Language
Researchers Decipher Cuneiform Tablet—and Discover It’s a Furniture Receipt
The small clay rectangle is engraved with an ancient Semitic language known as Akkadian
Chimpanzees Take Turns in Fast-Paced Conversations, Just Like Humans Do
A new study finds the average chimpanzee response time in gestured conversations is 120 milliseconds, which isn’t that far from the human average of 200 milliseconds
How One Man Discovered the Obscure Origins of the Word 'OK'
From Civil War biscuits to a Haitian port town, theories about the word's beginnings abounded
African Elephants May Call Each Other by Name
In a new study, a computer model was able to identify the recipient of an elephant's call more than a quarter of the time, which scientists say is significantly greater than chance
Ramses II's Long-Lost Sarcophagus Has Finally Been Identified
An Egyptologist recently concluded that a fragment of an overlooked granite coffin bears the great pharaoh's name
Why Do Humans Sing? Traditional Music in 55 Languages Reveals Patterns and Telling Similarities
In a global study, scientists recorded themselves singing and playing music from their own cultures to examine the evolution of song
Geography Teacher in England Finds Stone With 1,600-Year-Old Inscriptions in His Garden
The rock is covered in ogham, an alphabet made up of parallel lines used for writing in the Irish language
How Do Elephants Say Hello? Reunions Lead to Ear Flapping, Rumbling and Trunk Swinging in Greeting
New research explores how African savannah elephants use vocalizations, gestures and secretions when they meet up with companions
Scientists Discover a 'Phonetic Alphabet' Used by Sperm Whales, Moving One Step Closer to Decoding Their Chatter
Researchers used artificial intelligence to spot patterns in recordings of the marine mammals' vocalizations, uncovering the "building blocks of whale language"
Scrabble Introduces a Less Competitive Version of the Classic Word Game
Scrabble Together, now available in Europe, is the first major update to the game in more than 75 years
The 18th-Century Baron Who Lent His Name to Munchausen Syndrome
The medical condition is named after a fictional storyteller who in turn was based on a real-life German nobleman known for telling tall tales
One of the World's Oldest Surviving Books Is for Sale
The rare early Christian text was written in a monastery in Egypt between 250 and 350 C.E.
Why Aren't Dolphins in the Great Lakes? And More Questions From Our Readers
You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts
These Small Birds Flutter Their Wings to Say 'After You' to Their Partner
A new study of Japanese tits provides the first evidence of non-primate animals using gestures to convey messages
Dogs Can Understand the Words for Several Objects, Such as Toys and Leashes, Study Finds
Your dog may know the word "ball" is associated with their favorite round squishy toy, according to new research that measured brain waves
Words Etched Into an Ancient Bronze Hand Hint at the Mysterious Origins of the Basque Language
Archaeologists unearthed the 2,100-year-old artifact in northern Spain and discovered the inscription contains two words that resemble those of the modern language Euskara
Did the People of Easter Island Invent a Writing System From Scratch?
Radiocarbon dating has found that a tablet inscribed with the mysterious rongorongo script predates European contact
Could Volcanoes Power Our Planet? And More Questions From Our Readers
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A.I. Learns Words From a Human Baby's Perspective, Using Headcam Footage
With only limited training, the model could correctly identify certain objects, suggesting some elements of learning language are not innate to humans
Three Students Just Deciphered the First Passages of a 2,000-Year-Old Scroll Burned in Vesuvius' Eruption
The trio used artificial intelligence to decode sections of the text, which appear to be a philosophical exploration of pleasure
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