The mystery of orange cats decoded — with some help from cat parents
Despite knowing for over a century that the inheritance of the ginger colour in Felis catus is different from other mammals, cracking the code has not been easy because cats have been characteristically uncooperative, refusing to let researchers stick a cotton swab in their mouths to retrieve samples. As anyone with a cat will attest, it is nearly impossible to make the rebels of the animal kingdom do anything they don't want to. So researchers enlisted the help of the pets' human guardians. Their cooperation has helped uncover what makes Garfield and his fellow gingers possible: A small piece of missing DNA near the gene ARHGAP36. This unique mutation could hold the key to how mutations work in general, potentially deepening the understanding of genetic disorders in humans. These studies have also made apparent the value of engaging with the public in the pursuit of scientific progress .
Studies on cats have taken science far — a previous study found them to have 'perfect' genetic form, staying true to the ancestral animal despite centuries of breeding. That an active collaboration between science and society was made possible because of the affection cats share with their humans ought to shut down any debate on the subject. To all those who ask, 'Why cats?', the answer is now clear: For science.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Stressed in the city? This 15-minute habit can rewire your brain
A recent Stanford University study reveals that spending just 15 minutes in urban nature can significantly improve mental health, particularly for young adults. The research, analyzing data from nearly 5,900 people, found urban forests especially effective in reducing depression and anxiety. Researchers suggest creating accessible green spaces like pocket parks and street trees. Are you a city dweller? Well, then this simple habit could transform your brain for the better. By 2025, 70% of people are expected to start living in cities. Among the urbanites, mental health is a growing concern, with more and more people facing challenges such as anxiety and mood disorders. A recent study has found a solution to this. A new study by Stanford University's Natural Capital Project (NatCap) found that practising a certain habit for 15 minutes can significantly improve mental health. The findings are published in Nature Cities . This 15-minute activity could improve mental health According to the new study, spending even a little time in nature can significantly benefit a broad range of mental health conditions. The results of the study offer guidance to urban planners, policymakers, and others on how to use green space as a mental health solution. Along with that, such spaces also lower temperatures and sequester carbon. 'We are working to translate the effect size we found through this analysis to more intuitive indicators that would be useful for decision-makers by way of a new mental health-focused InVEST model. For example, we could run scenarios like: if a city currently has 20% green space or tree cover, how many preventable cases of mental health disorders could be avoided if that were increased to 30%? We will also be working to include estimates of the potential avoided healthcare costs associated with such improvements in urban nature,' Yingjie Li, lead author and postdoctoral scholar at NatCap, said in a statement. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Why is everyone rushing to get their hands on this new air cooler? News of the Discovery Undo The InVEST, NatCap's flagship mapping and modeling tools, are already being used to map and quantify ecosystem services across the globe. 'Previous studies have documented strong links between contact with nature and mental health. But with most studies, you either can't infer a causal link, they can't be easily generalized, or they aren't designed to distinguish the effects of different types of nature. This analysis helps fill that gap,' Anne Guerry, senior author and chief strategy officer and lead scientist at NatCap, said. The study The researchers analyzed data from nearly 5,900 people across 78 experiments and found that spending time in urban nature improves mental health. While all types of urban nature were beneficial, they found that urban forests were especially effective in reducing depression and anxiety. Young adults were the ones who benefited the most. This was crucial because most mental health issues start before age 25. Interestingly, just sitting in nature reduced depression more than being active. These benefits were stronger in Asian countries, possibly due to cultural ties to nature. The researchers also stressed that while larger city parks and forests are critical, it is also important to create smaller 'pocket parks' and additional street trees to increase access throughout cities. Li expressed that, at a personal level, this study improved his lifestyle. He started walking to the office more frequently and became more curious about the birds and plants he encountered along the way. 'I also talk to my friends about thinking this way and encourage them to notice how even small moments with nature can make a difference. This work has helped me see that urban nature isn't just good for cities – it's good for us.' Li said. 'Kahin Bada, Kahin Chhota': Ravi Kishan Uses Samosa Analogy To Demand Regulation Of Food Prices So if you are feeling a little under the weather today, maybe spend 15 minutes in nature, and see how it works out.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Siddhartha Mukherjee education and career path: The Indian-origin physician from Stanford, Oxford, and Harvard who gave cancer a human story
