Lions certainly deserve their prestige as emperors of the African savanna, but they’ve recently been humbled by a tiny, pesky troublemaker: ants. A team of researchers noticed that the invasive big-headed ant species has been putting a damper on lions’ predation patterns by inadvertently assisting their main prey, zebras. Researchers led by University of Wyoming Ph.D. student Douglas Kamaru spotted this occurrence at Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The results, published in Science, show a ...read more

You might think that the more a robot or virtual person resembles a real human, the more comfortable we would be with them. But oddly, that’s not entirely true. As robots and virtual people get closer to being lifelike, we do tend to like them more — up to a point. A cute robot with big, round eyes and a happy smile is far more endearing than one that looks like a microwave oven on wheels.However, somewhere along the road to realism, things start to change. As robots get very close to being ...read more

Modern-day birds like the northern mockingbird and the greater roadrunner use their feathers to forage for food. When the birds flash their wings, it scares their prey into revealing their hiding spots, and once they move, the bird snatches up the snack. A team of researchers suspect that smaller dinosaurs similarly used their feathers to hunt for prey in a new study published in Scientific Reports.For decades, scientists have speculated what the feathers found on the forearms (proto-wings) of ...read more

While a lack of sleep is known in humans to decrease health, mood, and, well, libido, it might just be an essential ingredient in some animals’ sex lives. In a new paper published in Current Biology, a team uncovered the unorthodox sexual strategies of a plucky, furry creature called the antechinus.What Is an Antechinus?For the uninitiated, antechinus are a grouping of mice-like marsupials, which carry 15 equally cute species in their ranks. Like all marsupials, and unlike us placentals, their ...read more

Tree sloths have earned a reputation for being shy and slow-moving. But their ancestors, a diverse group of extinct creatures known as giant ground sloths, were not nearly as cuddly as their modern counterparts.Sporting bony, chainmail-like armor and razor-sharp claws, these impressive beasts could be found lumbering throughout the prehistoric Americas during the last Ice Age — and not just on the surface, either. Are Scientists Still Unearthing New Species of Giant Sloth?   In 2009, paleo ...read more

The journey of aging brings with it an unavoidable reality for many: an increased accumulation of body fat. Though much of society seems mostly focused on the aesthetics of being overweight, doctors look past any cosmetic concerns to focus on the health implications of fat byproducts in the body.Fatty acids are one of the molecular building blocks that make up fats. Though essential for various bodily functions, excessive amounts of fatty acids in the body can be harmful, shortening a person� ...read more

A ravenous love for meat has saturated depictions of prehistoric humans for ages, but in a surprising twist, some groups may have embraced mostly plant-based diets. A new study has raised the argument that humans’ historic hunger for meat might not have been so universal in the ancient world, as evidenced by early humans in the Andes Mountains who ate more plants than meat. What Did Early Humans Eat?For years, archaeologists saw meat as the main course of early human diets. A new study publis ...read more

Japan landed its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, or SLIM, craft on the surface of the Moon on Jan. 20, 2024. Despite a power issue with the lander, the event holds both political and technical importance. It’s Japan’s first lunar landing – making it only the fifth country in the world to successfully land on the Moon. This is a significant achievement and solidifies Japan’s position as a leader in space technology.While the craft landed successfully on the lunar surface and d ...read more

Our bodies require a range of vitamins and minerals to maintain a healthy balance and keep us in good shape. Some of those – such as vitamin D and magnesium – have strong bonds and work together. Here is how vitamin D and Magnesium impact the body when taken together. What Is Vitamin D? Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin,” as the body generates it via exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun’s rays. It’s also found in a range of foods such as mushrooms, eggs, and fatty f ...read more

Only about 1 in 4 Americans said that they had trust in the nation’s institutions in 2023 – with big business (1 in 7), television news (1 in 7) and Congress (1 in 12) scraping the very bottom.While institutional trust is decreasing, political polarization is increasing. The majority of Republicans (72%) and Democrats (64%) think of each other as more immoral than other Americans – a nearly 30% rise from 2016 to 2022. When compared with similar democracies, the United States has exhibite ...read more