Crooked Bough News Round-up

— Bonobos’ calls may be the closest thing to animal language we’ve seen

 

at 4/3/25 2:14pm

300 aspects of each call were cataloged, letting researchers estimate meaning.

[Category: Science, animal intelligence, Biology, bonobos, communication, language]

— Monkeys are better yodelers than humans, study finds

 

at 4/3/25 1:10pm

Voice breaks in Latin American monkey calls resemble human yodeling, but over a much wider frequency range.

[Category: Science, acoustics, animal behavior, animal vocalizations, animals, Biology, monkeys, yodeling]

— SpaceX just took a big step toward reusing Starship’s Super Heavy booster

 

at 4/3/25 11:11am

SpaceX hasn't said whether the next Starship flight will use a new or flight-proven booster.

[Category: Science, Space, Commercial space, launch, spacex, Starbase, starship]

— A bonus from the shingles vaccine: Dementia protection?

 

at 4/3/25 8:39am

The study shows a sharp change when the vaccine was introduced in Wales.

[Category: Science, Biology, chicken pox, dementia, medicine, shingles, vaccines]

— Male fruit flies drink more alcohol to get females to like them

 

at 4/2/25 1:50pm

Alcohol makes male fruit flies sexier by stimulating the production of sex pheromones.

[Category: Science, Biology, fruit flies, Pheromones]

— A 32-bit processor made with an atomically thin semiconductor

 

at 4/2/25 10:46am

It's slow and inefficient, but the semiconductor is only one molecule thick.

[Category: Science, 2D materials, atomically thin materials, materials science, processor, RISC-V, transistor]

— RIP Val Kilmer: Celebrating cult classic Real Genius is now a moral imperative

 

at 4/2/25 10:21am

The ’80s comedy has stood the test of time, even inspiring a 2009 Mythbusters episode.

[Category: Gaming, Science, entertainment, film, Real Genius]

— First tokamak component installed in a commercial fusion plant

 

at 4/1/25 3:05pm

A tokamak moves forward as two companies advance plans for stellarators.

[Category: Science, fusion, Physics, plasma, stellarator, tokamak]

— Four private astronauts launch on first human mission to fly over the poles

 

at 4/1/25 10:23am

"I call it the last frontier of unexplored territory in low-Earth orbit."

[Category: Science, Space, Commercial space, dragon, falcon 9, fram2, human spaceflight, Kennedy Space Center, launch, spacex]

— Research roundup: 2,400-year-old clay puppets; this is your brain on Klingon

 

at 3/31/25 1:49pm

Also: testing the efficacy of WWI "dazzle" camouflage; how the male blue-lined octopus survives deadly mating ritual.

[Category: Science, research roundup]

— The first flight of Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket lasted just 40 seconds

 

at 3/31/25 10:26am

"Today, we know twice as much about our launch system as yesterday before launch."

[Category: Science, Space, Commercial space, european space agency, germany, isar aerospace, launch, Norway, spectrum rocket]

— FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

 

at 3/30/25 1:41pm

Indiana University quietly removes profile of tenured professor and refuses to say why.

[Category: Policy, Science, Security]

— NASA’s Curiosity rover has found the longest chain carbon molecules yet on Mars

 

at 3/30/25 5:00am

It’s a significant finding in the search for alien life.

[Category: Science, Space, Curiosity rover, mars rover, NASA, syndication]

— Beyond RGB: A new image file format efficiently stores invisible light data

 

at 3/28/25 4:11pm

New Spectral JPEG XL compression reduces file sizes, making spectral imaging more practical.

[Category: Biz & IT, Science, compression, data science, image compression, image formats, JPEG, jpeg xl, multispectrum images, spectral imaging]

— Trump annoyed the Smithsonian isn’t promoting discredited racial ideas

 

at 3/28/25 9:53am

New executive order slams museum for recognizing "race is not a biological reality."

[Category: Science, eugenics, race, Racism, scientific racism, Smithsonian, Trump]

— Rocket Report: Stoke is stoked; sovereignty is the buzzword in Europe

 

at 3/28/25 5:00am

"The idea that we will be able to do it through America… I think is very, very doubtful."

[Category: Science, Space, artemis II, european space agency, falcon 9, isar aerospace, launch, NASA, rocket lab, rocket report, space launch system, spacex, united launch alliance]

— Study of Lyft rideshare data confirms minorities get more tickets

 

at 3/27/25 2:22pm

Researchers ascribe it to "animus or prejudice against minority drivers."

[Category: Science, bias, minorities, speeding tickets, structural racism, tickets, traffic violations]

— “This will be a painful period”: RFK Jr. slashes 24% of US health dept.

 

at 3/27/25 11:01am

"I want to promise you now that we are going to do more with less," RFK Jr. said.

[Category: Health, Science, CDC, fda, funding, HHS, NIH, reductions, research, robert f kennedy jr, science, trump administration]

— Researchers get spiking neural behavior out of a pair of transistors

 

at 3/27/25 9:32am

New approach to improving AI performance turns a silicon problem into a feature.

[Category: Science, materials science, neural networks, semiconductor, silicon, spiking neurons]

— Maybe Trump should go back to calling his missile shield the Iron Dome

 

at 3/27/25 9:08am

Trump created the Space Force, Biden grew it, and now its top general worries about cutbacks.

[Category: Science, Space, chance saltzman, Donald Trump, golden dome, Iron Dome, military space, missile defense, US Space Force]

— Lawsuits targeting diversity efforts in science are multiplying

 

at 3/26/25 7:58am

A recent lawsuit highlights the vulnerability of programs intended to promote DEI.

[Category: Policy, Science, diversity, syndication]

As of 4/4/25 12:52am. Last new 4/3/25 2:39pm.