“Gibraltar’s monkeys eat mud to “avoid upset stomachs from tourist junk food.”
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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.com).
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Yesterday
Macaques have learned to eat soil to avert gut irritation caused by salty and sugary snacks, researchers believe Troops of monkeys living on the Rock of Gibraltar have learned to eat soil in what scientists believe is an effort to settle their stomachs after all the junk food they receive – and sometimes steal – from crowds of tourists. Researchers spotted the intentional mud eating, known as geo
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Analysis of video footage reveals how wave changed as it travelled over mud-rich rice paddies, exerting more force It is just over 15 years since the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, killing almost 20,000 people and triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Fresh analysis of video footage of the wave has revealed that the mud-rich coastline made the tsunami far mor
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What is behind the surge in ufology? The recent spike can be traced to the top of the US government, which inspired me to start investigating … I never gave much thought to aliens beyond Star Wars. I put extraterrestrials and their flying saucers in a box marked “nonsense” long ago, along with political manifestos, loyalty cards , Black Friday, fairies, pixies, elves, ghosts and ghouls. Then, i
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Use of the illicit drug has plummeted in recent years among gen Zers, compared with their parents’ generation Ever since cocaine first emerged as a popular party drug via the shores of Miami in the early 1970s, use of the stimulant has been inextricably entwined with the very essence of capitalist excess and what it is to be American: brash, bombastic and brazen. The wide-scale use of cocaine in
Scientists think they are looking at chemical building blocks of life preserved for 3.5bn years Nasa’s Curiosity rover has detected organic molecules on Mars, including chemicals widely considered building blocks for the origin of life on Earth. Five of the seven molecules identified in a dried lakebed near the equator had never previously been observed on the red planet. The analysis performed b
Apr 20, 2026
Earlier this month the AI company Anthropic said it had created a model so powerful that, out of a sense of responsibility, it was not going to release it to the public. Anthropic says the model, Mythos Preview, excels at spotting and exploiting vulnerabilities in software, and could pose a severe risk to economies, public safety and national security. But is this the whole story? Some experts ha
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Fish swam further and dispersed more widely after exposure to environmental levels of drug and main metabolite Traces of cocaine that pollute rivers and lakes may accumulate in the brains of salmon and disrupt their behaviour, according to researchers who warn of unknown consequences for fish populations. Juvenile Atlantic salmon that were artificially exposed to the drug and its main breakdown p
Zoologist, author and broadcaster who found fame with his groundbreaking 1967 book The Naked Ape Desmond Morris, the zoologist, writer and broadcaster, who has died aged 98, in the course of 60 years put his name to more than 50 books, and fronted several hundred hours of television, starting with the Granada children’s weekly programme Zoo Time from 1956. It was broadcast from a special resident
Morris pursued dual passions of zoology and surrealist art, presenting TV documentaries and hosting exhibitions The zoologist Desmond Morris, perhaps best known for his book The Naked Ape and his work on the ITV programme Zoo Time, has died aged 98. Morris’s son Jason paid tribute to him after his death on Sunday, praising his many professional achievements as well as his role as a father and gra
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Study shows signature changes more pronounced in people with genetic risk, raising hopes for new therapies Changes to microbes that live in the gut can identify people at greater risk of Parkinson’s disease long before symptoms develop, according to work that also raises hopes for new therapies. Researchers discovered signature changes in the gut microbiome that are more pronounced in people with
Apr 19, 2026
First recorded in 687BC, the meteoroids were once part of the tail of a comet discovered in 1861 This week, the annual Lyrid meteor shower returns to the spring skies. Although active since 16 April, the shower peaks during the late evening of Wednesday 22 April and early the next morning. The chart shows the view looking east from London at 00.01 (BST) on Thursday 23 April. The origin point of t
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Zoological Society of London commissions poet laureate for animation to mark its 200th anniversary Over its two centuries, acclaimed writers and artists have found inspiration at London zoo, from Edwin Landseer’s Trafalgar Square lions, to AA Milne’s naming “Winnie” after resident bear Winnipeg, and Sylvia Plath’s poem Zoo Keeper’s Wife. Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes , who would become poet laureat