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Categories: Ecology: Nature, Mathematics: Modeling
Published Study identifies distinct brain organization patterns in women and men



Researchers have developed a powerful new artificial intelligence model that can distinguish between male and female brains.
Published Pollinator's death trap turns into nursery



In a group of plants that is famous for luring its pollinators into a death trap, one species offers its flowers as a nursery in exchange. The discovery blurs the line between mutualism and parasitism and sheds light on the evolution of complex plant-insect interactions.
Published Viruses that can help 'dial up' carbon capture in the sea



Armed with a catalog of hundreds of thousands of DNA and RNA virus species in the world's oceans, scientists are now zeroing in on the viruses most likely to combat climate change by helping trap carbon dioxide in seawater or, using similar techniques, different viruses that may prevent methane's escape from thawing Arctic soil.
Published Online digital data and AI for monitoring biodiversity



Researchers propose a framework for integrating online digital data into biodiversity monitoring.
Published New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed



Engineers have developed a new chip that uses light waves, rather than electricity, to perform the complex math essential to training AI. The chip has the potential to radically accelerate the processing speed of computers while also reducing their energy consumption.
Published How is deforested land in Africa used?



Africa's forested areas -- an estimated 14 % of the global forest area -- are continuing to decline at an increasing rate -- mostly because of human activities to convert forest land for economic purposes. As natural forests are important CO2 and biodiversity reservoirs, this development has a significant impact on climate change and effects the integrity of nature.
Published Reforestation programs could threaten vast area of tropical grasslands



New research reveals the scale of inappropriate reforestation projects across Africa. A new study reveals that an area the size of France is threatened by forest restoration initiatives, such as the AFR100 initiative (African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative), due to inappropriate restoration in the form of tree-planting.
Published Big new idea introduced with the help of tiny plankton



A new model bridges the rules of life at the individual scale and the ecosystem level, which could open new avenues of exploration in ecology, global change biology, and ultimately ecosystem management.
Published A lighthouse in the Gobi desert



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 Love songs lead scientists to new populations of skywalker gibbons in Myanmar



The love songs of the Skywalker gibbon alerted scientists to a new population of the endangered primate in Myanmar.
Published Is the Amazon forest approaching a tipping point?



Global warming may be interacting with regional rainfall and deforestation to accelerate forest loss in the Amazon, pushing it towards partial or total collapse. New research has identified the potential thresholds of these stressors, showing where their combined effects could produce a 'tipping point' -- in which the forest is so fragile that just a small disturbance could cause an abrupt shift in the state of the ecosystem.
Published A century of reforestation helped keep the eastern US cool



Widespread 20th-century reforestation in the eastern United States helped counter rising temperatures due to climate change, according to new research. The authors highlight the potential of forests as regional climate adaptation tools, which are needed along with a decrease in carbon emissions.
Published Australia's most at-risk bird species share some common traits



Australian birds that live on islands are among the species most at risk of extinction, a first-of-its-kind study has shown. Australia has over 750 native bird species. But many of them are facing an uncertain future.
Published The hidden rule for flight feathers -- and how it could reveal which dinosaurs could fly



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 Global deforestation leads to more mercury pollution



Researchers find deforestation accounts for about 10 percent of global human-made mercury emissions. While it cannot be the only solution, they suggest reforestation could increase global mercury uptake by about 5 percent.
Published Five dazzling new species of eyelash vipers discovered in Colombia and Ecuador



Scientists have discovered five dazzling new species of eyelash vipers in the jungles and cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador.
Published Why insects navigate more efficiently than robots



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



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 Making AI a partner in neuroscientific discovery



The past year has seen major advances in Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. The ability of these models to interpret and produce human text sources (and other sequence data) has implications for people in many areas of human activity. A new perspective paper argues that like many professionals, neuroscientists can either benefit from partnering with these powerful tools or risk being left behind.
Published Alien invasion: Non-native earthworms threaten ecosystems



Analysis reveals imported earthworm species have colonized large swaths of North America, and represent a largely overlooked threat to native ecosystems. The researchers warn of the need to better understand and manage the invaders in our midst.