Chris Simms

3 days ago | newscientist.com | Chris Simms

Cockatoos in Sydney, Australia, have learned to use public water fountains by twisting a handle, despite how difficult they are for birds to operate. It seems to be a behaviour they copy from each other. Sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) have already learned how to open waste bins in eastern Sydney, leading to a battle of wits as humans come up with ways to keep their bins closed and the cockatoos again work out how to open them.

1 week ago | newscientist.com | Chris Simms

Long before the Great Wall of China was constructed, other monumental walls were built across the Eurasian steppes – but they weren’t designed to defend against Mongol armies. Recent excavations reveal that they were erected to control movement of people or demonstrate power, much like border walls today. The Great Wall of China spans many thousands of kilometres, the longest stretch running some 8850 kilometres.

1 week ago | newscientist.nl | Chris Simms

Onderzoekers hebben mogelijk een nieuwe dwergplaneet ontdekt aan de rand van ons zonnestelsel. Deze ontdekking trekt het bestaan van een verborgen negende planeet, Planeet X, in twijfel. De nieuwe potentiële dwergplaneet bevindt zich in de buitenste regionen van ons zonnestelsel, in een baan voorbij Neptunus. De aanwezigheid van dit object zet vraagtekens bij het bestaan van een hypothetisch hemellichaam dat bekendstaat als Planeet 9 of Planeet X.

1 week ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Chris Simms

Your sex, ethnicity and level of education may influence how long you live, but also the pace at which your body ages. There has been growing recognition over recent years that ageing doesn’t progress at the same rate in different people, and factors such as stress, poor diet and smoking can accelerate it.

1 week ago | newscientist.com | Chris Simms

Your sex, ethnicity and level of education may influence how long you live, but also the pace at which your body ages. There has been growing recognition over recent years that ageing doesn’t progress at the same rate in different people, and factors such as stress, poor diet and smoking can accelerate it. To find out more, Dan Belsky at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York and his colleagues analysed data…