ScienceDaily: All - May 02, 2025
Today's top research news
Bad habits such as smoking, heavy drinking and lack of exercise must be tackled as early as possible to boost the odds of a happy and healthy old age.
Electricity-generating bacteria may power future innovations
A team has discovered how certain bacteria breathe by generating electricity, using a natural process that pushes electrons into their surroundings instead of breathing on oxygen. The findings could enable new developments in clean energy and industrial biotechnology.
Gaia spots odd family of stars desperate to leave home
The European Space Agency's Gaia mission has spotted an unusual family of stars all strangely eager to leave home -- a family we couldn't have discovered without the star-surveying spacecraft, and one unlike all others we have spotted to date.
Good karma for me, bad karma for you
Many people around the world believe in karma -- that idea that divine justice will punish people who do bad deeds and reward those who good. But that belief plays out differently for oneself versus others, according to new research.
Rhythmically trained sea lion returns for an encore -- and performs as well as humans
Animal research on biomusicality, which looks at whether different species are capable of behaving in ways that show they recognize aspects of music, including rhythm and beat, remains a tantalizing field at the intersection of biology and psychology. Now, the highly trained California sea lion who achieved global fame for her ability to bob her head to a beat is finally back: starring in a new study that shows her rhythm is just as precise -- if not better -- than humans.
Ptero firma: Footprints pinpoint when ancient flying reptiles conquered the ground
A new study links fossilized flying reptile tracks to animals that made them. Fossilized footprints reveal a 160-million-year-old invasion as pterosaurs came down from the trees and onto the ground. Tracks of giant ground-stalkers, comb-jawed coastal waders, and specialized shell crushers, shed light on how pterosaurs lived, moved, and evolved.
Essay challenge: ChatGPT vs students
Researchers have been putting ChatGPT essays to the test against real students. A new study reveals that the AI generated essays don't yet live up to the efforts of real students. While the AI essays were found to be impressively coherent and grammatically sound, they fell short in one crucial area -- they lacked a personal touch. It is hoped that the findings could help educators spot cheating in schools, colleges and universities worldwide by recognizing machine-generated essays.