Prehistoric men attack an elephant. New research shows that it was humans, not climate, that caused a sharp decline in almost all megafauna on Earth 50,000 years ago. Credit: First printed in Bryant & Gay, 1883. Wood carving by E. Bayard.
It was a good week for research into environmental impacts on human history, as a team of geologists, oceanographers and historians affiliated with several entities found evidence suggesting that the earliest inhabitants of North America could have arrived via an ice highway 24,000 years ago. Additionally, a team of ecologists, biologists and environmental scientists from the University of Aarhus, Denmark, found evidence that it was humans, not climate change, that caused the decline giant mammals. Their work involved studying the genes and history of surviving large mammals. And a team of geologists, mineralogists and Earth and ocean scientists affiliated with institutions in Canada, the United States and France discovered a 72-kilometer fault line on Canada’s Vancouver Island. An earthquake centered there thousands of years ago is thought to have impacted the region’s history.
In technology news, a joint team of nanochemists from the Italian Institute of Technology and BeDimensional SpA has developed a new system to produce green hydrogen efficiently and cheaply. This involves the use of small ruthenium particles and a solar-powered water electrolysis system. And a trio of psychologists from the University of California discovered that artificial intelligence systems excel at imitation but not at innovation: these systems still lack the ability to see tools in new ways . In addition, a team of biotechnologists and neuroscientists from the GrapheneX-UTS Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Center at the University of Technology Sydney have developed wearable, non-invasive, data-reading AI systems. mind that can transform thoughts into text, thus providing communication options to people who cannot speak. And a team of technology specialists from Apollo Research found that large language models can strategically mislead users when they’re under pressure.
Separately, a team of brain and mental health specialists from the Park Center for Mental Health in Australia found that children who grow up with cats are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as they age. Additionally, a team of evolutionary specialists from the HUN-REN Ecological Research Center’s Institute of Evolution in Hungary, together with a colleague from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, found evidence that senescence can accelerate evolution. Finally, a combined team of researchers from University College London, the Royal Free Hospital, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge found that drinking habits are a more accurate indicator of risk of liver disease than overall consumption.
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