Life
- Animals
Woodpeckers grunt like tennis players when they peck
The birds grunt like tennis pros when making their rat-a-tat, a strategy that may help steady their movements.
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- Artificial Intelligence
AI can now write working genetic instruction books from scratch
Two AI models designed these genomes for viruses that kill E. coli bacteria. They’re the first functioning full sets of DNA ever designed by machines.
- Brain
Brain scans reveal where taste and smell combine to become flavor
Flavor isn’t just on your tongue. Scans show that a part deep in the brain fuses taste and smell into something that’s more than a sum of its parts.
- Humans
Scientists Say: Chronohygiene
Artificial lights and other aspects of modern life can confuse our body’s internal sleep clock. But a few minor changes may grant us much-needed control.
- Animals
Polar bears leave thousands of tons of food scraps for other species
The new finding quantifies how much of polar bears' food goes uneaten. As these bears decline, Arctic scavengers risk losing a critical food source.
- Tech
Let’s learn about lab-grown meat
Lab-grown meat may still be several years away from your local grocery. But such alternatives to farmed or free-range meats are on their way.
- Animals
Flamingos hunt by creating their own underwater tornadoes
Chilean flamingos use their beaks and feet to create underwater whirlpools that suck in prey.
- Animals
Beware the vipers: These snakes appear to strike the fastest
Other snake species, however, can also attack at amazingly fast speeds, giving stiff competition to some of the slower vipers.
- Humans
How to invent a language — like that of Avatar’s Na’vi
Linguists can choose to follow, mix or break the rules of real-world languages to create interesting fictional ones.
- Animals
Rudolph’s red nose could glow through bioluminescence
Simple chemistry could give the reindeer his iconic red snout. But physics would make it look different colors to anyone who spied Rudolph from the ground.
- Animals
Liquid from African tulip trees may protect honeybees from pests
Liquid from the African tulip tree may keep ant invaders out of hives without harming honeybees.
