A dog finally learns to open the puzzle box. Its reward for doing so is a treat inside that puzzle box. The second time, however, the dog will be given another puzzle box, but unlike the previous box, this would be an unsolvable one. Through this experiment, which was called the “unsolvable task”, researchers found out that dogs would try to shift a nearby human’s attention to the box. In other words, dogs know when to ask for help.

Pigs also happen to be social animals, but when the researchers gave them the same test, they didn’t respond the way dogs did.

“When pigs live in the wild—or even wild boars—these animals live in groups. They need to communicate with their conspecifics to be able to live.”

Which is why the researchers decided to compare pet dogs with pet pigs. While the pigs revealed that they were capable of referential communication, they didn’t actually turn to people for help. Once the task became unsolvable, they acted... determined to find a solution on their own. The results were published in the journal Animal Cognition. [Paula Pérez Fraga et al., Who turns to the human? Companion pigs' and dogs' behaviour in the unsolvable task paradigm]

But why was this the case? Scientists think that the reason for this is the purpose of the domestication of an animal.

More details about this over at Scientific American.

(Image Credit: yairventuraf/ Pixabay)

When a group of reindeer herders on the Siberian island of Bolshoy Lyakhovsky went out in broad daylight, they did not expect to come across a frozen carcass of an extinct species of bear that we haven’t seen face to face for over 15,000 years — a cave bear. It must have been an awesome experience for the herders, who found the carcass in a patch of melting permafrost.

Many of our ancestors knew cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) all too well. At Denisova Cave in Siberia’s Altai Mountains, about 3,600km (2,200 miles) from Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, a 2019 study of coprolites (fossil poop) and ancient DNA mixed into the cave sediment found that bears had lived in the cave off and on for around 300,000 years, probably alternating with the Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Homo sapiens who also lived there at various times.

In fact, most cave bear fossils have been found inside caves, and paleontologists think these bears probably lived in the caves full-time, rather than just popping in for a quick four-month nap. Across Europe and Asia, bears and people probably competed for the same real estate for around 300,000 years; it probably wasn’t much of a contest, though. These lumbering Ice Age giants stood 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) high when they reared up on their hind legs, and the largest males weighed up to 600 kilograms (1,320 pounds). That’s about the size of a large polar bear or Kodiak bear today. You wouldn’t want to meet one in a dark cave.

This would be the first time that we’ve met a cave bear in the flesh, as we’ve only known the species from the bones and tracks that we’ve found. 

Paleontologists state that they will investigate the carcass “using all modern scientific methods”.

More details about this over at Ars Technica.

(Image Credit: NEFU/ Ars Technica)

I believe that one of the best things that we can do as people is to help other people, especially those who have disabilities. This is why I am amazed at people who try their best in developing devices for them.

A team of researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, has built a bionic device that they say can restore vision to the blind through a brain implant.

The team is now preparing for what they claim will be the world’s first human clinical trials of a bionic eye — and are asking for additional funding to eventually manufacture it on a global scale.

It’s essentially the guts of a smartphone combined with brain-implanted micro electrodes, as TechCrunch reports. The “Gennaris bionic vision system,” a project that’s more than ten years in the making, bypasses damaged optic nerves to allow signals to be transmitted from the retina to the vision center of the brain.

The team also hopes that the system used by this device could also be used by people who have untreatable neurological conditions, and would help them regain their movement.

A trial in July showed that the Gennaris array was able to be transplanted safely into the brains of three sheep using a pneumatic insertor, with a cumulative 2,700 hours of stimulation not causing any adverse health effects.

More details about this over at Futurism.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Monash University/ Futurism)

To hype up their new graphics card, which will be fully revealed in an event over a month from now on October 28, AMD decided to tease us with a first look of the RX 6000.

Normally, the first look would be a teaser trailer that is usually posted on YouTube, but it seems that AMD deviated from that. They wanted people to see and examine their new product for themselves… literally, or virtually, at least.

On Monday, AMD tweeted a teaser image of the new graphics card along with a message that let players knows [sic] that they could hop into Fortnite’s Creative mode and check the card out for themselves on AMD’s Creative Island.

For players who want to hop into the game and check the card out, you’ll need to start a Creative mode game. Once you’re in the game, find the console in the level select area and put in AMD’s code — 8651-9841-1639 — and hop into the level. You’ll load into AMD’s custom graphics-card-inspection level.

Through the level, players could examine the graphics card from up close and from all sides and angles.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Epic Games/AMD via Polygon)

With a pancake-like body and a barbed tail, a stingray can be easily recognized when seen in the waters. These fish, which belong to the elasmobranchs class of animals (similar to sharks), are usually found in coastal saltwater environments.

Stingrays range in size from about as small as a dinner plate to as big as 16.5 feet (5 meters) long including the tail, according to National Geographic. The largest species is the giant freshwater stingray (Himantura chaophraya), found in rivers in southeast Asia. Some specimens of freshwater stingray have been known to weigh up to 1,300 lbs (590 kg).

