Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Developmental Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

New AI accurately predicts fly behavior      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers trained an AI model to accurately predict male fruit flies' courtship behavior in response to any sight of a female. This breakthrough offers new insight into how the brain processes visual data and may someday pave the way for artificial vision technology.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Cuddled cows who work as therapy animals showed a strong preference for women compared to men, study finds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study reveals that cows who are cuddled as therapy animals showed a strong preference for interactions with women when compared to men. In turn, the research, which opens a new era on whether some therapies may be initially stronger based upon gender and not procedure, highlighted that the women also reported greater attachment behaviors towards the steers.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Study finds widespread 'cell cannibalism,' related phenomena across tree of life      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers describe cell-in-cell phenomena in which one cell engulfs and sometimes consumes another. The study shows that cases of this behavior, including cell cannibalism, are widespread across the tree of life. The findings challenge the common perception that cell-in-cell events are largely restricted to cancer cells. Rather, these events appear to be common across diverse organisms, from single-celled amoebas to complex multicellular animals.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Detecting odors on the edge: Researchers decipher how insects smell more with less      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

While humans feature a sophisticated sense of smell, insects have a much more basic olfactory system. Yet they depend upon smell to survive. Scientists have figured out how fruit flies use a simple but efficient system to recognize odors, and the answer lies at the edges of their antennae.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

3D printing robot creates extreme shock-absorbing shape, with help of AI      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

See how an autonomous robot created a shock-absorbing shape no human ever could -- and what it means for designing safer helmets, packaging, car bumpers, and more.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Researchers discover hidden step in dinosaur feather evolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists discover 'zoned development' in dinosaur skin, with zones of reptile-style scales and zones of bird-like skin with feathers. A new dinosaur skin fossil has been found to be composed of silica -- the same as glass.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

2D materials: A catalyst for future quantum technologies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered that a 'single atomic defect' in a layered 2D material can hold onto quantum information for microseconds at room temperature. This underscores the broader potential of 2D materials in advancing quantum technologies.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Physicists propose path to faster, more flexible robots      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug delivery.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

World's smallest quantum light detector on a silicon chip      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have made an important breakthrough in scaling quantum technology by integrating the world's tiniest quantum light detector onto a silicon chip.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Diamond glitter: A play of colors with artificial DNA crystals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using DNA origami, researchers have built a diamond lattice with a periodicity of hundreds of nanometers -- a new approach for manufacturing semiconductors for visible light.

Biology: General Biology: Marine Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Otters, especially females, use tools to survive a changing world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Sea otters are one of the few animals that use tools to access their food, and a new study has found that individual sea otters that use tools -- most of whom are female -- are able to eat larger prey and reduce tooth damage when their preferred prey becomes depleted.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

How neighboring whale families learn each other's vocal style      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a method to investigate sperm whale communication by determining their vocal style, finding that groups living in close proximity can develop similar styles to each other.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

How did sabre-toothed tigers acquire their long upper canine teeth?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In a groundbreaking study an international team of scientists has investigated the evolutionary patterns behind the development of sabre teeth, with some unexpected results along the way.

Biology: Biochemistry Chemistry: Biochemistry Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Spider silk sound system      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have investigated how spiders listen to their environments through webs and found that the webs match the acoustic particle velocity for a wide range of sound frequencies. Playing sound ranging from 1 Hz to 50 kHz for the spiders and measuring the spider silk motion with a laser vibrometer, they found the sound-induced velocity of the silk was the same as the particles in the air surrounding it. This confirmed the mechanism that these spiders use to detect their prey.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Building a better sarcasm detector      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Sarcasm is notoriously tricky to convey through text, and the subtle changes in tone that convey sarcasm often confuse computer algorithms as well, limiting virtual assistants and content analysis tools. So researchers have now developed a multimodal algorithm for improved sarcasm detection that examines multiple aspects of audio recordings for increased accuracy. They used two complementary approaches -- sentiment analysis using text and emotion recognition using audio -- for a more complete picture.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Chemistry: Biochemistry Ecology: Sea Life Engineering: Robotics Research Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Jet-propelled sea creatures could improve ocean robotics      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an unusual kind of locomotion that could inspire new designs for efficient underwater vehicles.

Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Robotic 'SuperLimbs' could help moonwalkers recover from falls      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

SuperLimbs, a system of wearable robotic limbs, can physically support an astronaut and lift them back on their feet after a fall, helping them conserve energy for other essential tasks.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Mathematics: Modeling Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Wavefunction matching for solving quantum many-body problems      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Strongly interacting systems play an important role in quantum physics and quantum chemistry. Stochastic methods such as Monte Carlo simulations are a proven method for investigating such systems. However, these methods reach their limits when so-called sign oscillations occur. This problem has now been solved using the new method of wavefunction matching.

Biology: Zoology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Eurasian jays can use 'mental time travel' like humans, study finds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Eurasian jays can remember incidental details of past events, which is characteristic of episodic memory in humans, according to a new study.