Plus, raccoons like solving puzzles. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
March 16, 2026—The science behind some of last night's Oscar nominees, pilot wave theory in quantum mechanics and ancient bees that burrowed into jawbones. —Emma Gometz, Newsletter Editor | | Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images | | Photograph and CT scan of a fossilized jawbone showing the bee burrow trace in purple. From "Trace Fossils within Mammal Remains Reveal Novel Bee Nesting Behaviour," by Lázaro W. Viñola López et al., in Royal Society Open Science, Vol. 12; December 1, 2025. | | Thousands of years ago in what is now the Dominican Republic, there was a cave full of bones. And those bones were full of bees. Researchers on the hunt for lizard fossils stumbled across a treasure trove of thousands of animal bones, some of which were up to 20,000 years old. Inside the tooth cavities of some of the jawbones were the fossilized remains of ancient bee burrows, where the bees put their larvae to develop after the animals had died. Why this is interesting: Bees alive today aren't known to do this! Not only have they not been observed making burrows in bones, says Emory University paleontologist Anthony J. Martin, who was not involved in the study, but they're also not known to go into caves in the first place. The bee-nest-filled bones were found in three of five soil layers in the cave, suggesting the bees used the cave over long time periods. Some single tooth cavities contained up to six different nests, implying the bees were sharing jawbones communally. What the experts say: The behaviors of this ancient unidentified bee species are new to science. "It was something completely unexpected," says Lázaro W. Viñola López, a postdoctoral researcher at the Field Museum and one of the discoverers. | | Anyone who has tried to learn a language knows that when a person speaks with a natural flow, there often aren't any distinguishable pauses between words. So how do we hear individual words in the languages we're fluent in? A recent study hinted at how the brain divides words into recognizable chunks. How it works: Researchers looked at fast brain waves that flicker about 70 to 150 times per second through a part of the brain involved in speech perception. They realized that in fluent speakers of a language, the power of these "high-gamma" waves consistently plummeted about 100 milliseconds after a word. The researchers saw these breaks in brain waves between words, like the spaces in printed text. What the experts say: High-gamma patterns like these don't necessarily mean listeners are understanding the words. One possible explanation is that if the listener hears a sound pattern often, these "high-gamma" breaks occur, even if they don't understand. But "this is a great first foray into the question" of how the brain separates words, says Massachusetts Institute of Technology neuroscientist Evelina Fedorenko, who wasn't involved in the study. | | | | |
WEIRD METHODS: RACCOON SNACKS | | Scientists use creative—and sometimes downright bizarre—tactics to conduct their research. We highlight some here. | | In a recent study, scientists had raccoons solve puzzles to unlock treats. Hannah Griebling | | Marshmallows, sardines, and prunes dipped in "sardine juice" helped scientists learn more about problem-solving in raccoons as they forage for meals. These so-called "trash pandas" appear to be motivated to solve problems by more than access to snacks, the study revealed. The scientists started by figuring out which of the three tasty treats each of 15 raccoons liked best, placing each treat on a separate paper plate and noting which morsel individuals chose first. Then, the team cached each raccoon's preferred treat in its own personalized puzzle box and watched the raccoons' behavior. Even after the racoons solved one puzzle to get their favorite treat, they proceeded to keep solving the other puzzles on the box without a reward. Turns out, both knowledge and marshmallows are delicious! | | You and I go out to eat at a conveyer-belt sushi restaurant. It serves four types of sushi: ahi roll, Boston roll, caterpillar roll and dragon roll. We each have access to our own conveyer belt that the chef loads continuously at random. Every plate has one piece of sushi on it, and each costs the same amount. We agree that I will eat every piece of sushi on my belt until I get two ahi rolls in a row, while you will eat every piece of sushi on your belt until you get an ahi roll followed immediately by a Boston roll. Whose meal do you expect to cost more? | | WHAT WE'RE READING (AND WATCHING) | | - Documentary The Plastic Detox follows scientist Dr. