Singing lullabies is learned, not innate, study suggests
Is the impulse to dance or sing a lullaby universal? Anthropologists have long thought so, but a recent analysis suggests the behaviors are learned, not hardwired in people.
The study, published in Current Biology, focuses on the 800 members of the Northern Aché, an Indigenous people in Paraguay. One of the authors, Arizona State University anthropologist Kim Hill, has worked with the Northern Aché since the 1970s, learning their language, living among them and observing their culture.
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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
'Diving into a different world': Why an ASU professor studies the ocean in the desert
When Susanne Neuer closed her eyes, she could see it: the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean. A smile broke out on her face as she reminisced about the times her family visited the coastline of Ibiza. She has fallen in love with the ocean over and over, each time her family visited when she was young. She pictured a life on a boat fitted with all sorts of research equipment, salt in her face and the waves beneath her feet. No land for miles and miles. And she had that life, for a little bit. Her research cruises were far from luxurious. Neuer said they were "spartan" in a way. But they were exactly what she wanted. "Just the sea in all its different states," she said. "The terrible waves that make me seasick or a smooth ocean and beautiful sunsets, and then the animals, the dolphins that come about and play in the wake of the ship," Neuer said, her cadence speeding up with excitement. "It's really diving into a different world." Neuer's life took a sharp left turn to the desert in 2000 when she landed in Arizona after her husband got a job at Arizona State University. The desert landscape was a stark difference from the glittering blue waves dotted with bioluminescent plankton. She eventually found her place in Arizona, becoming a world-renowned researcher studying the role of ocean life in the carbon cycle. In 2022, Neuer was named the founding director of Arizona State University's School of Ocean Futures, a unique position to teach desert dwellers about the ocean. Neuer, 62, grew up in southern Germany, hundreds of miles away from the ocean in all directions. But her family vacationed in Ibiza, a Spanish island, and the ocean waves lapped at the edges of her mind. She wanted to learn more about the ocean. So, she turned to the ponds and streams that surrounded her hometown, flipping over rocks and digging into the dirt and mud. When she was in her early teens, she worked one summer at a garden shop to buy her own microscope so she could uncover the mysteries in the water. It changed her life. She knew it then, that she would study the ocean and the microorganisms that were only revealed to her through the microscope on those summer days. Her university studies took her first to the University of Heidelberg in west Germany, then north to the University of Kiel on the Baltic Sea, a far cry from the warm embrace of the Mediterranean. It was one of the only places Neuer could study marine science, she said. Then, she found out about the Fulbright Program, and she was accepted at the University of Washington to study oceanography. She planned to only stay in the U.S. for a year until she met her husband on a trip to California with other Fulbright students. "I realized that, you know, that this was probably serious," Neuer said. She and her husband, who was from Spain, decided to stay and finish out their studies in the U.S. They had a daughter, finished their doctoral degrees and moved back to Germany for postdoctoral work. The family stayed in Germany for six years. "There was, back then, no way we could stay both and get both permanent positions in Germany," she said. "We said the first one who would get at tenure track offer would take the other one along." Her husband beat her to the punch. He landed a job at ASU in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, perfect for his career as a microbiologist focused on desert soil. Not so perfect for Neuer's career in oceanography. When Neuer arrived in Arizona in 2000, she was lonely. The lone oceanographer in a sea of sand and hours away from the brilliant blue ocean — again. She followed her husband's lead and got a job at ASU. She taught oceanography through the geology department and spent more time with geologists than biologists. She tried teaching as many courses about marine life as possible and ended up pioneering degrees focused on environmental and marine sciences. She fell in love with teaching, even if it meant being in the desert. She said that's a benefit, not a detriment. "You can't really understand our planet and how our planet works without the oceans," Neuer said. "(The ocean) is so intricately engrained in our climate and our weather. ... Here in Arizona, you know, we receive water that enables life in the desert, and that water has come evaporated from the ocean." As the years dragged on, she was still the only oceanographer at the university. Sure, there were biologists and geologists and other "ologists," but none focused solely on the ocean, like Neuer. She eventually found a home in the School of Life Sciences, where her programs lived for 20 years. She developed curricula for students and led the graduate program. That's how she met Jesse Senko. Senko was at ASU as a doctoral candidate studying biology in 2011. Senko, from Connecticut, had planned on staying in Arizona for four years, just long enough to get his degree. His dream was to study marine life, specifically sea turtles. He wasn't sure if he was going to make it if not for Neuer. "She provided a safe space for me," Senko said. "If it wasn't for her, I definitely would've left the school, and I don't even know if I would've gotten a Ph.D." More than 10 years later, Senko hasn't left Arizona. He hasn't even left ASU, all because of Neuer. After years of being the lone oceanographer, Neuer founded a home for people like her. Like Senko. Those passionate about the ocean while loving the desert. Neuer was named the director of ASU's School of Ocean Futures in 2022, a "180-degree turn from being the lonely oceanographer to becoming the founding director of that school," she said. The school opened in 2023 and began offering degree programs in 2024. Students are able to study from across the world, from Hawaii to Bermuda. Senko teaches at the school and leads students on research trips to Baja California in northwest Mexico to study sea turtles. "We are connected," Neuer said, "considering the ocean as a home." News alerts in your inbox: Don't miss the important news of the day. Sign up for azcentral newsletter alerts to be in the know. Reporter Lauren De Young covers Tempe, Chandler, Maricopa County and transportation. Reach her at This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why an ASU professor studies the ocean in the desert
