The Obtain: Monkey names, and good masks for well being monitoring

The information: Do animals have names? It appears so, after new analysis seems to have found that small monkeys known as marmosets “vocally label” their monkey buddies with particular sounds.

How they did it: The group used audio recorders and pattern-recognition software program to research the animals’ high-pitched chirps and twitters. To show they’d cracked the monkey code—and realized the key names—the group performed recordings on the marmosets by a speaker and located they responded extra typically when their label, or title, was within the recording.

Why it issues: Till now, solely people, dolphins, elephants, and doubtless parrots had been recognized to make use of particular sounds to name out to different people. This form of analysis might present clues to the origins of human language, arguably essentially the most highly effective innovation in our species’ evolution. Learn the complete story.

—Antonio Regalado

A brand new good masks analyzes your breath to observe your well being

Your breath may give away lots about you. Every exhalation accommodates all types of compounds, together with attainable biomarkers for illness or lung circumstances, that would give docs a helpful perception into your well being.

Now a brand new good masks might assist docs test your breath for these alerts repeatedly and in a noninvasive manner. A affected person might put on the masks at residence, measure their very own ranges, after which go to the physician if a flare-up is probably going. Learn the complete story.

—Scott J Mulligan