The legacy of these Inuit dogs survives today in Arctic sled dogs, making them one of the last remaining descendant populations of indigenous, pre-European dog lineages in the Americas. The latest research is the result of nearly a decade’s work by University of California, Davis, researchers in anthropology and veterinary genetics, who analyzed the DNA…

Scientists have developed a material that, when coated on a glass window panel, can effectively self-adapt to heat or cool rooms across different climate zones in the world, helping to cut energy usage. Developed by NTU researchers and reported in the top scientific journal Science, the first-of-its-kind glass automatically responds to changing temperatures by switching…

By manipulating the dopamine receptors of monkeys and studying their behavior, scientists reveal how our brain makes us feel motivated. Why do we do things? What persuades us to put an effort to achieve goals, however mundane? What, for instance, drives us to search for food? Neurologically, the answer is hidden in the reward system…

Before they evolved the ability to fly, two-legged dinosaurs may have begun to flap their wings as a passive effect of running along the ground. The findings, published in PLOS Computational Biology, provide new insights into the origin of avian flight, which has been a point of debate since the 1861 discovery of Archaeopteryx. While…

Synthetically created melanin can be used as a toxin adsorbent when applied to fabric. New material protected fabric from nerve gas penetration. Examples in nature lead researchers to believe these materials ‘exist out there’. When Nathan Gianneschi’s lab set out to synthesize melanin that would mimic that which was formed by certain fungi known to…

Examining fossilized pigments, scientists have uncovered new insights into blue color tones in prehistoric birds. For some time, paleontologists have known that melanin pigment can preserve in fossils and have been able to reconstruct fossil colour patterns. Melanin pigment gives black, reddish brown and grey colours to birds and is involved in creating bright iridescent…

Pterosaurs were the largest animals ever to fly. They soared the skies for 160 million years — much longer than any species of modern bird. Despite their aeronautic excellence, these ancient flyers have largely been overlooked in the pursuit of bioinspired flight technologies. Researchers outline why and how the physiology of fossil flyers could provide…

Categorization is the brain’s tool to organize nearly everything we encounter in our daily lives. Grouping information into categories simplifies our complex world and helps us to react quickly and effectively to new experiences. Scientists have now shown that also mice categorize surprisingly well. The researchers identified neurons encoding learned categories and thereby demonstrated how…

Scientists studying sperm whales have discovered earthquakes affect their ability to find food for at least a year. The research is among the first to examine the impact of a large earthquake on a population of marine mammals, and offers new insight into how top predators such as sperm whales react and adapt to a…

Rare metallic elements found in clumps on the deep-ocean floor mysteriously remain uncovered despite the shifting sands and sediment many leagues under the sea. Scientists now think they know why, and it could have important implications for mining these metals while preserving the strange fauna at the bottom of the ocean. The growth of these…