We are impressed when chimps use tools to hunt, crack nuts and forage for honey. Or when an octopus cracks coconuts with his tentacles . But, a new study suggests that tool use is not related to cognitive ability. Using tools seems to be mentally demanding because it involves several skills, for example grabbing food [...]
Oct
21
Oil-caked penguins get slick new outfits
Penguins drenched in oil from New Zealand’s Oil Spill have something to look forward to – a slick new wardrobe. Over a thousand oil-soaked birds, including 22 little blue penguins, have died since the 236 metre cargo vessel ran aground on the 5th of October dumping at least 350 tonnes of fuel into the Bay [...]
Oct
16
Mosquitoes harmonize to have sex
Producing an annoying sound may seem like an unlikely way to attract a mate. But male and female mosquitoes buzz at each other to signal their interest, which sometimes leads to a harmonic duet (Click here to see them action). As New Scientist reports – to investigate why mosquitoes would bother harmonising Lauren Cator and [...]
Oct
16
World’s first High Rise factory to be built
New Scientist reports The world’s first high-rise factory will be built in Nanjing, China. The 24-storey industrial and commercial building, to be completed in 2024, will dwarf today’s tallest factories. According to the project architect Robert Caulfield of CK Designworks, based in Melbourne, Australia, existing factories don’t rise above eight storeys. The high-rise’s footprint is [...]
Sep
29
Can we blame evolution for domestic violence?
New Scientist reports What can evolution tell us about domestic violence? Two researchers in the US suggest such violence has ancient origins and that establishing evolution’s role could help to better identify those at risk. Others argue that the research makes simplistic assumptions, and warn that some people will interpret the research as an excuse [...]
Sep
25
Resurrected wallaby protein kill superbugs
New Scientist reports IF MODERN medicine cannot provide an answer to multidrug-resistant microbes, perhaps ancient animals can. Biologists have resurrected a mammalian antimicrobial compound that was last seen on Earth 59 million years ago when mammals were recovering from the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. Even now it is potent enough to destroy [...]
Sep
22
Ancient Arabian structures found from a couch
New Scientist reports Google continues to allow us to virtually go where no archaeologist has gone before. The latest finds, in the Arabian peninsula, are of spectacular stone structures that rival the Nazca lines of southern Peru in their intricacy. The ruins are known to local Bedouin groups as “the works of the old men”, [...]
Sep
14
Electrify roads, not cars
THE cars of the future could be powered by electrified roadways. Such technology would allow electric cars to forgo their heavy batteries, which not only add to a vehicle’s weight, increasing the energy needed to move it, but also force it to sit idle while recharging. New Scientist reports that the idea has been around [...]