Bees Can Use Tools—And Train Other Bees to Use Them, Too

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  Bees are more flexible and adaptable than we realized.
 </p>
<p>
  A group of scientists at Queen Mary University of London trained bees to use a tool, a scenario they wouldn’t normally encounter in nature. Using a plastic bee on the end of a stick, biologist Olli J. Loukola showed bees how to move a tiny ball into the center of a platform to unlock a sugary treat. After five days of training, the bees started moving the ball to the center on their own.
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<figcaption>Bees were trained to move a ball to the center of a platform to unlock a sugary treat.
        
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<p>
  Loukola tried various training methods, including using a “ghost bee”—a magnet under the platform that would move the ball to the center and each proved successful. Bees that weren’t trained did not figure out how to get the treat. Then, he watched to see if the trained bees would show other untrained bees how to get the sugar water, which they did.
 </p>
<p>
  Yet, the bees were not just blindly imitating what they saw other insects do. When put in new kinds of situations, the trained bees adapted their behavior. Here’s Annalee Newitz reporting for Ars Technica:
 </p>
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<p>
   When offered a choice between three balls, the bees always chose to move the one that was closest to the center—even though they’d been trained in a situation where the two closest balls were glued down, and only the farthest ball could be moved. They also chose to use black balls, despite being trained on yellow ones. “The bees did not simply copy the behavior of the demonstrator but rather improved on the observed behavior by using a more optimal route,” Loukola and his colleagues wrote in a recent paper
   <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6327/833">
    in
    <em>
     Science
    </em>
</a>
   .
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<p>
  This isn’t the first time the fuzzy critters have been put to the test. Previous experiments have shown they can count, tell each other where food is by using “waggle dances”, and pull strings to get access to food.
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  Learn more about the "waggle dance."
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  However, Loukola’s new tool test showed bees are not only good at using tools, they can also improvise to use them more effectively.
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  Watch the tool-using bees in action.
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<p>
 Photo credit:
 <a href="http://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/items/se/193087.html">
  Iida Loukola / Queen Mary University of London
 </a>
</p>

Penguins Use Calls to Form Groups While They Hunt

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  In the icy waters off Antarctica, gentoo penguins form groups as they hunt for food. They bob in and out of the water before diving below the surface, seemingly directed by a call. Scientists have long struggled to understand just how gentoo penguins communicate, but a group of researchers may have found a way to eavesdrop.
 </p>
<p>
  Over the course of two Antarctic summers, scientists at the Korean Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) strapped 26 gentoo penguins with cameras, recording almost 600 call events. In the footage, the penguins moved in unison after one or two short, quick calls. Nearly half of the gatherings occurred within a minute after that call was made.
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<figcaption>Scientists observed penguins form groups after particular calls—possibly to improve how they hunt.
        
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<p>
  Researchers believe it’s likely the gentoo penguins get into groups to improve their chances of catching food. Here’s Sarah Gibbens reporting for National Geographic:
 </p>
<blockquote>
<p>
   Gentoo penguins typically spend most of their days hunting close to shore, but they’re known to swim as far as 16 miles out to sea and dive nearly 655 feet below water to find food (from fish to krill). The study noted that it’s unlikely the calls are used to alert members of the hunting groups to predators (such as leopard seals), as those animals usually congregate near the shore, and the calls were made in open ocean.
  </p>
</blockquote>
<p>
  Despite this new footage, it’s still unclear what the exact functions of the calls are. Recordings were limited to eight hour segments and the low visibility in the water made it difficult to observe the interactions between penguins. Additionally, the microphone was embedded in the penguins’ feathers, making it difficult to detect how they communicate back-and-forth.
 </p>
<p>
  This study does provide new insights into how these birds live, however the research team hopes to collect more footage by placing cameras on multiple penguins in the same group.
 </p>
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<p>
 Photo credit:
 <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ableman/35066888556">
  Scott Ableman / Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
 </a>
</p>

FDA Warns Tests for Lead Poisoning May Be Faulty

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  Pregnant or breast-feeding women and children younger than six years old should be retested for lead poisoning due to inaccurate test results, according to the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 </p>
<p>
  Magellan Diagnostics Inc. sells millions of tests, most of them are heel-stick or finger-stick tests. Yet the ones in question are tests for lead in blood taken from people’s veins. These tests may give results that are lower than the actual level of lead in the blood. The FDA believes this issue may be going back to 2014.
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<figcaption>The FDA and CDC are saying that some lead tests could be misleading, and might underestimate the amount of lead in people's blood.
        
