Latest news with #Soller
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Oh hey, it's you! Fish can recognize humans, research shows
Divers don't all look the same to fish. If they get food from a person, they will recognize them next time and follow them persistently. Less generous divers, on the other hand, tend to be ignored, as evidenced by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior (MPIAB) in the German city of Constance. However, it is not the faces – which can hardly be seen under the diving mask – that are crucial for recognition, but rather the peculiarities of the equipment. Researchers at the Mediterranean station Stareso on Corsica noticed that sea bream and other fish followed them on dives and even stole food that was actually intended as a reward. They were amazed to discover that the fish only followed the people from whom they had previously received treats, as the Max Planck Institute explains. A team led by MPIAB researchers Katinka Soller and Maëlan Tomasek then started a series of experiments in the area around the research station, where fish - already accustomed to humans - volunteered in the experiments, coming and going as they pleased. Soller, as the trained diver, first tried to attract the their attention: Wearing a bright red vest, she fed the fish that had swum over and dived about 50 metres. Gradually, all conspicuous features, such as the vest were removed. Ultimately, Soller dived a full 50 metres in simple diving gear with the food hidden, until she fed the fish that had followed her up to that point. Sea bream are particularly clever After 12 days of training, around 20 fish followed Soller on her dives. Sea bream showed particular curiosity and a willingness to learn. "As soon as I entered the water, it only took seconds for me to see them swimming towards me, seemingly out of nowhere," Soller says. Described in the journal Biology Letters, the experiments also showed exactly what the fish recognize: not the human face, but colour features of their equipment. Tomasek initially used equipment that differed from Soller's equipment in the colour of only some parts of the neoprene diving suit and the fins. If he also dived but did not feed the fish, they largely ignored him from then on. When the diving equipment was completely identical, the fish were unable to distinguish between the divers. Even a goldfish knows you Anyone who owns a fish tank or a pond is familiar with the phenomenon of one's own fish swimming towards you, but not strangers, says Matthias Wiesensee from a German aquarium association. In addition to visually recognisable patterns, sound characteristics such as the voice or gait play a role, which are detected by the lateral line, a sensory organ found in fish. This is very pronounced in koi carp and goldfish, for example, which swim to those who feed them – but not to other family members, according to Wiesensee. Large cichlids such as scalars and discus also noticeably develop a relationship with certain people and are often rather sceptical of strangers. Overall, however, there is little scientific evidence showing fish can recognize people, the institute said. In laboratory experiments, captive-bred archerfish were able to recognize images of human faces. "But no one has ever asked whether wild fish have the ability or even the motivation to recognize us when we enter their underwater world," says Tomasek. With more time, the fish might also be able to pay attention to more subtle features such as hair or hands, the researchers suspect. "We have already observed that they approach our faces and examine our bodies closely," says Soller. "It was as if they were studying us and not the other way around." Recognition in the experiments of the Constance researchers was mutual, by the way: one fish was named Julius by the team; another one, a sea bream that regularly participated with two shiny silver scales on its back, was named Bernie. And then there was "Alfie, who had a crack in his tail fin," as Soller recounts.
The Independent
19-02-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Scientists perplexed to see wild fish recognise specific humans: ‘It was like they were studying us'
Scientists at a Mediterranean research station have found that some wild fish can tell apart humans, recognising and targeting specific divers who had fed them before. The study, published in the journal Biology Letters on Tuesday, found that some wild fish can use visual cues to identify specific humans even when their faces are covered by diving gear. Previous lab studies have shown that captive fish, like archerfish, can recognise human faces in controlled settings. However, there is little evidence that wild fish could do the same, say researchers from Germany 's Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour (MPI-AB). To test this, scientists conducted a series of experiments at a research site eight meters underwater in the Mediterranean Sea where wild fish have become habituated to divers. In the first phase of the experiments, study co-author Katinka Soller attempted to attract the attention of local fish by wearing a bright red vest, and fed fish while swimming a length of 50m. Gradually, she removed the vest and wore plain dive gear, kept the food hidden, and fed fish only after they had followed her the full 50m. The fish, according to scientists, were 'willing volunteers' in the study who came and went as they pleased. Two species of seabream fish were particularly willing to engage, they said. After 12 days of training, 20 fish followed Ms Soller, who could recognise several of the fish from their physical traits. 'There was Bernie with two shiny silver scales on the back and Alfie who had a nip out of the tail fin,' she said. In the next experimental phase, researchers tested if these same fish could tell Soller apart from another diver, study senior author Maëlan Tomasek. Dr Tomasek's diving gear 'differed notably' in some colourful parts of the wetsuit and fins, researchers said. This time the divers started at the same point and then swam in different directions, but Dr Tomasek never fed the fish that followed him. Scientists were surprised to find that while the fish followed both divers equally on the first day, the number of fish following Ms Soller increased significantly from day two. Researchers then focused on six fish out of the large group to study individually and found that they showed 'strong positive learning curves.' The findings suggest the fish were conscious of both divers and tested each one to learn that Katinka produced the reward at the end of the swim. However, when scientists repeated the experiment wearing identical diving gear, the fish were unable to discriminate them, they say. Based on this observation, researchers suspect the fish associated differences in the dive gear – most likely the colour cues – with each diver. 'Almost all fish have colour vision, so it is not surprising that the sea bream learned to associate the correct diver based on patches of colour on the body,' Dr Tomasek said. 'We already observed them approaching our faces and scrutinising our bodies. It was like they were studying us, not the other way around,' Ms Soller said.
