A new discovery of how bees use their flight movements to facilitate remarkably accurate learning and recognition of complex visual patterns could mark a major change in how next-generation AI is developed, according to a University of Sheffield study. By building a computational model—or a digital version of a bee’s brain—researchers have discovered how the […]
In late summer last year my doctor prescribed a monthlong course of antibiotics for an infection. Medicines like antibiotics are great at wiping out bacterial infections. The problems is that these drugs don’t differentiate between eliminating the “good” bacteria that may benefit our health and the “bad” bacteria causing infection. I was absolutely miserable and […]
As the Hungarian mathematician Alfréd Rényi famously put it (although usually misattributed to Paul Erdös), mathematicians are devices for turning coffee into theorems. Other people drink coffee for a variety of reasons, and considering that coffee is very far from being the only popular beverage containing caffeine, it is not difficult to believe that caffeine […]
Bees visit flowers to obtain nectar (a sugary liquid) and pollen (their source of fat and protein). During foraging trips, bees do not choose flowers at random. For example, as first pointed out by Aristotle, bees visit only one type of flower in each of their foraging trips. How do bees recognise flowers? Colour textures […]
Authors: Anna Jon-And, Director of Centre for Cultural Evolution, Senior Lecturer in Portuguese, Stockholm University and Johan Lind, Senior Associate Professor in Ethology, Linköping University Why do humans have language and other animals apparently don’t? It’s one of the most enduring questions in the study of mind and communication. Across all cultures, humans use richly […]
Jupiter spot’s decline may be due to fewer small storms Decreasing numbers of smaller storms that feed Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, the solar system’s largest windstorm, may be causing the spot to shrink, according to 3D simulations. Numerical simulations feeding the Great Red Spot a diet of smaller storms, as has been known to occur […]
Cells in upper airway may trigger coughs to block water When a drink goes down the wrong way or reflux gurgles up, neuroendocrine cells in the upper airway set off coughing or other reflexes by telling the nervous system to expel the water or acid. Full Story: Live Science Sinking cities put millions of people […]
Amniotic fluid contains cells, cells shed by the growing fetus and which could be used to build “mini organs” in vitro, as a new study reports . What do we mean by “mini organs”? This so-called organoids are 3D cellular systems that aim to replicate the structure and function of real organs but at a […]
Human migration received help from Toba eruption A study on an archaeological site in Ethiopia has added to evidence that indicates the eruption of Mount Toba in Indonesia 74,000 years ago might not have been apocalyptic. The study shows humans adjusted to arid conditions after the eruption in a way that might have aided migration […]
Hypoxia Author: Marta Irigoyen is a postdoctoral researcher at CIC bioGUNE Despite the fact that c ancer treatments have greatly improved during recent years, chemoresistance remains a major problem in eradicating cancer cells. Drug resistance involves not only many cell intrinsic mechanisms but also extrinsic induced chemoprotection by the tumor microenvironment . In fact, this […]