Have you ever wondered what kind of video content would most grab the attention of monkeys? A new study of long-tailed macaques suggests the monkeys seem to like some of the same kind of content that humans do: videos featuring aggression and individuals they know. “Humans and macaques are both social animals who have a…
People’s intuitive perception of biodiversity through visual and audio cues is remarkably accurate and aligns closely with scientific measures of biodiversity. This is according to new research published in the British Ecological Society journal, People and Nature. In a new study led by researchers at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz…
The majority of the Earth’s plant species, including our crop plants, rely on the services of animal pollinators in order to reproduce. Honey bees and other pollinating insects annually contribute billions of dollars to the U.S. economy, and are responsible for nearly a third of the food that ends up on our tables. Our modern…
A Smithsonian-led team of researchers have discovered North America’s oldest known pterosaur, the winged reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs and were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight. In a paper published on July 7 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers led by paleontologist Ben Kligman, a Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow at…
Ongoing research into the effect of environmental change on the buzzing of bees reveals that high temperatures and exposure to heavy metals reduces the frequency (and audible pitch) of non-flight wing vibrations, which could have consequences on the effectiveness of bee communication and their role as pollinators. “People have been long interested in how insect…
The key to sticking to and reaping the rewards of exercise over the long term may be as simple as doing something you enjoy, say the authors of a new study from UCL. Previous research has shown that the personalities of people who engage in different types of organized sport tend to vary. But what…
Fish make hanging motionless in the water column look effortless, and scientists had long assumed that this meant it was a type of rest. Now, a new study reveals that fish use nearly twice as much energy when hovering in place compared to resting. The study, led by scientists at the University of California San…
Melting glaciers may be silently setting the stage for more explosive and frequent volcanic eruptions in the future, according to research on six volcanoes in the Chilean Andes. Presented today (July 8) at the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, the study suggests that hundreds of dormant subglacial volcanoes worldwide – particularly in Antarctica – could become…
During photosynthesis, an enzyme called rubisco catalyzes a key reaction — the incorporation of carbon dioxide into organic compounds to create sugars. However, rubisco, which is believed to be the most abundant enzyme on Earth, is very inefficient compared to the other enzymes involved in photosynthesis. MIT chemists have now shown that they can greatly…
Protein fragments managed to persist in the harsh conditions of Kenya’s Rift Valley Ellen Miller The fossilised teeth of 18-million-year-old mammals in Kenya have yielded the oldest protein fragments ever recovered, extending the record age for ancient proteins fivefold. Daniel Green at Harvard University, in collaboration with Kenyan scientists, found a variety of fossilised remains,…
