science wire

Unlike other species, humans speak to each other in remarkably diverse ways. Some of our 6,000 to 8,000 languages use clicks (!Kung). Others don't differentiate between nouns and verbs (Straits Salish). Still others pack a whole sentence into a single word (Cayuga). In comparison, the communication systems of other animals show precious little variation within species; vervet monkeys use the same communicative signals across their geographical range, just as honeybees, bacteria and every other species each have one way of communicating.

Stanford Report, November 6, 2012 As the ongoing use of unmanned drones in the Middle East prompts protests in Pakistan, Stanford scholars urge politicians and citizens to reconsider the detrimental impact of these eyes in the sky.

East Asia's understanding of its own past and its internal dynamics remain deeply rooted to the manner in which World War II ended" —Barak Kushner A major historical research project which will examine how East Asia redefined itself after World War II, with results that affect international relations in the region even today, has been announced.

A model uses game theory to predict how changes to the electoral system could shift campaign strategies and ad spending — and alter election results.

The University of Chicago has been awarded a grant fom the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme , for the digitization and preservation of 60 rare and endangered Urdu language periodicals.

This is a stunning level of commitment to poetry and poets.

The most comprehensive analysis of the Terracotta Army's weapons has revealed that the craftsmen responsible for arming the 7000 warriors, chariots and horses followed a sophisticated labour model now associated with Toyota, the world's biggest car maker. Toyota is widely credited with introducing an alternative method of mass production to standard assembly lines.

We now know from Iraq and Afghanistan that you don't deliver democracy out the back of a Humvee.

On one side, there's the stereotype of the insufferable Frenchman, the frog - and on the other, there's the toffee-nosed Englishman, le boeuf.

Narratives built around dreams and nightmares are woven into the early cultures of the British Isles.

The idea of witches buzzing about on brooms may be a Halloween staple today, but a rare medieval manuscript recently discovered by University of Alberta researchers is a reminder that it has a dark and disturbing past. The manuscript— Invectives Against the Sect of Waldensians —is one of only four copies in the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) inaugurated the Mailman School's Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health as a WHO Collaborating Center for Bioethics, the only such center that explicitly focuses on the ethics of public health.

Stanford Report, October 30, 2012 Through an interdisciplinary study of literature, film and neuroscience, Stanford scholar Laura Wittman traces the evolution of near-death experiences in modern culture.

As part of ongoing research into creating dictionaries for children, a recent analysis by Oxford University Press (OUP) has uncovered several insights into the way that young people tackle spelling.

Third-year University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey goaltender Kurtis Mucha made team and conference history Oct.

The Lady Margaret's Preachership was founded in 1504 by Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII.

The sight of Halloween ghouls and goblins may bring fear and dread to some people, but for University of Alberta anthropologist Sandra Garvie-Lok , it brings back fond memories of a supposed member of the undead who helped her stake out her career.

Researchers from WMG at the University of Warwick have helped Walsall Museum by creating a 21st century clone of a centuries old Demon head just in time for Halloween.

29 Oct 2012 Following last week's 25 October performance, the audio can now be downloaded at http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=ZkPCnodQQiY.

Jack Turner , UW assistant professor of political science, is the author of " Awakening to Race : Individualism and Social Consciousness in America,” published this month by University of Chicago Press.

I would argue that there is no 'true risk' in the sense that these chances and values actually exist as part of the outside world - they are constructed on the basis of our judgement and knowledge.

Today, delicacies like capers, arugula and fennel are at home at Dean & Deluca, Whole Foods and fancy restaurants, but they haven't always lived the high life.

—Reverend Peter Hayler Short talks about the traditions and central tenets of these three world religions will be followed by an opportunity for participants to take part in guided meditation and prayer, and afterwards to discuss their experiences.

25 Oct 2012 Professor Barry Cooper - one of the world's leading experts on the composer -found the work which Beethoven composed in about 1820, written alongside some original sketches of the famous Mass in D, known as the Missa Solemnis, in a sketchbook now in Berlin.

An evening reception at King's Maughan Library formally marked the transfer of Canning House Library to the College last night.

The University Chaplain is leaving Sussex at the end of the autumn term - and heading off to the Channel Islands.

Australia's understanding of its closest neighbours and place in the region is set to improve with the launch of a new research institute at The Australian National University.

King's College London, one of the UK's premier research universities, and Ipsos MORI, one of the country's best-known and longest-established research companies, have formed a partnership to bring to

While the search for a Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece by UC San Diego's Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3) is temporarily on hold pending the outcome of

—Dr Ulinka Rublack Each hands-on workshop is led by expert historians from the University of Cambridge and aims to stimulate passion for the past in young historians.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Frederick Hoxie starts each of his courses asking students to list three American Indians, and their answers are almost always the same: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and Geronimo.

We wanted a good mix between films that were difficult to see on the big screen and old favourites that deserve another airing.

Our courses don't so much 'engineer' a change as to remove obstacles to young people being able to think about the social world according to a wider array of their own values.

A University of Alberta researcher says that when it comes to understanding globalization, we need a grasp on our past to get a grip on the present.

What will the future of Australian thoroughbred horseracing look like in 10 years? A vision of the future could be a Melbourne Cup with no Australian competitors, races without real horses apart from

A new series of radiocarbon measurements from Japan's Lake Suigetsu will give scientists a more accurate benchmark for dating materials, especially for older objects, according to a research team that included Oxford University's Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. The research team extracted cores of beautifully preserved layers of sediment, containing organic material (such as tree leaf and twig fossils), from the bottom of the Japanese lake where they had lain undisturbed for tens of thousands of years.

The history of Little Miss Muffet, Jack and Jill, and Incy Wincy Spider, is set to be the focus of Education experts from the University of Sheffield, in the form of a unique new resource.

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries announce the release of the digitized Fairman Rogers Collection , a library of rare and unique books devoted to horses and horsemanship.

It takes both teeth and jaws to make a pretty smile, but the evolutionary origins of these parts of our anatomy have only just been discovered, thanks to a particle accelerator and a long dead fish. All living jawed vertebrates (animals with backbones, such as humans) have teeth, but it has long been thought that the first jawed vertebrates lacked pearly gnashers, instead capturing prey with gruesome scissor-like jaw-bones.

Sussex oral history accounts of women's liberation feature in national exhibition The personal stories of women activists collected, recorded and filmed by academics at the University of Sussex form

Academics from the University of Glasgow are bringing knitting professionals, experts and enthusiastic amateurs from across Scotland together today (18 October) for a public study day at the Lighthouse in Glasgow.