In chimpanzees, peeing is contagious

Hate waiting in line for the bathroom? Chimpanzees have a social solution: Go all at once. A new study shows that peeing is contagious in chimpanzees, making it “the first…

How a brain-threatening parasite could soon be programed to deliver life-saving drugs

Parasites take an enormous toll on human and veterinary health. But researchers may have found a way for patients with brain disorders and a common brain parasite to become frenemies. A…

Do Accents Influence Guilt Perceptions?

Summary: Accents influence perceptions of guilt, with those judged as “lower status” being considered more likely to commit crimes. Researchers analyzed responses from 180 participants who rated voices from 10…

Mapping the Link Between Personality and Cognitive Decline

Summary: A new study has identified three psychological profiles that influence brain health, cognitive decline, and dementia risk in aging adults. Profiles with high protective traits, like purpose and openness,…

‘You are a stain on the universe. Please die. Please’: A 14-year old took AI seriously. Who is responsible?

Demonic forces which lured unsuspecting innocents to their deaths were once the subject of myth. No longer.  And while we once could control these non-human diabolical temptresses and powers –…

How Our Brains Perceive Body Weight Differs From Objects

Summary: Research reveals that how we perceive the size and weight of body parts, such as hands, differs from our perception of objects. For objects, smaller items feel heavier than…

Decoding Favoritism: How Parents Shape Sibling Bonds

Summary: New research sheds light on how parents subtly favor children based on birth order, personality, and gender, shaping family dynamics. Younger siblings often receive more favorable treatment, while older…

trait combinations and their effects on tree physiology – Functional Ecologists

In this new blog post, Marion Boisseaux, a postdoc at California State University, presents her work ‘Shifting trait coordination along a soil-moisture-nutrient gradient in tropical forests’. She discusses the knowledge…

Hand-feeding squirrels accidentally changed their skulls

Soft diet, weak jaws. If red squirrels eat too many peanuts, their jaws end up weaker than the jaws of squirrels eating natural diets, researchers report January 15 in Royal…

Early humans are one of the few animals of that era that did not migrate when the climate cooled

Humans seem to have … adapted to the last ice age in similar ways to wolves and bears, according to our recent study, challenging longstanding theories about how and where…