniques reveal surging testosterone in male woolly mammoths



Traces of sex hormones extracted from a woolly mammoth's tusk provide the first direct evidence that adult males experienced musth, a testosterone-driven episode of heightened aggression against rival males, according to a new study.
Published Wearable ultrasound patch provide non-invasive deep tissue monitoring



Engineers have developed a stretchable ultrasonic array capable of serial, non-invasive, three-dimensional imaging of tissues as deep as four centimeters below the surface of human skin, at a spatial resolution of 0.5 millimeters. This new method provides a non-invasive, longer-term alternative to current methods, with improved penetration depth.
Published Sensor enables high-fidelity input from everyday objects, human body



Couches, tables, sleeves and more can turn into a high-fidelity input device for computers using a new sensing system.
Published New research redefines mammalian tree of life



Scientists from around the globe are using the largest mammalian genomic dataset in history to determine the evolutionary history of the human genome in the context of mammalian evolutionary history. Their ultimate goal is to better identify the genetic basis for traits and diseases in people and other species.
Published Information 'deleted' from the human genome may be what made us human



What the human genome is lacking compared with the genomes of other primates might have been as crucial to the development of humankind as what has been added during our evolutionary history, according to a new study led by researchers at Yale and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The new findings, published April 28 in the journal Science, fill an important gap in what is known about historical changes to the human genome.
Published Mammalian evolution provides hints for understanding the origins of human disease



Even though it is important to know where these variations are located in the genome, it's also useful to know how or why these genetic variations happened in the first place.
Published Lead vocal tracks in popular music go quiet



Scientists carried out an analysis of hundreds of popular song recordings from 1946 to 2020 to determine the lead vocal to accompaniment ratio, or LAR. The study considered the four highest-ranked songs from the Billboard Hot 100 chart for each year and the results show that, contrary to expectations, the LAR for popular music decreased over the decades in question. This means that, relative to their bands, lead singers are getting quieter.
Published It's not as difficult as you think to shout upwind



Why does it feel so difficult to shout upwind? The sensation is common enough to have found its way into an idiom about not being understood. Researchers wanted a scientific explanation for the phenomenon -- and there wasn't been one. They have now shown that our common sense understanding of this situation is wrong. It isn't harder to shout into the wind; it's just harder to hear yourself.
Published Versatile, high-speed, and efficient crystal actuation with photothermally resonated natural vibrations



Mechanically responsive molecular crystals are extremely useful in soft robotics, which requires a versatile actuation technology. Crystals driven by the photothermal effect are particularly promising for achieving high-speed actuation. However, the response (bending) observed in these crystals is usually small. Now, scientists address this issue by inducing large resonated natural vibrations in anisole crystals with UV light illumination at the natural vibration frequency of the crystal.
Published X-ray analysis sheds new light on prehistoric predator's last meal



We now know more about the diet of a prehistoric creature that grew up to two and a half meters long and lived in Australian waters during the time of the dinosaurs, thanks to the power of x-rays. Researchers used micro-CT scans to peer inside the fossilized stomach remains of a small marine reptile -- a plesiosaur nicknamed 'Eric' after a song from the comedy group Monty Python -- to determine what the creature ate in the lead up to its death.
Published Fossils reveal the long-term relationship between feathered dinosaurs and feather-feeding beetles



New fossils in amber have revealed that beetles fed on the feathers of dinosaurs about 105 million years ago, showing a symbiotic relationship of one-sided or mutual benefit.
Published Researchers help AI express uncertainty to improve health monitoring tech



A team of engineering and health researchers has developed a tool that improves the ability of electronic devices to detect when a human patient is coughing, which has applications in health monitoring. The new tool relies on an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that helps the AI better identify uncertainty when faced with unexpected data in real-world situations.
Published Apes may have evolved upright stature for leaves, not fruit, in open woodland habitats



Anthropologists have long thought that our ape ancestors evolved an upright torso in order to pick fruit in forests, but new research from the University of Michigan suggests a life in open woodlands and a diet that included leaves drove apes' upright stature.
Published Starting small and simple -- key to success for evolution of mammals



The ancestors of modern mammals managed to evolve into one of the most successful animal lineages -- the key was to start out small and simple, a new study reveals.
Published Woolly mammoths evolved smaller ears and woolier coats over the 700,000 years that they roamed the Siberian steppes



A team of researchers compared the genomes of woolly mammoths with modern day elephants to find out what made woolly mammoths unique, both as individuals and as a species. The investigators report that many of the woolly mammoth's trademark features -- including their woolly coats and large fat deposits -- were already genetically encoded in the earliest woolly mammoths, but these and other traits became more defined over the species' 700,000+ year existence. They also identified a gene with several mutations that may have been responsible for the woolly mammoth's miniscule ears.
Published AI-equipped eyeglasses read silent speech



Researchers have developed a silent-speech recognition interface that uses acoustic-sensing and artificial intelligence to continuously recognize up to 31 unvocalized commands, based on lip and mouth movements.
Published Detecting, predicting, and preventing aortic ruptures with computational modeling



According to some estimates, up to 80% of patients who experience a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm will die before they reach the hospital or during surgery. But early intervention can prevent rupture and improve outcomes. Researchers have now made a computational model of the cardiovascular system in order to predict early AAA rupture and monitor patients' blood vessel conditions. They mimicked specific health conditions and investigated various hemodynamic parameters using image-based computational blood dynamics.
Published Analysis of dinosaur eggshells: Bird-like Troodon laid 4 to 6 eggs in a communal nest


An international research team has determined that Troodon, a dinosaur very close to modern birds, was a warm-blooded animal (an endotherm), but had a reproductive system similar to that of modern reptiles. The scientists applied a new method which allowed for accurate determination of the temperature when the egg's carbonate shell was formed. Furthermore, the researchers showed that Troodon laid 4 to 6 eggs per clutch. As nests with up to 24 Troodon eggs had been found, the scientists conclude that several Troodon females laid their eggs in communal nests.
Published Smart films help to make loudspeakers lighter and more energy-efficient



Scientists are developing intelligent materials that are opening up new avenues in sound reproduction technology: lightweight loudspeakers that use far less energy than their conventional counterparts, novel shapes for sound and signal generators and applications involving noise cancelling textiles. The basis for these smart materials are ultrathin silicone films that can act as artificial muscles with their own built-in sensors.
Published Predatory dinosaurs such as T. rex sported lizard-like lips


A new study suggests that predatory dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, did not have permanently exposed teeth as depicted in films such as Jurassic Park, but instead had scaly, lizard-like lips covering and sealing their mouths.