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Puppies are hardwired to understand us
Nearly 400 adorable puppies have helped researchers to show that dogs’ ability to understand human pointing — a rarity in the animal kingdom — appears to be hardwired in doggy DNA. The team used 8-week-old labrador and golden-retriever pups in a series of experiments to see how the furballs responded to human cues, such as pointing and ‘puppy talk’. Some puppies were more successful than others, but the researchers found that approximately 43% of that variation in performance was due to genetics. The finding suggests people strongly selected for these abilities in the past, paving the way for dogs to become the human mind-readers they are today.
Dwindling songbirds forget their song
Critically endangered regent honeyeaters are forgetting their songs because there are few elder birds to pass them on. The yellow-speckled nectar drinkers — which are Australia’s most imperilled songbirds — learn their complex courting and territorial songs from other birds. So when populations are very small, there’s no one for young honeyeaters to learn from. “The poor birds are not getting the chance to learn what they should be singing,” says ecologist Ross Crates, who adds that this is one of the first examples of the “loss of vocal culture” documented in an endangered bird.
Reference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B paper
Où es tu, Camille Noûs?
Camille Noûs, a French researcher with nearly 200 papers to their name, is racking up citations. But no such person exists. The character was conceived by research-advocacy group RogueESR as a stand-in for collective efforts in science. Some scientists say that Noûs is a harmless way to protest the increasing emphasis on individual accomplishment caused by changes to France’s science legislation. But others object on ethical grounds to the idea of intentionally adding a false author to papers.
Features & opinion
Permafrost microbes could spew carbon
Genomics studies are helping to reveal how bacteria and archaea influence one of Earth’s largest carbon stores — permafrost — as it begins to thaw. Scientists increasingly worry that the melting permafrost will lead to an epic feast for microbes that produce carbon dioxide and methane.
Futures: Chlorophyllis
A schoolchild’s witty revenge on her bully features in the latest short story for Nature’s Futures series.
Five best science books this week
Andrew Robinson’s pick of the top five science books to read this week includes an accidental Nobel laureate, what we owe to our voices and the philosophy of touch.
Podcast: The AI that argues back
After thousands of years of human practise, it’s still not clear what makes a good argument. Despite this, researchers have been developing computer programs that can find and process arguments. And this week, researchers at IBM are publishing details of an artificial intelligence (AI) that is capable of debating with humans.
Nature Podcast | 23 min listen
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Where I work
Ecologist James Ball links individual trees to drone pictures of the canopy in this photo taken at the Paracou research station in the Amazon rainforest of French Guiana. Amid the constant buzz and hum of insects and birds, Ball aims to better understand a crucial ecosystem and its response to climate change. (Nature | 3 min read)