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Caribou and ice monitoring projects among 29 recipients of funding
Water, fish, landscape and caribou monitoring are among the 29 recipients of the 2025-26 NWT Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program (CIMP). A list of the 29 recipients, seven of which are focused on gathering traditional knowledge, 21 are traditional scientific endeavours and one combining the two fields, was released on Tuesday. 'These monitoring and research projects help us to better understand cumulative impacts to caribou, water, and fish in the Northwest Territories,' said Environment and Climate Change Minister Jay Macdonald. 'I'm happy that NWT CIMP continues its support working with Indigenous knowledge to better inform decision-making, through collaboration.' In total, $2.2 million was doled out to the research projects, seven of which are new projects and 15 of which are near completion. Being named a CIMP recipient opens the door to up to $70,000 in funding for up to three years. Projects vary in length from three-year projects to up to 16 year-long efforts. Several major caribou projects are wrapping up this year, including a 16-year-long effort by the Tlicho government to follow the Bathhurst and Bluenose caribou herds through their summer and fall ranges. Along with this long-term project a number of shorter three and six-year projects monitoring caribou diet, habitat, genetics, behaviour and documenting how traditional knowledge maps out the relationship between the caribou and the Inuvialuit. A second study documenting the relationship between the caribou and the Deninu Kue First Nation has one more year of work to do. Numerous water monitoring projects documenting toxicology levels, pollutants and long-term viability of ice roads are also near completion. Which projects receive funding is determined by a steering committee consisting of appointees from the NWT's Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, federal and territorial governments and co-management boards. Aside from contributing to the overall wealth of human knowledge, the projects also inform decision making at the GNWT and other government levels. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
A surprising study revealed biological activity on a distant planet. Weeks later, scientists say there's more to the story
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. A tiny sign revealed in April seemed like it might change the universe as we know it. Astronomers had detected just a hint, a glimmer of two molecules swirling in the atmosphere of a distant planet called K2-18b — molecules that on Earth are produced only by living things. It was a tantalizing prospect: the most promising evidence yet of an extraterrestrial biosignature, or traces of life linked to biological activity. But only weeks later, new findings suggest the search must continue. 'It was exciting, but it immediately raised several red flags because that claim of a potential biosignature would be historic, but also the significance or the strength of the statistical evidence seemed to be too high for the data,' said Dr. Luis Welbanks, a postdoctoral research scholar at Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration. While the molecules identified on K2-18b by the April study — dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, and dimethyl disulfide, or DMDS — are associated largely with microbial organisms on our planet, scientists point out that the compounds can also form without the presence of life. Now, three teams of astronomers not involved with the research, including Welbanks, have assessed the models and data used in the original biosignature discovery and got very different results, which they have submitted for peer review. Meanwhile, the lead author of the April study, Nikku Madhusudhan, and his colleagues have conducted additional research that they say reinforces their previous finding about the planet. And it's likely that additional observations and research from multiple groups of scientists are on the horizon. The succession of research papers revolving around K2-18b offers a glimpse of the scientific process unfolding in real time. It's a window into the complexities and nuances of how researchers search for evidence of life beyond Earth — and shows why the burden of proof is so high and difficult to reach. Located 124 light-years from Earth, K2-18b is generally considered a worthy target to scour for signs of life. It is thought to be a Hycean world, a planet entirely covered in liquid water with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, according to previous research led by Madhusudhan, a professor of astrophysics and exoplanetary science at the University of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy. And as such, K2-18b has rapidly attracted attention as a potentially habitable place beyond our solar system. Convinced of K2-18b's promise, Madhusudhan and his Cambridge colleagues used observations of the planet by the largest space telescope in operation, the James Webb Space Telescope, to study the planet further. But two scientists at the University of Chicago — Dr. Rafael Luque, a postdoctoral scholar in the university's department of astronomy and astrophysics, and Michael Zhang, a 51 Pegasi b / Burbidge postdoctoral fellow — spotted some problems with what they found. After reviewing Madhusudhan and his team's April paper, which followed up on their 2023 research, Luque and Zhang noticed that the Webb data looked 'noisy,' Luque said. Noise, caused by imperfections in the telescope and the rate at which different particles of light reach the telescope, is just one challenge astronomers face when they study distant exoplanets. Noise can distort observations and introduce uncertainties into the data, Zhang said. Trying to detect specific gases in distant exoplanet atmospheres introduces even more uncertainty. The most noticeable features from a gas like dimethyl sulfide stem from a bond of hydrogen and carbon molecules — a connection that can stretch and bend and absorb light at different wavelengths, making it hard to definitively detect one kind of molecule, Zhang said. 