GoKawiilEvidence from fossilized poo reveals the diverse diet of ancient ground squirrels. Plus, the science behind the peptide craze and our innate tendency to wander anticlockwise.
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Ground squirrels go into a hibernation state called torpor for up to eight months. Credit: Image Professionals GmbH/Alamy
DNA sequences from fossilized poo have revealed that ancient relatives of ground squirrels (Urocitellus sp.) ate a diverse diet of plants, insects and carcasses of megafauna, including woolly mammoths, bison and big cats in a feeding frenzy after they emerged from their winter slumbers. “You can imagine these squirrels emerging from the ground, starting to eat carcasses lying in the environment,” says molecular palaeoecologist Mikkel Pedersen. “They’re zombies of the Pleistocene.” The 700,000-year-old sequences also reveal a previously unknown lineage of ground squirrel and, potentially, North America’s oldest mammoth DNA.
Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Nature Communications paper
A tuberculosis vaccine developed in the 1920s helps to regulate blood sugar in people with certain types of diabetes, enabling them to reduce their insulin use. The findings demonstrate yet another beneficial off-target effect of the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccine, derived from a weakened form of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis in cows. The shot has been approved to treat bladder cancer in the United States and is being investigated against conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. The results were presented at the American Diabetes Association meeting on 7 June.
Nature | 5 min read
Almost half of scientists that responded to a Nature poll feel broadly negative towards artificial-intelligence tools — but many feel pressured to use them in their work by a fear of being left behind. In the poll, answered by more than 1,900 researchers, only 23% of respondents felt that AI tools were having a positive impact on research. But most scepticism was directed toward generative tools such as ChatGPT rather than use-specific models, and researchers could see clear benefits for AI use in some areas, such as overcoming language barriers.
Nature | 5 min read
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