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New York Times
09-07-2025
- Science
- New York Times
How Elephants Say They Like Them Apples
If you give an elephant an apple, she's going to want some more. But how can she get through to the nearby humans who are keeping those luscious treats away from her? After working with elephants in Zimbabwe, researchers reported that the animals are capable of making very deliberate gestures to communicate that desire for more. Their study was published Wednesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science. In the study of the evolution of language and other forms of communication, researchers have long been interested in whether nonhuman animals use gestures. That's because gestures can reveal to what extent individuals are aware of the attention and inner state of others. Identifying creatures that use movement to elicit behavior from others can help reveal how and when, in the family tree of life, complex communication evolved. Many studies about gestures focus on primates. But elephants are another natural subject for this research because they live in groups and have elaborate social lives. Perhaps they, too, use movement to communicate. To understand the research, think of how humans get others to do what they want. Vesta Eleuteri, a researcher at the University of Vienna and the study's lead author, explained how she might signal to a friend non-verbally to pass her a bottle of water. 'I first check if you are looking at me,' she said. 'If you are looking at me, I might point at the bottle.' After that signal, 'I wait for you to react. If you don't react, I persist. I might reach toward the bottle, I might wave toward the bottle. Once you give me the bottle, I stop gesturing.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists May Have Found the Blueprint of the Human Body at the Bottom of the Ocean
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: One major division of the kingdom Animalia is Cnidarians (animals built around a central point) and bilaterians (animals with bilateral symmetry), which includes us humans. A new study found that the sea anemone, a member of the Cnidarian phylum, uses bilaterian-like techniques to form its body. This suggests that these techniques likely evolved before these two phyla separated evolutionarily some 600 to 700 million years ago, though it can't be ruled out that these techniques evolved independently. Make a list of complex animals as distantly related to humans as possible, and sea anemones would likely be near the top of the list. Of course, one lives in the water and the other doesn't, but the differences are more biologically fundamental than that—sea anemones don't even have brains. So it's surprising that this species in the phylum Cnidarians (along with jellyfish, corals, and other sea creatures) contains an ancient blueprint for bilaterians, of which Homo sapiens are a card-carrying member. A new study by a team of scientists at the University of Vienne discovered that sea anemones, whose Cnidarian status means they grow radially around a central point (after all, what is the 'face' of a jellyfish), use a technique commonly associated with bilaterians, known as bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) shuttling, to build their bodies. This complicates the picture of exactly when this technique evolved or if it possibly evolved independently of bilaterians. The results of the study were published last month in the journal Science Advances.'Not all Bilateria use Chordin-mediated BMP shuttling, for example, frogs do, but fish don't, however, shuttling seems to pop up over and over again in very distantly related animals making it a good candidate for an ancestral patterning mechanism,' University of Vienna's David Mörsdorf, a lead author of the study, said in a press statement. 'The fact that not only bilaterians but also sea anemones use shuttling to shape their body axes, tells us that this mechanism is incredibly ancient.' To put it simply, BMPs are a kind of molecular messenger that signals to embryonic cells where they are in the body and what kind of tissue they should form. Local inhibition from an inhibitor named Chordin (which can also act as a shuttle) along with BMP shuttling creates gradients of BMP in the body. When these levels are their lowest, for example, the body knows to form the central nervous system. Moderate levels signal kidney development, and maximum levels signal the formation of the skin of the belly. This is how bilaterians form the body's layout from back to body. Mörsdorf and his colleagues found that Chordin also acts as a BMP shuttle—just as displayed in bilaterians like flies and frogs. Thi signals that this particular evolutionary trait likely developed before Cnidarians and bilaterians diverged. Seeing as these two phylums of the animal kingdom have vastly different biological structures, that divergence occurred long ago, likely 600 to 700 million years ago. 'We might never be able to exclude the possibility that bilaterians and bilaterally symmetric cnidarians evolved their bilateral body plans independently,' University of Vienna's Grigory Genikhovich, a senior author of the study, said in a press statement. 'However, if the last common ancestor of Cnidaria and Bilateria was a bilaterally symmetric animal, chances are that it used Chordin to shuttle BMPs to make its back-to-belly axis.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
New York Post
30-06-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Longer maternity leave linked to one very unhealthy habit
Women have long fought for more paid time off after giving birth, citing bonding with the newborn, better mental health and greater workplace equity as some of the benefits. But a new study — published in the Journal of Health Economics — suggests the longer moms spend on maternity leave, the more likely they are to pick up a pretty big health problem later down the line. 3 A new study questions whether or not lengthier maternity leaves benefit mothers as much as people think by examining one surprising outcome. grooveriderz – Researchers tracked over 8,500 European mothers from 14 European countries between 1960 and 2010 and found that extended baby breaks corresponded to a surplus of cigarette breaks. For every extra month of maternity leave, a mom's odds of smoking later rose by 1.2 percentage points. Plus, total smoking duration increased by 7 months, daily cigarette intake edged up by 0.2 per day, and 'pack-years' — a way to measure a lifetime of smoking — climbed by 0.6. The findings caught the scientists by surprise. 'We actually expected that longer career breaks would lead to mothers smoking less. However, our results clearly show that the likelihood of smoking later in life increases with longer periods of parental leave,' Sonja Spitzer, a demographer at the University of Vienna, said in a press release. 'In principle, maternity and parental leave are important for health, and in the short term, health protection also outweighs other considerations. However, if the leave period is too long, financial burdens, social isolation and professional disadvantages can increase — smoking could be a coping mechanism for this stress.' 