ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

Linguistic convergence refers to temporary (and often subtle) shifts in speech to sound more similar to those around us. A new study shows that even our expectations about how other people might speak (rather than the speech itself) is enough to shape our own speech patterns.

New research shows that the oldest ancestors of the group of animals that includes octopuses and vampire squids had not eight but 10 arms. The study, which describes a new species of vampyropod based on a 328-million-year-old fossil that had not been previously described, pushes back the age of the group by nearly 82 million years.

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, researchers have for the first time detected dimethyl ether in a planet-forming disc. With nine atoms, this is the largest molecule identified in such a disc to date. It is also a precursor of larger organic molecules that can lead to the emergence of life.

The rapid development of fauna 540 million years ago has permanently changed the Earth - deep into its lower mantle. A team has now found traces of this development in rocks from this zone.

Computer engineers have developed virtual eyes that simulate how humans look at the world accurately enough for companies to train virtual reality and augmented reality programs. Called EyeSyn for short, the program will help developers create applications for the rapidly expanding metaverse while protecting user data.