Human whistled languages may offer model for how to study dolphin communication

Whistling while you work isn't just a distraction for some people. More than 80 cultures employ a whistled form of their native language to communicate over long distances. A multidisciplinary team of scientists believe that some of these whistled languages can serve as a model for elucidating how information may be encoded in dolphin whistle communication. They made their case in a new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-09-human-languages-dolphin.html

Human whistled languages may offer model for how to study dolphin communication

Whistling while you work isn't just a distraction for some people. More than 80 cultures employ a whistled form of their native language to communicate over long distances. A multidisciplinary team of scientists believe that some of these whistled languages can serve as a model for elucidating how information may be encoded in dolphin whistle communication. They made their case in a new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

iOS 15: Six underrated features arriving in Apple's new iPhone update

On Monday, iPhone users might feel like they have a brand new smartphone.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-ios-underrated-features-apple-iphone.html

Universal Music valued at $39 billion ahead of stock market debut

Universal Music Group, the world's biggest label whose lineup features The Beatles and Taylor Swift, was valued at more than $39 billion on Monday, a day before its huge stock market debut.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-universal-music-valued-billion-stock.html

Modern activities follow the contours of ancient Teotihuacan

A lidar mapping study using a cutting-edge aerial mapping technology shows ancient residents of Teotihuacan moved astonishing quantities of soil and bedrock for construction and reshaped the landscape in a way that continues to influence the contours of modern activities in this part of Mexico. The work is published in the open-access journal, PLOS One.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-09-modern-contours-ancient-teotihuacan.html

Deep-sea biodiversity off New Zealand higher than assumed

During a research cruise off the coast of New Zealand, a team led by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich geobiologist Gert Wörheide discovered six new species of glass sponge.

From septic to sustainable: A potential new source of fertilizer

A recently published study focuses on a new process for converting human waste from home septic systems into phosphorus-rich fertilizer.

How many satellites are orbiting Earth?

It seems like every week, another rocket is launched into space carrying rovers to Mars, tourists or, most commonly, satellites. The idea that "space is getting crowded" has been around for a few years now, but just how crowded is it? And how crowded is it going to get?

Directed energy weapons shoot painful but non-lethal beams: Are similar weapons behind Havana syndrome?

The latest episodes of so-called Havana syndrome, a series of unexplained ailments afflicting U.S. and Canadian diplomats and spies, span the globe. They include two diplomats in Hanoi, Vietnam—which disrupted Vice President Kamala Harris's foreign travel schedule—in August, several dozen reports at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna earlier this year, and a pair of incidents at the White House last November.

Something big just hit Jupiter

In 1994, the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) impacted Jupiter, which had captured the comet shortly before (and broken apart by its gravity). The event became a media circus as it was the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects. The impact was so powerful that it left scars that endured for months and were more discernible than Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

Pandemic workaround: Keeping eyes on Pacific water quality from afar

A Griffith University researcher has overcome a key challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to lead a monitoring program in Vanuatu aiming to improve the water quality of a popular lagoon used for fishing and swimming.

Uncovering how T-cells recognise the SARS-COV-2 virus spike protein

The immune system is vitally important for resolving COVID-19 when individuals are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Moreover, the vaccines that are being administered to millions of people across the globe are designed to 'pre-warn and arm' the immune system so that if infected with SARS-CoV-2, individuals are significantly less likely to develop severe disease or die. Here, two crucial arms of the immune system, namely B cells and T cells, play a central role.

The unexplored region of the atmosphere that could help predict climate change

About 17 kilometers above the Earth's surface, the first layer of the atmosphere meets the second one. At a boundary called the tropopause, the troposphere ends and the stratosphere begins. Straddling this interface, for about five kilometers on either side, is a band of the atmosphere labeled, matter-of-factly, the "upper troposphere/lower stratosphere"—the UTLS.

Hubble takes 31st anniversary image: Two new views showcase the dual nature of the star AG Carinae

Comparing two images shows puffing dust bubbles and an erupting gas shell—the final acts of a monster star's life.

How cultural differences affect behavior on social media

Research published in the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising has looked at how cultural differences affect behavior on social media. Myron Guftométros and João Guerreiro Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, in Lisbon, Portugal, focused on what is perhaps the most well-known and well-populated online social network, Facebook. They used an organic approach to assimilate data from 6750 posts from 225 different Facebook brand pages across fifteen different countries.

Male seahorses develop placentas to support their growing babies

Supplying oxygen to their growing offspring and removing carbon dioxide is a major challenge for every pregnant animal. Humans deal with this problem by developing a placenta, but in seahorses—where the male, not the female, gestates and gives birth to the young—exactly how it worked hasn't always been so clear.

Missing wind variability means future impacts of climate change may be underestimated in Europe and North America

Extratropical winds have a strong influence on climate in extratropical regions, and are known to vary from decade to decade. However, their variability is currently not factored into climate models making predictions for future climates in these regions. Researchers inserted these into predictions for how extratropical climates will change by the middle of the century, and found uncertainty increased significantly, meaning unusually hot, cold, dry or wet decades are likely to be more frequent here than previously thought.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-09-variability-future-impacts-climate-underestimated.html

Missing wind variability means future impacts of climate change may be underestimated in Europe and North America

Extratropical winds have a strong influence on climate in extratropical regions, and are known to vary from decade to decade. However, their variability is currently not factored into climate models making predictions for future climates in these regions. Researchers inserted these into predictions for how extratropical climates will change by the middle of the century, and found uncertainty increased significantly, meaning unusually hot, cold, dry or wet decades are likely to be more frequent here than previously thought.

Faroe Islands mass dolphin slaughter casts shadow over tradition

Every summer in the Faroe Islands hundreds of pilot whales and dolphins are slaughtered in drive hunts known as the "grind" that residents defend as a long-held tradition.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-09-faroe-islands-mass-dolphin-slaughter.html

The nanophotonics orchestra presents: Twisting to the light of nanoparticles

Physics researchers at the University of Bath in the UK discover a new physical effect relating to the interactions between light and twisted materials—an effect that is likely to have implications for emerging new nanotechnologies in communications, nanorobotics and ultra-thin optical components.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-09-nanophotonics-orchestra-nanoparticles.html

Faroe Islands mass dolphin slaughter casts shadow over tradition

Every summer in the Faroe Islands hundreds of pilot whales and dolphins are slaughtered in drive hunts known as the "grind" that residents defend as a long-held tradition.

The nanophotonics orchestra presents: Twisting to the light of nanoparticles

Physics researchers at the University of Bath in the UK discover a new physical effect relating to the interactions between light and twisted materials—an effect that is likely to have implications for emerging new nanotechnologies in communications, nanorobotics and ultra-thin optical components.

Leaving by staying: Dispersal decisions of young giraffes

Dispersal, the process where animals reaching sexual maturity move away from family, is important for maintaining genetic diversity and is key to the long-term persistence of natural populations. For most animals, this involves having to make risky journeys into the unknown in the hope of finding new communities in which to settle and reproduce. However, many animal societies—including those of humans—have structured social communities that overlap in space with one another. These potentially provide opportunities for maturing individuals to disperse socially without having to make large physical displacements. New research published today in the Journal of Animal Ecology shows that this strategy is employed by young dispersing giraffes.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-09-dispersal-decisions-young-giraffes.html