3 'Our results clearly show that the likelihood of smoking later in life increases with longer periods of parental leave,' Sonja Spitzer said. Miljan í½ivkoviíâ¡ – In keeping with that line of thought, the spike was especially stark among mothers who did not receive financial support from their partner when the baby was born. 'Financial worries during an already sensitive phase of life such as around the time of birth can increase the pressure even more — this stress seems to have a particularly significant impact on health behavior in the long term,' Spitzer said. 3 'If the leave period is too long, financial burdens, social isolation and professional disadvantages can increase — smoking could be a coping mechanism for this stress,' she said. SHOTPRIME STUDIO – While it might seem counterintuitive, the data clearly indicates that shorter maternity leaves seem to have protective benefits when it comes to the urge to light up. 'We were able to clearly show that longer leave periods increase the likelihood of smoking later in life. We can only speculate about the exact reasons behind this, but they are consistent with what we see in the literature and our data,' she concluded. The findings align with previous research, such as a 2012 study that found more than 40% of women who quit smoking during pregnancy relapse within six months postpartum. And multiple studies have indicated that prolonged periods of not working increase the likelihood of smoking, possibly due to stress, loss of structure and boredom. This new study adds a layer of complexity to the conversation, indicating that while longer maternity leave may have some mental health benefits when it comes to bonding and postpartum depression, is also carries some surprising longterm health risks. It suggests that maternity leave policies should focus not only on duration, but also on quality and support.
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This creature can 3D-print its own body parts
Most people will never see a bristle worm in the wild, but according to a new study, the science derived from these bristly beasts may someday benefit you or someone you know. Bristle worms—aka polychaetes— are saltwater worms with elaborate, hair-like structures; in some species, they allow the animals to paddle through the open ocean or 'walk' across the seafloor. 'One of the reasons that we're interested in bristle worms is because they're great models for regeneration biology,' says Florian Raible, a molecular biologist at the University of Vienna in Austria. 'So, they can actually regenerate most of their body, and they can do this very well compared to other systems.' While most of the lab was focusing on these regenerative superpowers, one of Raible's postdoc students at the time, Kyojiro Ikeda, happened to notice something peculiar at the molecular level, using electron microscopy and tomography. Looking more closely at the species known as Platynereis dumerilii, Ikeda noticed that everywhere the bristle worm had bristles, it also had a single cell known as a chaetoblast. More specifically, this chaetoblast has a protrusion that repeatedly elongates and then retracts, depositing a material known as chitin in the process of building each individual bristle. 'We sort of think of these protrusions as acting like a 3D printer,' says Raible, senior author of a study detailing the discovery in Nature Communications last year. 'Every single individual bristle is made by a single cell.' Surprisingly, Raible says there's a 'striking parallel' between the geometry of the bristle worm's chaetoblasts and the sensory cells found in the inner ear of humans and other vertebrates. And this means that in addition to teaching scientists about regeneration, the bristle worm system may be able to serve as a proxy for such cells, allowing us to study conditions like deafness (which can occur when sensory cells in the inner ear are damaged). 'So, we essentially have a new parallel between very evolutionarily distant organisms, such as us and these polychaete worms,' he says. There are more than 24,000 species of worms on this planet, and while most of us tend to only think about the ones wriggling through the garden, these tubular creatures are incredibly diverse. The giant Gippsland earthworm of Australia can grow to be nearly 10 feet long, for example, while worms in the Chaetopteridae family glow in the dark, and bloodworms are venomous devourers of flesh. 'For me, the most fascinating part is the fact that such a group of animals managed to adapt to different habitats, which caused an immense variety of organ system adaptations and changing body plans,' says Conrad Helm, a biologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany. 'So, most of them look quite bizarre and fascinating and are totally different from the picture most people have in mind when thinking of a worm.' For instance, bristle worms use their bristles to swim through open water, shuffle along the seafloor in a manner that resembles walking, and even dig tunnels. The bristles can also sometimes be equipped with hooks, stylets, and teeth, which allow the worms to secure themselves to their burrows. Interestingly, the authors were able to observe how such structures are formed in the new research, revealing that teeth are also laid down by the 3D-printing-like process as the overall bristle is formed, sort of like a conveyor belt. 'Every 30 to 40 minutes, a tooth is initiated,' says Ikeda, a cell biologist at the University of Vienna and lead author of the study. 'So, a new tooth is starting while the old one is synthesized.' All of these structures are made out of chitin, which is the second most common biopolymer on Earth, and importantly, one that is tolerated really well by the human body. This may mean that by studying polychaete bristles, scientists can develop new surgical stitches or adhesives that start out strong but are eventually absorbed into the human body. There are also plans to develop a new kind of cement for dental work, say the researchers. Helm says the new study only makes him more curious about these weird and wonderful creatures. 'It's really mind-blowing to see how nature is able to create a diversity of shapes and forms that humans are unable to replicate,' he says. 'What is groundbreaking in the new study is the fact that [the researchers] uncovered several ultrastructural and molecular details that were not known to science so far. Especially when it comes to the shaping of the bristles.' He notes that it goes to show how important it is to conduct unbiased, basic research. 'Without basic research, such biological materials or processes will never be usable for medical applications,' he says. 'The study shows that there are still many open questions.' Worms have been on this planet for more than 500 million years—which is about 100 million years before trees existed. Who knows what else these often-overlooked lifeforms have to teach us?
