Paul Arnold

When it comes to the search for life elsewhere in the universe, methane and other chemical compounds are seen as signs of biology because they are often produced by living microbes. However, scientists can be misled because ...

Everyone's perception of time is unique. It is a subjective experience shaped by factors such as age, emotions, memory and environmental contexts. And it may also be influenced by background noise, as scientists have demonstrated ...

Developers are increasingly relying on large language models (LLMs) for everyday computing tasks such as fixing bugs, explaining code and automating text-processing tasks like filtering logs.

Arguably one of the most curious ancient human relatives is Homo floresiensis, a 3-foot-tall species that lived on the Indonesian island of Flores and has been nicknamed "hobbit" for its diminutive stature. Even though they ...

Chinese goldsmiths working during the Ming Dynasty were masters of their craft, capable of creating intricate and elaborate jewelry pieces. The evidence is there in the abundance of finds in royal and noble tombs across Hubei ...

AI shopping assistants are popping up all over the internet, changing how we browse, compare and discover products. However, these helpful tools appear to have a serious security flaw. According to a paper published on the ...

When the desert horned lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos) is thirsty, it cannot just lap up water or scoop it up like a bird because it lives in environments where water is extremely scarce. Typically, it's found in damp soil ...

Scientists may have discovered a new role for the cerebellum, the part of the brain that sits at the base of the skull. A new paper published in the journal Nature Neuroscience reports that different parts of the cerebellum ...

When it comes to choosing a partner, some species prefer males that stand out from the crowd. Evolutionary biologists call the resulting process negative frequency-dependent selection. It means that a male has a huge mating ...

In humans and other mammals, spinal cord injuries can be devastating, leading to permanent loss of movement, sensation and bladder control. When severed axons (the long fibers that carry messages between nerve cells) cannot ...

White barn owls are effective killing machines. They fly silently through the night air and swoop down on unsuspecting prey with their sharp talons. But they have something you would think goes against being a stealth predator: ...

Many languages recycle words, giving them different meanings. For example, in English, "run" can mean to move quickly but also to manage something, like "run a company." In Spanish, "lengua" is both the word for tongue and ...

The main reason for sealing wine bottles with a cork is to protect the liquid from oxygen. However, it is not an impermeable barrier, and a small amount of air leaks in, which is not always entirely bad news. The gas helps ...

Neuromorphic computing is a computing approach that mimics how the human brain works. Our gray matter is a marvel of nature, capable of handling huge volumes of data with incredible energy efficiency. While modern AI hardware ...

It is a sobering fact that in the 21st century, 1 in 4 people still lack access to safe, clean drinking water, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The figures increase slightly during natural disasters, when ...