New York Times
07-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
California Asks Insurers to Spare Wildfire Victims ‘the List'
California's top insurance regulator urged insurance carriers on Thursday to pay policyholders the full amount of the belongings in their coverage without requiring them to itemize every object lost — an undertaking that has burdened thousands of residents whose homes were destroyed by wildfires last month. In a notice that said policyholders are 'overwhelmed,' Ricardo Lara, California's insurance commissioner, gave insurance companies a deadline of Feb. 28 to inform the state agency on whether they would comply. Consumer advocates have long criticized the demand by many insurance carriers that homeowners to make detailed lists if they hope to get their full coverage amount. The stress is compounded in places like California's burn zone, where many families are scrambling to find new places to live and new schools for their children. The monumental task of remembering all items inside a home that no longer exists is adding unbearable strain, said Michael Soller, the deputy insurance commissioner, in an interview. Mr. Soller said he and his colleagues continue to hear from homeowners about 'the agony of having to go through the process of filling out an inventory after you just lost everything.' Though Thursday's notice does not have the force of law, the California Department of Insurance is hoping insurers will consent, Mr. Soller told The New York Times. 'The commissioner is asking insurance companies to go all the way and pay 100 percent,' he said. Last month, Mr. Lara issued a bulletin reminding Californians that, under a state of emergency, insurance companies must advance funds up to 30 percent of the home's dwelling limit, up to a maximum of $250,000, without itemization. To get 100 percent, a homeowner would have to provide the documentation required by their policy — in many cases a comprehensive list that includes the make and model of each object. Thursday's notice, if accepted by an insurer, would remove from a policyholder the burden of counting every throw pillow or itemizing every fork. Mr. Lara's announcement came hours after The Times published an article about a homeowner's effort to make the list of belongings she lost after her house in Altadena was destroyed. In the article, Selina Clark, a former State Farm contractor who has offered her testimony as a whistle-blower in a report about unfair insurance practices, said she believes that the manner in which the itemization requirement was enforced during her time at State Farm overwhelmed homeowners, causing them to give up and leave money on the table. (A spokesman for State Farm denied the allegation.) Homeowners who have been through the process say it is deeply upsetting. 'Be prepared to cry,' warned Donna Granata, of Casitas Springs, Calif., who helped close friends compile the list after they suffered a total loss during the Thomas fire of 2017. She saw how they shut down, the toll of being forced to remember every last item acting as a constant reminder of the disaster. 'It's brutal,' said Michael Yurochko, who lost his own home in Sonoma in 2019 during the Kincade Fire and has since created an online resource to help homeowners navigate the list, which took him months to do. 'It's OK to have a drink. It's OK to put pencils down,' he said, describing the exhaustion he felt at the level of detail required. Across the country in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., Dianne Averill described how she stood in ankle-high water after a flood in her basement, calling out serial numbers to her husband, who sat on the staircase jotting them down in the hopes of getting the most out of their policy. The list of more than 75 items filled numerous pages, 'from screens for windows to cans of paint that were now rusting to boxes of books and extension cords,' said Ms. Averill, 68. 'And that was just for my basement,' she said.