National Geographic
26-06-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
This creature can 3D-print its own body parts
Bristle worms have protrusions that act like a 3D printer, helping us to understand how cells regenerate. The larvae of a bristle worm, saltwater worms with elaborate, hair-like structures. Photograph By C: Luis Zelaya-Lainez, Vienna University of Technology Most people will never see a bristle worm in the wild, but according to a new study, the science derived from these bristly beasts may someday benefit you or someone you know. Bristle worms—aka polychaetes— are saltwater worms with elaborate, hair-like structures; in some species, they allow the animals to paddle through the open ocean or 'walk' across the seafloor. 'One of the reasons that we're interested in bristle worms is because they're great models for regeneration biology,' says Florian Raible, a molecular biologist at the University of Vienna in Austria. 'So, they can actually regenerate most of their body, and they can do this very well compared to other systems.' While most of the lab was focusing on these regenerative superpowers, one of Raible's postdoc students at the time, Kyojiro Ikeda, happened to notice something peculiar at the molecular level, using electron microscopy and tomography. Looking more closely at the species known as Platynereis dumerilii, Ikeda noticed that everywhere the bristle worm had bristles, it also had a single cell known as a chaetoblast. More specifically, this chaetoblast has a protrusion that repeatedly elongates and then retracts, depositing a material known as chitin in the process of building each individual bristle. 'We sort of think of these protrusions as acting like a 3D printer,' says Raible, senior author of a study detailing the discovery in Nature Communications last year. 'Every single individual bristle is made by a single cell.' Surprisingly, Raible says there's a 'striking parallel' between the geometry of the bristle worm's chaetoblasts and the sensory cells found in the inner ear of humans and other vertebrates. And this means that in addition to teaching scientists about regeneration, the bristle worm system may be able to serve as a proxy for such cells, allowing us to study conditions like deafness (which can occur when sensory cells in the inner ear are damaged). 'So, we essentially have a new parallel between very evolutionarily distant organisms, such as us and these polychaete worms,' he says. There are more than 24,000 species of worms on this planet, and while most of us tend to only think about the ones wriggling through the garden, these tubular creatures are incredibly diverse. The giant Gippsland earthworm of Australia can grow to be nearly 10 feet long, for example, while worms in the Chaetopteridae family glow in the dark, and bloodworms are venomous devourers of flesh. 'For me, the most fascinating part is the fact that such a group of animals managed to adapt to different habitats, which caused an immense variety of organ system adaptations and changing body plans,' says Conrad Helm, a biologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany. 'So, most of them look quite bizarre and fascinating and are totally different from the picture most people have in mind when thinking of a worm.' For instance, bristle worms use their bristles to swim through open water, shuffle along the seafloor in a manner that resembles walking, and even dig tunnels. The bristles can also sometimes be equipped with hooks, stylets, and teeth, which allow the worms to secure themselves to their burrows. Interestingly, the authors were able to observe how such structures are formed in the new research, revealing that teeth are also laid down by the 3D-printing-like process as the overall bristle is formed, sort of like a conveyor belt. 'Every 30 to 40 minutes, a tooth is initiated,' says Ikeda, a cell biologist at the University of Vienna and lead author of the study. 'So, a new tooth is starting while the old one is synthesized.' All of these structures are made out of chitin, which is the second most common biopolymer on Earth, and importantly, one that is tolerated really well by the human body. This may mean that by studying polychaete bristles, scientists can develop new surgical stitches or adhesives that start out strong but are eventually absorbed into the human body. There are also plans to develop a new kind of cement for dental work, say the researchers. 'It's really mind-blowing' Helm says the new study only makes him more curious about these weird and wonderful creatures. 'It's really mind-blowing to see how nature is able to create a diversity of shapes and forms that humans are unable to replicate,' he says. 'What is groundbreaking in the new study is the fact that [the researchers] uncovered several ultrastructural and molecular details that were not known to science so far. Especially when it comes to the shaping of the bristles.' He notes that it goes to show how important it is to conduct unbiased, basic research. 'Without basic research, such biological materials or processes will never be usable for medical applications,' he says. 'The study shows that there are still many open questions.' Worms have been on this planet for more than 500 million years—which is about 100 million years before trees existed. Who knows what else these often-overlooked lifeforms have to teach us?
