Bats often get a bad rap. They’re known mostly as characters in spooky myths or Halloween stories. But these flying mammals are responsible help keep ecosystems in balance and our food economy humming. Bat Species and Their AbilitiesBats comprise one fifth of all living mammal species and are found everywhere on Earth except the ice-covered poles. They first appeared on Earth over 50 million years ago, long before humans. While many people assume bats are related to rodents because of their s ...read more
This article was originally published in Eos.Along with Egypt and Babylonia, the Hittite Empire was one of the major powers of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East during the late Bronze Age. For more than 500 years, the empire’s military might and sociopolitical complexity allowed the Hittites to control the strategic region straddling eastern Anatolia and the northern Levant.But by about 1200 B.C., the empire had collapsed. Researchers have cited armed conflict, disease, and political cri ...read more
Large, broad Neanderthal noses evolved to regulate the cold, dry Ice Age air and to suck in enough oxygen to meet high energy demands, according to a series of computer simulations. They were so useful, researchers have found, that when Neanderthals passed on their noses to certain humans through inter-species reproduction, the gene lived on to today.It affects how “tall” the nose is, how long from top to bottom, and must have survived tens of thousands of years of natural selection to be de ...read more
This article was originally published on Nov. 16, 2022. The use of human voiceover work is ubiquitous across modern media platforms, from video games to television and movies. But increasingly, the voices you hear on-screen aren’t totally human-made; they’re the result of artificial intelligence.Respeecher, a voice cloning company founded in 2018 and based in Ukraine, is currently working with LucasFilm to provide voice services for the Star Wars projects. Respeecher’s speech-to-speech tec ...read more
The insect world is full of creatures who have practically raised the principles of disguise and concealment to an art form. For predators and prey alike, camouflage is a critical survival tool, with coloration, patterning and even physical shape all playing roles in helping insects to conceal themselves from their hunters — or aid the hunters in hiding from their unsuspecting prey until it’s time to strike.Many insects are particularly good not merely at blending in with one’s natural hab ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