Over the years of examining these sea creatures, we’ve already become quite familiar with them as to what they eat, how they mate, and if they’re dangerous.

Know more about stingrays over at Live Science.

(Image Credit: Albert Kok/ Wikimedia Commons)

People who love going to pumpkin patches will have a blast attending Ontario’s Pumpkinferno! Visitors can visit the Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg to visit the glowing Halloween town. With thousands of glowing jack-o-lanterns, and other colorful installations, a visit to Pumpkinferno is certainly worth your time! 

Image via Narcity 

This Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory-esque museum gives its visitors the privilege of unlimited chocolate tasting. If you’re an avid chocolate lover, then this place might just be your new favorite! Lindt’s new Home Of Chocolate museum, located in Zurich, Switzerland is every sweet tooth’s dream. Visitors will learn more about Lindt’s chocolates, from the creation of, to the history and cultural significance of Lindt’s products, and follow the process of creating their signature chocolates. The museum also hosts the world’s highest free-standing chocolate fountain. The fountain is over nine metres tall, and holds 1,500kg of flowing chocolate!

Image via Stylist UK 

This expensive private residence sits in a forest outside of Moscow. The futuristic-looking “spaceship house” is the only residence designed by legendary architect Zaha Hadid. Commissioned by 57-year-old billionaire real-estate developer and owner  Vladislav Doronin, the 36,000-square-foot house features a master bedroom set at the top of a 100-foot tower, as well as a 65-foot underground pool, spa, and nightclub. Business Insider shares details on the million-dollar home. To find out more details about the lavish home, check the full piece here. 

image via Business Insider 

The next time that you pack your bags and explore other parts of the world, you might wanna check the destinations that don’t attract a lot of people. Fewer tourists means you can get the accommodations and reservations you want, right? Tour agency Undiscovered Destinations analyzed Google search data to find the least-searched-for countries around the world when looking to travel and compiled them in a list. The UK-based company looked at the search volume for the phrases "[country name] vacation" and "[country name] holiday" during a 12-month period from the end of July 2019 through the end of July 2020. Check the locations that made it to the list here. 

image via Newsweek

How can you make a store bought baby food fancy? You also need to consider that it should be palatable to a baby’s taste buds, right? Tasty producer Rie is put to the test as she attempts to make baby food fancy. Watch to find out if she successfully does so!

Bu hanim her gun mahallede ne kadar hayvan varsa etrafina toplayip onlari doyuruyor. Kedi kopek karga hepsi sisko hahajd @MaltepeBelTr pic.twitter.com/f8r5UnDHUb

— ☽ Dilere (@cocukkilidi) September 23, 2017

Dilara İlter shot this footage of a parade in Istanbul, in which cats, dogs, and birds followed a woman leading them through the streets. It kept happening, and she found out the woman feeds stray animals, and they all know her. Years later, she still walks along, feeding the strays. Read the whole story at Bored Panda.

Power plant wastewater just sounds extremely toxic, and in most places it would be dangerous. Iceland, however, is pretty good at using nature itself to generate power, namely, the volcanic activity underground. The country's very efficient power system lends itself to innovative uses for its byproducts, like an artificial warm water beach in Reykjavík and a lagoon spa near a power plant. Tom Scott visited because most of us can't right now.  -via Digg

According to internet rumor (sorry, but that's as far as I have been able to confirm this news story), the Hato Bus company, a sightseeing bus company in Tokyo, has been shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 60 unused buses at their depot have been arranged into a maze to provide more static entertainment.

-via Super Punch | Photo: Sankei

This glass bridge in China’s Guangdong province has broken a Guinness World record for the longest glass-bottomed bridge. Have fun admiring the view from all possible angles when you manage to visit this place! Alternatively, you can be scared or in awe at how high you are by seeing through the glass floor, as Hyperallergic details: 

The work of Zhejiang University’s Architectural Design & Research Institute (known as UAD), the bridge measures 1,725 feet and connects two ends of a narrow valley in the Huangchuan Three Gorges Scenic Area. Its floor is made up of three layers or about 1.7 inches of tempered laminated glass and can hold up to 500 people.

Previously holding the number one spot for most terrifying — err, longest — glass-bottomed suspension bridge was the 1,600-foot-long Hongyagu footbridge  in China’s Hebei province, which was reportedly built to have a slight but unnerving sway. The vertiginous structures are not uncommon in China, which had an estimated 2,300 glass bridges as of last year, many constructed as tourist attractions.

The Three Gorges Scenic Area bridge, described by UAD as “a transparent corridor in the air,” took three years to build at a cost of 300 million yuan (~ $43 million).

Image via Hyperallergic 

Pools from Above is a collection of swimming pools shot from the air by aerial photographer Brad Walls. Walls was inspired by Annie Kelly’s book Splash: The Art of the Swimming Pool, and started the collection by documenting a pool’s shape, size, shape, texture, and color from a bird’s eye view. Viewing the photos in the collection can give you an urge to jump into a nearest pool, or just gaze in awe at how much detail can be seen at a bird’s eye view. 

Image via Plain Magazine