Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Hearing laughter may cause orangutans to value rewards more
A new study from Indiana University shows that being in a positive mood leads orangutans to value what they learned more strongly. The study comes from the lab...
Japan's expensive funerals and declining birthrates are transforming ancestral traditions
Whenever I drive amid the mazelike bustle of Tokyo's Shuto Expressway, where approximately 1 million vehicles transit daily, I see billboard advertisements for...
Salt marshes are proving to be powerful allies in building a climate-resilient coastline
Salt marsh sediment and vegetation can remain largely intact even during extreme storm surges. This was demonstrated in a large-scale experiment in which resear...
Reconstructing 16,000 years of summer temperature change in the Western Balkans
Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have reconstructed approximately 16,000 years of summer temperature changes from sediments collected at Lake Prok...
AI designs functional enzyme components that could help expand drug discovery
New active ingredients for drugs to treat infections, cancer or other serious diseases are often based on substances originally discovered in microorganisms, pl...
A scuff on your bag, a dent in your mug—and suddenly it feels like time for a new one
Imagine you have a bag you really like. It felt like "the one" when you bought it. Over time, it starts to look worn. There are some scuffs on it. Nothing is ac...
How humans domesticated the bacterium behind Botox treatments
Clostridium botulinum bacteria produce a potent neurotoxin called botulinum toxin, which causes the serious illness botulism. The toxin attacks the nervous syst...
What faces in paintings can tell us about how we perceive emotion
Look closely at a face in a painting and you might think you know what emotion the person is experiencing. A smile suggests happiness. A furrowed brow might sig...
Serengeti hyenas manage to keep clans stable as climate change alters animal migrations
Although the main prey of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), migratory ungulates such as blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), now spend substantially less ti...
Subsidence claims: After drought, ground can shrink, swell or even collapse when it rains—causing damage to homes
A crack appears beside a window after weeks of scorching weather. As much as you might hope the ground beneath your house will recover with the first rain, the...
Ancient fish bones reveal how Arctic cod species survived the last ice age
The glacial Arctic Ocean was not a barren ice desert but a breeding ground for the evolution of cold adaptation in marine fish. This is the main conclusion of a...
Genetic snapshot of North Carolina black bears could improve population resilience
A recent genomic survey of North Carolina black bears from mountain and coastal habitats reveals distinct differences in genetic health and diversity between th...