In the late 1980s, a bright teenager walked the halls of St. Columba's School in New Delhi with a quiet intensity. Siddhartha Mukherjee wasn't your usual top student, he was the kind of mind that lingered on questions longer, looked for patterns where others saw facts, and found poetry even in biology. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In 1989, he graduated with the school's highest honor, the Sword of Honour . But what followed would take him across continents, into the most elite classrooms in the world, and eventually, into the hearts of millions as a bestselling science writer. A Stanford start After his school years in India, Mukherjee took a leap that many Indian students dream of: he landed a spot at Stanford University. There, as a biology major, he joined the lab of Nobel Laureate Paul Berg, working on how genes change the behavior of cancer cells. It wasn't just about textbooks anymore: he was inside the machinery of real discovery. He graduated with honors, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1993. The Rhodes scholar from Delhi But Mukherjee wasn't done. He won a Rhodes Scholarship, one of the world's most prestigious academic honors, and moved to the University of Oxford, joining Magdalen College. In Oxford's quiet libraries and buzzing research labs, he focused on the immune system's response to viral infections. By 1997, he had completed his in immunology, a doctorate that gave him the foundation to explore the inner life of cells for decades to come. Harvard, hospitals, and healing Still, something was missing. Mukherjee wanted not just to study cells but to treat the people whose lives were shaped by them. So, he entered Harvard Medical School, where he earned his M.D. in 2000. The next few years were intense: residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by a fellowship in hematology-oncology at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, one of the world's top cancer centers. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now These years shaped him both as a doctor and as a thinker. He witnessed how medicine sometimes succeeded, sometimes failed — and always told a story. That sense of story would soon become his trademark. From clinic to classroom and page In 2009, Mukherjee joined Columbia University Medical Center in New York as an assistant professor. By then, he was treating cancer patients, running a lab, and beginning to write a book that would change everything. That book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, became a Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller in 2011. It wasn't just a science book. It was history, memoir, detective story, and meditation all in one. It showed readers what cancer really was — and who doctors and patients really were in that fight. The legacy of a global scholar Today, Siddhartha Mukherjee is not just a physician or a scientist. He's a bridge between medicine and the public. Someone who makes complicated biology human. He's also a Padma Shri awardee, a Time 100 influential figure, and founder of an AI-driven drug discovery startup, Manas AI, launched in 2025. Yet behind all the accolades is a deeply academic journey, from Delhi to Stanford, Oxford to Harvard, that reflects the power of global education when matched with purpose and passion. Mukherjee's path shows that education is not just about degrees — it's about finding the questions that keep you up at night, and then finding the tools to answer them. His story is proof that a student in a Delhi classroom can one day write the biography of a disease, and in doing so, write part of the history of science itself.
Time of India
04-08-2025
- Time of India
Computer science research papers show fastest uptake of AI use in writing, analysis finds
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Researchers analysed the use of large language models in over a million pre-print and published scientific papers between 2020 and 2024, and found the largest, fastest growth in use of the AI systems in computer science papers -- of up to 22 %.Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), large language models are trained on vast amounts of text and can therefore respond to human requests in the natural from Stanford University and other institutes in the US looked at 1,121,912 pre-print papers in the archives 'arXiv' and 'bioRxiv', and published papers across Nature journals from January 2020 to September on how often words commonly used by AI systems appeared in the papers, the team estimated the involvement of a large language model -- ChatGPT in this study -- in modifying content in a research published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour "suggest a steady increase in LLM (large language model) usage, with the largest and fastest growth estimated for computer science papers (up to 22%)."The researchers also estimated a greater reliance on AI systems among pre-print papers in the archive 'bioRxiv' written by authors from regions known to have a lower number of English-language speakers, such as China and continental papers related to mathematics and those published across Nature journals showed a lower evidence of use of AI in modifying content, according to the study team said that shorter papers and authors posting pre-prints more often showed a higher rate of AI use in writing papers, suggesting that researchers trying to produce a higher quantity of writing are more likely to rely on LLMs."These results may be an indicator of the competitive nature of certain research areas and the pressure to publish quickly," the team researchers also looked at a smaller number of papers to understand how scholars disclose use of AI in their inspection of randomly selected 200 computer science papers that were uploaded to the pre-print archive 'arXiv' in February 2024 revealed that "only two out of the 200 papers explicitly disclosed the use of LLMs during paper writing".Future studies looking at disclosure statements might help to understand researchers' motivation for using AI in writing example, policies around disclosing LLM usage in academic writing may still be unclear, or scholars may have other motivations for intentionally avoiding to disclose use of AI, the authors said.A recent study, published in the journal Science, estimated that at least 13% of research abstracts published in 2024 could have taken help from a large language model, as they included more of 'style' words seen to be favoured by these AI from the University of Tubingen, Germany, who analysed more than 15 million biomedical papers published from 2010 to 2024, said that AI models have caused a drastic shift in the vocabulary used in academic writing.
