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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Engineering: Robotics Research

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A new study has found that people can learn to use supernumerary robotic arms as effectively as working with a partner in just one hour of training.

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For the first time, researchers have extracted ancient DNA from Caribbean parrot fossils and archaeological specimens, showing that species thought to be endemic to particular islands were historically more widespread and diverse.

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Research shows that birds with more complex skeletons are more specialized and so are less species rich.

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Primate species with better color vision are not more likely to have red skin or fur coloration, as previously thought.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) can help plant scientists collect and analyze unprecedented volumes of data, which would not be possible using conventional methods. Researchers have now used big data, machine learning and field observations in the university's experimental garden to show how plants respond to changes in the environment.

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New physics-based self-learning machines could replace the current artificial neural networks and save energy.

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When Charles Darwin traveled to the Galapagos Islands almost 200 years ago as a gentleman naturalist, he used the power of observation to develop his theory that species evolve over time.

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Balanophora shed one third of its genes as it evolved into a streamlined parasitic plant -- an extreme degree of genome shrinkage even among parasites. Along the way this subtropical plant developed the ability to induce the host plant to grow into the parasite's own flesh -- forming chimeric organs that mix host and parasite tissues.

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Palaeontologists have discovered X-ray evidence of proteins in fossil feathers that sheds new light on feather evolution.

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New research has found that monkeys increase their use of scent markings to compensate for human noise pollution. The study has investigated how primates change their communication strategies in response to noise pollution. The researchers studied endangered pied tamarins (Saguinus bicolor), which use both vocal calls and scent markings. The researchers found that the frequency of scent marking directly increased in line with noise decibel levels.

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A team has developed a shape-changing smart speaker, which uses self-deploying microphones to divide rooms into speech zones and track the positions of individual speakers.

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Scientists have shown that their steerable lung robot can autonomously maneuver the intricacies of the lung, while avoiding important lung structures.

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A groundbreaking study is reshaping our understanding of crocodile evolution by pinpointing the onset of slow growth rates to the Late Triassic period, much earlier than the previously assumed Early Jurassic timeline. The research highlights newly discovered fossil crocodile ancestors (known as crocodylomorphs) that exhibited slow growth rates, similar to modern-day crocodilians. Intriguingly, these early crocodylomorphs were not the lethargic, semi-aquatic creatures we are familiar with today; they were small, active, and fully terrestrial. The study also suggests that this slow-growth strategy was not a mere evolutionary quirk but a survival mechanism, as only the slow-growing crocodylomorphs managed to survive the End-Triassic mass extinction. This stands in stark contrast to the fast-growing dinosaurs of the same era, setting the stage for the divergent evolutionary paths that would later define their modern descendants.

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X-rays of an ancient jawless fish shows earliest-known example of internal cartilage skull, unlike that of any other known vertebrate.

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An international group of researchers have discovered a previously unknown species of large foraminifer, shedding new light on the ecological evolution and biodiversity of coral reefs in the Ryukyu Islands.

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Researchers combined soft microactuators with high-energy-density chemical fuel to create an insect-scale quadrupedal robot that is powered by combustion and can outrace, outlift, outflex and outleap its electric-driven competitors.

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A new study sheds new light on the origins of modern brain cells. Researchers find evidence that specialized secretory cells found in placozoans, tiny sea creatures the size of a grain of sand, have many similarities to the neuron, such as the genes required to create a partial synapse. From an evolutionary point of view, early neurons might have started as something like these cells, eventually gaining the ability to create a complete synapse, form axons and dendrites and create ion channels that generate fast electrical signals -- innovations which gave rise to the neuron in more complex animals such as jellyfish. Though the complete story of how the first neuron appeared remains to be told, the study demonstrates that the basic building blocks for our brain cells were forming in the ancestors of placozoans grazing inconspicuously in the shallow seas of Earth around 800 million years ago.

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A new study shows the isolation and sequencing of more than a century-old RNA molecules from a Tasmanian tiger specimen preserved at room temperature in a museum collection. This resulted in the reconstruction of skin and skeletal muscle transcriptomes from an extinct species for the first time. The researchers note that their findings have relevant implications for international efforts to resurrect extinct species, including both the Tasmanian tiger and the woolly mammoth, as well as for studying pandemic RNA viruses.

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Researchers have developed a novel genome editing technique known as NICER, which results in significantly fewer off-target mutations than CRISPR/Cas9 editing. The technique uses a different type of enzyme that makes single-stranded 'nicks' in the DNA. Repair of these nicks is more efficient and accurate than repair of double-strand breaks caused by the current CRISPR/Cas9 editing. This technique represents a novel approach for the treatment of genetic diseases caused by heterozygous mutations.

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A research team has developed groundbreaking 'soft valve' technology -- an all-in-one solution that integrates sensors and control valves while maintaining complete softness.