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<p>
  Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s medical-device center believes most people will not be affected. But the agency still warns laboratories and health-care professions against using any Magellan Diagnostics lead tests with blood drawn from a vein. Here’s Patrick Breysse, director of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health in a press release:
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<blockquote>
<p>
   “While most children likely received an accurate test result, it is important to identify those whose exposure was missed, or underestimated, so that they can receive proper care. For this reason, because every child’s health is important, the CDC recommends that those at greatest risk be retested.”
  </p>
</blockquote>
<p>
  According to Breysse, fewer than 1% of the lead tests administered on the residents of Flint, Michigan—a city whose water system was tainted with lead—were the venous type. Don’t miss NOVA’s “Poisoned Water,” airing May 31, 2017, at 9/8c on PBS.
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 © WGBH Educational Foundation
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Distant Star Dims Again, Revives Speculation of "Alien Megastructure"

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  Stars are fairly predictable. Our telescopes detect when they brighten and dim, and we usually have a plausible explanation why. Usually, it comes down to planets orbiting and temporarily blocking our line of sight.
 </p>
<p>
  But every now and then a star dims so erratically that neither amateur nor professional astronomers can make sense of it. That’s the case for KIC 8462852, or Boyajian’s star.
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<img alt="" class="richtext-image full-width" src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/megastructure-1.width-990_ewKofyJ.jpg"/>
<figcaption>For years, astronomers have kept a watchful eye on KIC 8462852, hoping to observe and record its mysterious activity. This is an artist's illustration.
        
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<p>
  The star’s brightness has dimmed as much as 22% since it was first observed by the Kepler telescope several years ago. Astronomers haven’t observed this behavior on any other star before, so naturally it brings about many interesting theories. Here’s Delaney Chambers, writing for National Geographic:
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<p>
   Theories abound as to what’s going on. Among the most popular are that comets are passing in front of the star, or that a nearby planet has broken apart, blocking our view from Earth with fragments of planetary matter.
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<p>
   Some scientists theorize that the dimming could be due to an “alien megastructure” that’s orbiting Boyajian’s star and harvesting its energy.
  </p>
</blockquote>
<p>
  In the last month, Boyajian’s star dimmed not once but twice, first on April 24 and then again on May 19.
 </p>
<p>
  Scientists are maintaining their round-the-clock observations of this mysterious star to hopefully discover, once and for all, why it dims the way it does.
 </p>
<p>
  For more details,
  <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/physics/bizarre-data-from-far-off-star-may-suggest-a-solar-collecting-megastructure/">
   read our earlier coverage on Boyajian’s star
  </a>
  .
 </p>
</section>
<p>
 Photo credit: NASA / JPL / CalTech
</p>

One of Iceland's Biggest Volcanoes May Be Poised for Eruption

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  One of Iceland’s most active volcanoes, Bárðarbunga, shook the earth four times in recent weeks, an indication it’s getting ready for eruption. Since part of it sits under an ice cap, an eruption could impact areas beyond the island.
 </p>
<p>
  The earthquakes—measuring magnitudes of 3.9, 3.2, 4.7, and 4.7—are an ominous sign—pressure in the magma chamber below the volcano is likely building to a breaking point. Geologists warn that the volcano is poised to erupt, though they don’t know when it will happen or how significant it will be.
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<figcaption>One of Iceland’s most active volcanoes experienced four large earthquakes, indicating it’s getting ready for eruption.
        
