http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. After eons of wandering in the dark, primates developed highly acute, three-color vision that permitted them to shift to daytime living, a new Dartmouth College study suggests. http://phys.org/news283611376.html Biology Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:56:24 EST news283611376 We know the benefits of laughter on health. But why do we laugh? What are the evolutionary origins of laughter and humour? Steven Légaré has asked these questions and has made them the subject of his master's thesis, which he recently submitted to the Université de Montréal's Department of Anthropology. http://phys.org/news283589197.html Other Sciences Wed, 27 Mar 2013 08:10:05 EST news283589197 A new owl is the first endemic bird species discovered on the island of Lombok, Indonesia, according to research published February 13 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by an international team headed by George Sangster of the Swedish Museum of Natural History and colleagues from other institutions. http://phys.org/news279996939.html Biology Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:30:02 EST news279996939 The question 'How do songbirds sing?' is addressed in a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Biology. High-field magnetic resonance imaging and micro-computed tomography have been used to construct stunning high resolution, 3D, images, as well as a data set "morphome" of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) vocal organ, the syrinx. http://phys.org/news276775252.html Biology Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:00:07 EST news276775252 Justin Richard spent nearly 10 years as a beluga whale trainer at Mystic Aquarium, where he taught the Arctic marine mammals to voluntarily submit to regular health screenings. But it's not so easy to conduct health screenings of wild whales. So he has taken what he learned at Mystic to the University of Rhode Island in an effort to find non-invasive ways of monitoring the health of wild beluga populations. http://phys.org/news276416822.html Biology Thu, 03 Jan 2013 06:40:02 EST news276416822 Humpback whales are famed for their songs, most often heard in breeding season when males are competing to mate with females. In recent years, however, reports of whale songs occurring outside traditional breeding grounds have become more common. A new study may help explain why. http://phys.org/news275157525.html Biology Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:00:03 EST news275157525 Paternal recognition – being able to identify males from your father's line – is important for the avoidance of inbreeding, and one way that mammals can do this is through recognizing the calls of paternal kin. This was thought to occur only in large-brained animals with complex social groups, but a new study published today in the open access journal BMC Ecology provides evidence in a tiny, solitary primate that challenges this theory. http://phys.org/news273434888.html Biology Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:00:03 EST news273434888 Guys who imitate Luciano Pavarotti or Justin Bieber to get the girls aren't alone. Male mice may do a similar trick, matching the pitch of other males' ultrasonic serenades. The mice also have certain brain features, somewhat similar to humans and song-learning birds, which they may use to change their sounds, according to a new study. http://phys.org/news269103979.html Biology Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:00:19 EST news269103979 (Phys.org) -- With humans, mothers and other adults have developed a whole separate way of communicating with infants, toddlers and even teens, but that kind of purposeful conversing style is unique; among primates only the rhesus macaque has been found to alter its vocalizations for the young. Now though, two researchers studying captive western lowland gorillas have found the animals use a slightly different form of communication when conversing with their young. After studying many hours of tape, the two: Eva Maria Leuf and Katja Liebal, as they describe in their paper published in the American Journal of Primatology, have found that gorilla mothers use special hand gestures to get their point across to their young and tend to repeat them till the message is understood. http://phys.org/news258792520.html Biology Wed, 13 Jun 2012 07:50:33 EST news258792520 (Phys.org) -- Ever wonder why Jimi Hendrix's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" moved so many people in 1969 or why the music in the shower scene of "Psycho" still sends chills down your spine? http://phys.org/news258745338.html Biology Tue, 12 Jun 2012 20:30:01 EST news258745338 Blue whale vocal behavior is affected by man-made noise, even when that noise does not overlap the frequencies the whales use for communication, according to new research published Feb. 29 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. The whales were less likely to emit calls when mid-frequency sonar was present, but were more likely to do so when ship sounds were nearby, the researchers report. http://phys.org/news249762422.html Biology Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:27:16 EST news249762422 Male house mice produce melodious songs to attract mates. Unfortunately for us, because the melodies are in the ultra-sonic range human ears cannot detect them. Through spectrographic analyses of the vocalizations of wild house mice, researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna have found that the songs of male mice contain signals of individuality and kinship. Their results appear in the journal Physiology & Behavior and in the Journal of Ethology. http://phys.org/news246794075.html Biology Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:54:53 EST news246794075 (PhysOrg.com) -- Spotted Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus) are best known for their nests, but these birds are also capable of mimicking the vocalizations of many different species of birds. It was believed bowerbirds were mimicking the sounds of predatory birds as a way of defense, but a new study in Naturwissenschaften determined that is not the case, but rather that stress and stressful situations account for the vocalizations they choose to mimic. http://phys.org/news224307276.html Biology Wed, 11 May 2011 06:40:01 EST news224307276 People can identify a repeating sound in a noisy room, but only when the noise includes mixtures of distinct distracting sounds, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news213378503.html Medicine & Health Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:48:49 EST news213378503 From a baby's first blurted "bowl!'" for the word "ball" to the whispered goodbye of a beloved elder, the capacity for complex vocalizations is one of humankind's most remarkable attributes -- and perhaps one we take for granted most of our lives. http://phys.org/news209564483.html Physics Sun, 21 Nov 2010 12:21:54 EST news209564483 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists has observed the activity of nerve cells in a songbird's brain as it is singing a particular song. Dezhe Jin, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at Penn State University and one of the study's authors, explained that understanding how birds string together sets of syllables -- or notes in a song -- may provide some insight into how the human brain learns language and produces speech. The research will be published in the print edition of the journal Nature and is available online. http://phys.org/news208453714.html Biology Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:48:56 EST news208453714 Deep brain stimulation may be a safe and effective treatment for Tourette syndrome, according to research published in the October 27, 2009, print issue of Neurology. http://phys.org/news175885169.html Medicine & Health Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:40:02 EST news175885169 For every hour they spend in the presence of an audible television, parents speak fewer words and infants are less likely to make vocalizations in response, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. http://phys.org/news163092893.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:35:18 EST news163092893 Scientists have found novel patterns of ultrasonic vocalizations in a genetic mouse model of autism, adding a unique element to the available mouse behaviors that capture components of the human disease, and representing a new step towards identifying causes and better treatments. http://phys.org/news139030707.html Biology Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:38:27 EST news139030707