Futurity

Penguins living along the Patagonian coast of Argentina can serve as living monitors of their environment by using small, chemical-detecting leg bands, according to a new study. For the proof-of-concept study in the journal Earth: Environmental Sustainability, University of California, Davis scientists outfitted 54 Magellanic penguins with silicone passive samplers placed gently around their legs for a few days during the 2022-24 breeding seasons.

A new study shows that the system that ants use to determine who belongs in the colony is far more flexible than once thought. For ants, the ability to instantly distinguish nestmates from outsiders who might hijack the colony is crucial. The new findings in Current Biology, demonstrate how clonal raider ants update their sense of nestmate identity throughout adulthood through repeated exposure, while still retaining an intrinsic recognition of their kin.

A new study has uncovered surprising new details about how our eyes process what we see. When we look at something, our visual system breaks down different aspects of the scene—such as color, contrast, and motion—and processes those components separately. It’s called parallel visual processing and it’s what allows our brains to work out what we’re seeing so quickly.

A new study offers one of the clearest answers yet to the question of why stressful moments so often push people toward habits like drinking. The research identifies a direct connection inside the brain that links stress to addiction‑related behaviors. The work shows how alcohol disrupts the natural stress‑response system, making it harder for the brain to adapt or make good decisions. The team, led by Jun Wang, professor in the neuroscience and experimental therapeutics department in the Naresh K.

A new study found that heart health may affect fracture risk after menopause, with women at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease more likely to experience hip and other major bone fractures. Postmenopausal women face a high risk of bone fractures. Due to declines in estrogen levels, which can lead to an increased risk of osteoporosis, even a low-impact fall can result in a serious hip, back, or wrist injury.

Imagine a paint that changes color depending on how hard its surface is hit. It could be used on football helmets to monitor concussion-level impacts, to record the handling history of shipped packages, or placed on insoles to analyze an orthopedic patient’s gait. The paint is the latest innovation coming from the Tufts University Silklab, led by Fiorenzo Omenetto, a professor of engineering.

A new mobile app will soon put the ability to monitor a baby’s prenatal heartbeat in the hands of pregnant women who may worry about their baby’s health in between doctor’s visits. Studies show that one in five pregnant women experiences perinatal anxiety, which is characterized by intense negative thoughts about their pregnancy.

Traditional TV ads are far less effective than believed, according to real-time viewership data. Even with all the hype around streaming, traditional TV still dominates ad spend. Advertisers are putting $139 billion into linear ads this year, compared to just $33 billion for ads on streaming/connected TV.

Planetary scientists have shown that the material that makes up the Earth originates exclusively from the inner solar system. Planetary scientists have long debated where the material that formed our Earth comes from. Despite its location in the inner solar system, they consider it likely that 6–40% of this material must have come from the outer solar system, i.e., beyond Jupiter.

One of the biggest worries with AI is job loss. In past technological revolutions, which workers lost jobs, and how does the current situation differ? Louis Hyman: Humans have endured a 300-year competition with machines, and I could give you long lists of workers displaced along the way. The Luddites, a group of 19th-century textile workers in England, are perhaps the most famous example.