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<p>
  Despite Bárðarbunga’s remote location, the effects of its eruption could be felt well beyond Iceland. One-third of the system its a part of is covered by Europe’s largest ice cap, and volcanoes covered with ice can be highly explosive and produce lots of fine ash—which spews into the atmosphere and can affects larger areas. In 2010, when the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted, it threw ash miles into the atmosphere. For days, air travel throughout Europe ground to a halt—planes couldn’t risk flying through the engine-destroying ash cloud that stretched from Ireland to Russia.
 </p>
<p>
  Bárðarbunga poses similar risks. Here’s Elaina Zachos, reporting for National Geographic:
 </p>
<blockquote>
<p>
   Eruptions under ice can trigger explosions by turning large volumes of ice into steam, and as magma hits the steam it explodes into fine particles that can shoot high into the atmosphere. Or, lava from an eruption could melt the ice and cause flooding, like that brought on by the Eyjafjallajökull eruption.
  </p>
</blockquote>
<p>
  Bárðarbunga’s most recent explosion was from August 2014 through February 2015, and it was the largest the country had seen in 200 years. Pollution—especially fine particulate matter that can be hazardous to breathe—blanketed western Europe.
 </p>
<p>
  Iceland’s residents aren’t strangers to volcanic eruptions. On average, a volcano in the system erupts once every 50 years.
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  Scientists hunt for a mega-eruption that plunged medieval Earth into a deep freeze.
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</section>
<p>
 Photo credit:
 <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bárðarbunga_Volcano,_September_4_2014_-_15146259395.jpg">
  peterhartree / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
 </a>
</p>

Scientists uncover a jawbone between 177,000 and 194,000 years old—making it the earliest modern human anyone has ever found outside of Africa.

Fossilized Jawbone Hints at a Much Earlier Exodus from Africa

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<p>
</p>
<p>
 Scientists digging in an Israeli cave uncovered a fossilized jawbone from what they believe is the earliest modern human found outside of Africa. The jawbone includes eight teeth—seven of which are intact. This changes the timeline of when
 <i>
  Homo sapiens
 </i>
 ventured out of Africa by about 50,000 years.
</p>
<p>
 Anthropologists previously believed that modern humans began leaving Africa 90,000 to 120,000 years ago. But the cave where the jawbone was discovered is thought to be occupied between 160,000 and 250,000 years ago. Israel Hershkovitz, a paleoanthropologist at Tel Aviv University, found the jawbone and suspected it was evidence of an earlier African exodus.
</p>
<p>
 To test that suspicion, Hershkovitz and his colleagues sent the jawbone on a world tour. First, it traveled to Austria where it underwent high resolution micro-CT scanning and then was compared with with 30 other specimens—which included Neanderthals,
 <i>
  Homo erectus
 </i>
 , and other
 <i>
  Homo sapiens
 </i>
 . In Australia, France, and Israel, they used dating techniques to determine the jawbone’s age.
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<p>
 Their results determined that the jawbone is between 177,000 and 194,000 years old—confirming the scientists’ hypothesis. Here’s Nicholas St. Fleur for The New York Times:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
 “We are now realizing that it was not one big exodus out of Africa in a given time period,” said Dr. Hershkovitz. “Rather, there was a flow of hominins coming in and out of Africa for at least the last half a million years.”
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
 This is not the first time Hershkovitz has found modern human fossils. In 2010, he found 400,000-year-old teeth in Israel, and in 2015 he found a 55,000-year-old skull in the Israel.
</p>
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      Photo credit: Gerhard Weber/University of Vienna

<p>Scientists uncover a jawbone between 177,000 and 194,000 years old—making it the earliest modern human anyone has ever found outside of Africa.</p>