'The problem is basically every organic molecule has a carbon-hydrogen bond,' Zhang said. 'There's hundreds of millions of those molecules, and so these features are not unique. If you have perfect data, you can probably distinguish between different molecules. But if you don't have perfect data, a lot of molecules, especially organic molecules, look very similar, especially in the near-infrared.' Delving further into the paper, Luque and Zhang also noticed that the perceived temperature of the planet appeared to increase sharply from a range of about 250 Kelvin to 300 Kelvin (-9.67 F to 80.33 F or -23.15 C to 26.85 C) in research Madhusudhan published in 2023 to 422 Kelvin (299.93 F or 148.85 C) in the April study. Such harsh temperatures could change the way astronomers think about the planet's potential habitability, Zhang said, especially because cooler temperatures persist in the top of the atmosphere — the area that Webb can detect — and the surface or ocean below would likely have even higher temperatures. 'This is just an inference only from the atmosphere, but it would certainly affect how we think about the planet in general,' Luque said. Part of the issue, he said, is that the April analysis didn't include data collected from all three Webb instruments Madhusudhan's team used over the past few years. So Luque, Zhang and their colleagues conducted a study combining all the available data to see whether they could achieve the same results, or even find a higher amount of dimethyl sulfide. They found 'insufficient evidence' of both molecules in the planet's atmosphere. Instead, Luque and Zhang's team spotted other molecules, like ethane, that could fit the same profile. But ethane does not signify life. Arizona State's Welbanks and his colleagues, including Dr. Matt Nixon, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of astronomy at the University of Maryland College Park, also found what they consider a fundamental problem with the April paper on K2-18b. The concern, Welbanks said, was with how Madhusudhan and his team created models to show which molecules might be in the planet's atmosphere. 'Each (molecule) is tested one at a time against the same minimal baseline, meaning every single model has an artificial advantage: It is the only explanation permitted,' Welbanks said. When Welbanks and his team conducted their own analysis, they expanded the model from Madhusudhan's study. '(Madhusudhan and his colleagues) didn't allow for any other chemical species that could potentially be producing these small signals or observations,' Nixon said. 'So the main thing we wanted to do was assess whether other chemical species could provide an adequate fit to the data.' When the model was expanded, the evidence for dimethyl sulfide or dimethyl disulfide 'just disappears,' Welbanks said. Madhusudhan believes the studies that have come out after his April paper are 'very encouraging' and 'enabling a healthy discussion on the interpretation of our data on K2-18b.' He reviewed Luque and Zhang's work and agreed that their findings don't show a 'strong detection for DMS or DMDS.' When Madhusudhan's team published the paper in April, he said the observations reached the three-sigma level of significance, or a 0.3% probability that the detections occurred by chance. For a scientific discovery that is highly unlikely to have occurred by chance, the observations must meet a five-sigma threshold, or below a 0.00006% probability that the observations occurred by chance. Meeting such a threshold will require many steps, Welbanks said, including repeated detections of the same molecule using multiple telescopes and ruling out potential nonbiological sources. While such evidence could be found in our lifetime, it is less likely to be a eureka moment and more a slow build requiring a consensus among astronomers, physicists, biologists and chemists. 'We have never reached that level of evidence in any of our studies,' Madhusudhan wrote in an email. 'We have only found evidence at or below 3-sigma in our two previous studies (Madhusudhan et al. 2023 and 2025). We refer to this as moderate evidence or hints but not a strong detection. I agree with (Luque and Zhang's) claim which is consistent with our study and we have discussed the need for stronger evidence extensively in our study and communications.' In response to the research conducted by Welbanks' team, Madhusudhan and his Cambridge colleagues have authored another manuscript expanding the search on K2-18b to include 650 types of molecules. They have submitted the new analysis for peer review. 'This is the largest search for chemical signatures in an exoplanet to date, using all the available data for K2-18b and searching through 650 molecules,' Madhusudhan said. 'We find that DMS continues to be a promising candidate molecule in this planet, though more observations are required for a firm detection as we have noted in our previous studies.' Welbanks and Nixon were pleased that Madhusudhan and his colleagues addressed the concerns raised but feel that the new paper effectively walks back central claims made in the original April study, Welbanks said. 'The new paper tacitly concedes that the DMS/DMDS detection was not robust, yet still relies on the same flawed statistical framework and a selective reading of its own results,' Welbanks said in an email. 'While the tone is more cautious (sometimes), the methodology continues to obscure the true level of uncertainty. The statistical significance claimed in earlier work was the product of arbitrary modeling decisions that are not acknowledged.' Luque said the Cambridge team's new paper is a step in the right direction because it explores other possible chemical biosignatures. 'But I think it fell short in the scope,' Luque said. 'I think it restricted itself too much into being a rebuttal to the (Welbanks) paper.' Separately, however, the astronomers studying K2-18b agree that pushing forward on researching the exoplanet contributes to the scientific process. 'I think it's just a good, healthy scientific discourse to talk about what is going on with this planet,' Welbanks said. 'Regardless of what any single author group says right now, we don't have a silver bullet. But that is exactly why this is exciting, because we know that we're the closest we have ever been (to finding a biosignature), and I think we may get it within our lifetime, but right now, we're not there. That is not a failure. We're testing bold ideas.'
