Researchers at Princeton University and the Simons Foundation have identified four clinically and biologically distinct subtypes of autism, marking a transformative step in understanding the condition’s genetic underpinnings and potential for personalized care. Analyzing data from over 5,000 children in SPARK, an autism cohort study funded by the Simons Foundation, the researchers used a computational…
A new analysis of an exquisitely preserved fossil that lived half a billion years ago suggests that arachnids – spiders and their close kin – evolved in the ocean, challenging the widely held belief that their diversification happened only after their common ancestor had conquered the land. Spiders and scorpions have existed for some 400…
Leafy seadragons rely on camouflage to avoid predation Alastair Pollock Photography/Getty Images One of the world’s most extraordinary fish could be in danger of extinction due to a massive bloom of toxic algae engulfing parts of the southern coast of Australia. Leafy seadragons (Phycodurus eques) are in the same group of fish that includes seahorses…
The evolutionary path from dinosaurs to birds included the development of a tiny wrist bone that ultimately proved crucial for stabilizing wings in flight. A new study suggests that the bone appeared in bird ancestors millions of years earlier than first thought. Paleontologists at Yale and Stony Brook University led a research team that made…
In a twist worthy of a detective novel, a long-misidentified fossil at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) has emerged as a key discovery in early animal evolution. Originally described in 1865 as a caterpillar, Palaeocampa anthrax shuffled between classifications — worm, millipede, and eventually a marine polychaete — until 130 years later, when researchers…
If you have ever spotted faces or human-like expressions in everyday objects, you may have experienced the phenomenon of face pareidolia. Now, a new study by the University of Surrey has looked into how this phenomenon grabs our attention, which could be used by advertisers in promoting future products. The study, published in i-Perception, investigated…
To succeed at university, Italian students need to pass interview-style oral exams. Now scientists have found that the time of the exam could be a critical factor influencing their success… or failure. Even when other factors were excluded, the chances of passing were highest around lunchtime, and lowest at the beginning or end of the…
Researchers from the universities of Basel and Zurich have used a historical specimen from UZH’s Medical Collection to decode the genome of the virus responsible for the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic in Switzerland. The genetic material of the virus reveals that it had already developed key adaptations to humans at the outset of what became the…
A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has found that the Covid-19 pandemic may have accelerated people’s brain health, even if they were never infected with the virus. What does it mean to grow older, not just in years, but in terms of brain health? Can stress, isolation, and global disruption…
The latest science of how animals communicate, with a live audience at the Hay Festival. Source link