Wearable Technology May Help Make Football Safer

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  The Super Bowl is upon us yet again and with it come copious speculations about the outcome, food and beverage indulgences, hype around anticipated commercials, and team spirit. These athletes have trained, practiced, and played for months to get to this coveted spot. But their most valuable possession isn’t one that brought their team to the Super Bowl. It’s in their head—literally. It’s their brain.
 </p>
<p>
  In every single play, athletes block and tackle each other, often times landing head-first on the ground. All this crashing into each other can, over time, take a toll on a player’s brain. Every year, millions of football players—of all ages—suffer concussions. But new technology may help coaches make informed decisions and make the game safer for players.
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  Football is a full-contact sport, but new technology can help players block and tackle more safely.
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<p>
  The mouth guard featured in this NOVA video has built-in sensors, including a gyroscope and an accelerometer. The gyroscope tracks where the player’s head is in space, offering precise information about an object’s orientation—similar to the twisting and tilting of a video game controller. The accelerometer, on the other hand, measures a player’s speed and movement through space.
 </p>
<p>
  When a player gets hit, these sensors register not only
  <em>
   where
  </em>
  the player got hit, but
  <i>
   how
  </i>
  hard the player got hit. If the hit exceeds a certain threshold, the device sends an alert via Bluetooth to a coach or trainer on the sidelines, who can then pull the player off the field for a medical evaluation.
 </p>
<p>
  Thousands of high school and college athletes use these devices, collecting data about the kinds of hits that are particularly dangerous. “The data we received [are] every single practice and every single game for one team for the entire season,” said Kendall Thomas, an athlete and undergraduate researcher at Davidson College. Thomas and Tim Chartier, an applied mathematician at Davidson, analyzed more than 20,000 data points.
 </p>
<p>
  They found that when football players become tired, they drop their heads—meaning they’re looking at the ground instead of looking up. This exposes the crown of the head, putting the neck and spine at risk. They also found that some positions, like linemen, get hit more. These players are hitting the front of their head during a collision with an opponent and then hitting the back of their head when they hit the ground.
 </p>
<p>
  This is what happened to Jeff Habecker’s son. When Tanner was 12, he sustained a concussion. On the field, he was lethargic and couldn’t keep his eyes open. But 15 minutes later, those symptoms had disappeared. It wasn’t until five months after his accident that he began experiencing problems in his classroom. He has issues with is balance, his cognitive thinking, and his short-term memory. “He’ll probably never step foot on the field again,” said Habecker, safety coordinator for Cacalico Midget Football Association.
 </p>
<p>
  Concussions can occur at any age and in any level—including professional football players. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, a lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs, experienced a concussion playing against the Houston Texans in 2015. “I felt it right away,” he said. “So, I raised my hand and was like, ‘You know what, I’m not feeling good.’”
 </p>
<p>
  But it’s not only the big hits that lead to concussions that players and coaches should be worried about. Even mild collisions can be dangerous over time. Several studies have
  <a href="http://www.sportsmed.theclinics.com/article/S0278-5919(10)00086-4/abstract">
   linked
  </a>
<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11682-012-9164-5">
   repeated
  </a>
<a href="http://d279m997dpfwgl.cloudfront.net/wp/2018/01/0118_study-1.pdf">
   head trauma
  </a>
  to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (C.T.E.), a degenerative brain disease that can only be diagnosed post-mortem.
  <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2645104">
   One such study
  </a>
  of diseased NFL players’ brains found that 110 of 111 had C.T.E. However, it’s important to note this was not a random sample of NFL retirees—many families donated brains because the former player exhibited symptoms.
 </p>
<p>
  There are various mouth guards and helmets on the market that intend to make the sport safer, but technology alone cannot eliminate the risk of concussions or C.T.E. Football is still a game of collisions, but these kinds of data can help in other ways.
 </p>
<p>
  “By studying the data of the impacts, we can improve training, we can improve game performance,” said Chartier. Some football teams are using the data to inform tackling and blocking techniques. Since Habecker became Safety Coordinator for his son’s team, he has not only developed a concussion protocol, but also helped implement some of the results from the data analysis. “We started teaching them some tackles where instead of tackling with their heads in front of that player, they tackle with the head to the side of the player.”
 </p>
<p>
  Ultimately, it’ll take a lot more than a fancy mouth guard to make a contact sport like football safe. It’ll require a change in culture and technique that starts while the players are young. Still, this type of innovative technology is an important first step.
 </p>
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      Photo credit: Pond5

Ana Aceves

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