Tokyo, Japan- Prediction is a defining feature of intelligent behavior. Researchers at The University of Tokyo developed a spiking-network model that learned what event would occur, when it would occur, and how likely it was. The single network rapidly recalibrated when timing or probabilities changed, using local learning. The findings suggest a computational framework for adaptive, brain-inspired AI and testable ideas about how neural systems update expectations across dynamic environments and changing real-world conditions.

A gene involved in cell signaling and lipid metabolism, CTDNEP1, is associated with poorer survival in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), a study from Tokyo University of Science and Nippon Medical School has found. Researchers analyzed publicly available cancer databases to examine CTDNEP1 expression in ccRCC and papillary RCC. They found that higher CTDNEP1 expression was associated with poorer survival in ccRCC, suggesting its potential as a candidate prognostic biomarker for this subtype. 

Orangutan mothers adjust ranging behavior to increase their offspring’s access to play with neighboring peers. Mothers actively provide young with social contact, even at a cost to their own energy budget. Social play seems to be a requirement across all great apes, and some solitary species must accept a cost to meet that need.

Native seed systems are a crucial part of prairie restoration and have been studied from ecological, production and trouble-shooting angles, but never from a social science perspective, until now. Researchers from South Dakota State University conducted more than 60 interviews to better understand the people and relationships within the native seed system of the Northern Great Plain Region to help identify the best ways to support the local network.

Global study reveals the common ingredients behind conservation success: valuing local knowledge alongside science; community role in decision-making; and management adapting to local social and environmental conditions.

A new study led by researchers at the University of Plymouth (UK) has have produced the first assessment of whether light pollution is posing a threat to 'Good Environmental Status' in our ocean and along out coastlines. The new framework was tested using data available for European waters, with parts of the Adriatic, Baltic, Mediterranean and North seas proving the most likely to be impacted by light pollution.

A new species of extinct crocodile from Egypt has been discovered, sharing more than just its home with the Great Sphinx. Herugavialis cairensis was found in the very same rocks used to build the iconic monument. And, just as the Sphinx is famously missing the tip of its nose, the fossil crocodile is also missing the tip of its snout.