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Categories: Anthropology: General, Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published New AI model could streamline operations in a robotic warehouse
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers applied deep-learning approaches from vehicle routing to streamline planning trajectories for robots in an e-commerce warehouse. Their method breaks the problem down into smaller chunks and then predicts the best chunks to solve with traditional algorithms.
Published Experiment captures why pottery forms are culturally distinct
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Potters of different cultural backgrounds learn new types differently, producing cultural differences even in the absence of differential cultural evolution. The research has implications for how we evaluate the difference of archaeological artifacts across cultures.
Published Plant seed and fruit analysis from the biblical home of Goliath sheds unprecedented light on Philistine ritual practices
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source While many aspects of Philistine culture are well-documented, the specifics of Philistine religious practices and deities have long remained shrouded in mystery. A recent study contributes valuable new data to our understanding of the Philistine's ritual practices. The discovery of numerous plants in two temples unearthed at the site unraveled unprecedented insights into Philistine cultic rituals and beliefs -- their temple food ingredients, timing of ceremonies, and plants for temple decoration.
Published A novel method for easy and quick fabrication of biomimetic robots with life-like movement
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ultraviolet-laser processing is a promising technique for developing intricate microstructures, enabling complex alignment of muscle cells, required for building life-like biohybrid actuators. Compared to traditional complex methods, this innovative technique enables easy and quick fabrication of microstructures with intricate patterns for achieving different muscle cell arrangements, paving the way for biohybrid actuators capable of complex, flexible movements.
Published Biggest Holocene volcano eruption found by seabed survey
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A detailed survey of the volcanic underwater deposits around the Kikai caldera in Japan clarified the deposition mechanisms as well as the event's magnitude. As a result, the research team found that the event 7,300 years ago was the largest volcanic eruption in the Holocene by far.
Published Method identified to double computer processing speeds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists introduce what they call 'simultaneous and heterogeneous multithreading' or SHMT. This system doubles computer processing speeds with existing hardware by simultaneously using graphics processing units (GPUs), hardware accelerators for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), or digital signal processing units to process information.
Published Did neanderthals use glue? Researchers find evidence that sticks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Neanderthals created stone tools held together by a multi-component adhesive, a team of scientists has discovered. Its findings, which are the earliest evidence of a complex adhesive in Europe, suggest these predecessors to modern humans had a higher level of cognition and cultural development than previously thought.
Published Ancient DNA reveals Down syndrome in past human societies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source By analysing ancient DNA, an international team of researchers have uncovered cases of chromosomal disorders, including what could be the first case of Edwards syndrome ever identified from prehistoric remains.
Published A lighthouse in the Gobi desert
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study explores the weight great fossil sites have on our understanding of evolutionary relationships between fossil groups and quantified the power these sites have on our understanding of evolutionary history. Surprisingly, the authors discovered that the wind-swept sand deposits of the Late Cretaceous Gobi Desert's extraordinarily diverse and well-preserved fossil lizard record shapes our understanding of their evolutionary history more than any other site on the planet.
Published Anthropologists' research unveils early stone plaza in the Andes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Located at the Callacpuma archaeological site in the Cajamarca Basin of northern Peru, the plaza is built with large, vertically placed megalithic stones -- a construction method previously unseen in the Andes.
Published Vittrup Man crossed over from forager to farmer before being sacrificed in Denmark
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Vittrup Man was born along the Scandinavian coast before moving to Denmark, where he was later sacrificed, according to a new study.
Published Some Pre-Roman humans were buried with dogs, horses and other animals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some people from an ancient community in what is now northern Italy were interred with animals and animal parts from species such as dogs, horses and pigs. The reasons remain mysterious, but might indicate an enduring companion relationship between these humans and animals, or religious sacrificial practices, according to a new study.
Published Did Eurasia's dominant East-West axis 'turn the fortunes of history'?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Jared Diamond proposed that Eurasia's unique geographic axis of orientation fueled a rapid spread of critical innovations among its societies, leading to a cultural and military dominance over other regions. A team of ecologists and cultural evolutionists from the USA, Germany and New Zealand harnessed extensive cultural, environmental and linguistic databases to test these claims. They found that environmental barriers have influenced cultural spread but do not consistently favour Eurasia.
Published Great apes playfully tease each other
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Babies playfully tease others as young as eight months of age. Since language is not required for this behavior, similar kinds of playful teasing might be present in non-human animals. Now cognitive biologists and primatologists have documented playful teasing in four species of great apes. Like joking behavior in humans, ape teasing is provocative, persistent, and includes elements of surprise and play. Because all four great ape species used playful teasing, it is likely that the prerequisites for humor evolved in the human lineage at least 13 million years ago.
Published How ancient sea creatures can inform soft robotics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Fossils of a marine animal that lived 500 million years ago, combined with computer simulations, informed the design of a new soft robot.
Published The hidden rule for flight feathers -- and how it could reveal which dinosaurs could fly
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists examined hundreds of birds in museum collections and discovered a suite of feather characteristics that all flying birds have in common. These 'rules' provide clues as to how the dinosaur ancestors of modern birds first evolved the ability to fly, and which dinosaurs were capable of flight.
Published Why insects navigate more efficiently than robots
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have studied how insects navigate, for the purpose of developing energy-efficient robots.
Published Innovations in depth from focus/defocus pave the way to more capable computer vision systems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In an image, estimating the distance between objects and the camera by using the blur in the images as clue, also known as depth from focus/defocus, is essential in computer vision. However, model-based methods fail when texture-less surfaces are present, and learning-based methods require the same camera settings during training and testing. Now, researchers have come up with an innovative strategy for depth estimation that combines the best of both the worlds to solve these limitations, extending the applicability of depth from focus/defocus.
Published Scandinavia's first farmers slaughtered the hunter-gatherer population, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Following the arrival of the first farmers in Scandinavia 5,900 years ago, the hunter-gatherer population was wiped out within a few generations, according to a new study. The results, which are contrary to prevailing opinion, are based on DNA analysis of skeletons and teeth found in what is now Denmark.
Published Innovation in stone tool technology involved multiple stages at the time of modern human dispersals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study illuminates the cultural evolution that took place approximately 50,000 to 40,000 years ago, coinciding with the dispersals of Homo sapiens across Eurasia. The insights gleaned from their examination of stone tool technology challenge the widely held notion of a rapid cultural and technological 'revolution' that enabled anatomically modern humans to surpass Neanderthals and other archaic humans. Instead, the research suggests a nuanced evolutionary process, unfolding gradually over an extended period, with changes occurring at various times. These findings challenge the conventional theory on the timing and nature of cultural transitions during this pivotal period in human history.