“Nearly every one of the 382 stone tools unearthed at Xiamabei is less than four
centimeters long; making and using these smaller blades would have allowed early
humans to do more work with less material. Handles helped make the tools easier
to grip and more versatile; [Fa-Gang] Wang and his colleagues found one bladelet
with part of a bone haft still attached to the stone.”
posted 9/11/2022 8:00pm ∞
“No longer needing to sing at high frequencies that could be heard over the
highway’s rumble, the sparrows’ songs became more expansive, occupying more of
the soundscape’s ‘acoustic bandwidth.’ Even those with quiet voices became
audible; in those first months, ‘you could hear four times as many birds as you
could before,’ says [Professor Elizabeth] Derryberry.”
posted 12/23/2022 8:00pm ∞
“[O]ctopuses can alter the coloration of their skin, with darker colors
typically being indicative of aggression. The authors found that octopuses with
dark coloration threw debris more forcefully and were more likely to hit another
octopus.”
posted 11/26/2022 8:00pm ∞
“They also found that, in general, the size of the birds’ repertoire decreased
as anthropogenic noise increased, especially when the birds were exposed to
levels of anthropogenic noise that were above the usual noise to which they were
accustomed.”
Alejandro Portilla Navarro ,
City birds are changing their tune
(Knowable Magazine ,
November 14, 2022 ,
via Ars Technica )
posted 11/25/2022 8:00pm ∞
“Translated, the inscription reads, ‘May this tusk root out the lice of the hair
and the beard.’ … This purpose was confirmed when the authors searched for
evidence of head lice on the comb under a microscope and found some remains on
the second tooth, still in the nymph stage of development.”
(See also the discussion at Language
Hat .)
posted 11/23/2022 8:00pm ∞