Evolutionary biologists urged to adapt their research methods

To truly understand the mechanisms of natural selection, evolutionary biologists need to shift their focus from present-day molecules to synthesized, ancestral ones, says Shozo Yokoyama, a biologist at Emory University.

Bonobos predisposed to show sensitivity to others

Comforting a friend or relative in distress may be a more hard-wired behavior than previously thought, according to a new study of bonobos, which are great apes known for their empathy and close relation to humans and chimpanzees. ...

Doing the math for how songbirds learn to sing

(Phys.org)—Scientists studying how songbirds stay on key have developed a statistical explanation for why some things are harder for the brain to learn than others.

Higher-math skills entwined with lower-order magnitude sense

The ability to learn complex, symbolic math is a uniquely human trait, but it is intricately connected to a primitive sense of magnitude that is shared by many animals, finds a study to be published by the Proceedings of ...

Physicists crack another piece of the glass puzzle (w/ Video)

(Phys.org)—When it comes to physics, glass lacks transparency. No one has been able to see what's happening at the molecular level as a super-cooled liquid approaches the glass state – until now. Emory University physicists ...

Biophysicists unravel secrets of genetic switch

When an invading bacterium or virus starts rummaging through the contents of a cell nucleus, using proteins like tiny hands to rearrange the host's DNA strands, it can alter the host's biological course. The invading proteins ...

page 20 from 27