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163,552 articles from ScienceDaily

Fruit flies offer clues to how brains make reward-based decisions

New research finds fruit flies make decisions based on their expectations about the likelihood of a reward and pinpoints the site in the fly brain where these value adjustments are made, enabling researchers to directly test a theory about how the brain enables this behavior on the level of neural circuits.

Probing the deep genetic structure of Africa

Using ancestry decomposition techniques an international research team has revealed a deeply divergent ancestry among admixed populations from the Angolan Namib desert. This unique genetic heritage brings the researchers closer to understanding the distribution of genetic variation in the broader region of southern Africa before the spread of food production.

Jellyfish, with no central brain, shown to learn from past experience

Even without a central brain, jellyfish can learn from past experiences like humans, mice, and flies, scientists report for the first time. They trained Caribbean box jellyfish (Tripedalia cystophora) to learn to spot and dodge obstacles. The study challenges previous notions that advanced learning requires a centralized brain and sheds light on the evolutionary roots of learning and memory.

Astronomers discover newborn galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope

With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are now able to peer so far back in time that we are approaching the epoch where we think that the first galaxies were created. Throughout most of the history of the Universe, galaxies seemingly tend to follow a tight relation between how many stars they have formed, and how many heavy elements they have formed. But for the first time...

Migratory birds can be taught to adjust to climate change

One result of climate change is that spring is arriving earlier. However, migratory birds are not keeping up with these developments and arrive too late for the peak in food availability when it is time for breeding. By getting the birds to fly a little further north, researchers have observed that these birds can give their chicks a better start in life.

Same genes behind heart muscle disorders in humans and Dobermanns

Researchers have made a significant finding in determining the genetic background of dilated cardiomyopathy in Dobermanns. This research helps us understand the genetic risk factors related to fatal diseases of the heart muscle and the mechanisms underlying the disease, and offers new tools for their prevention.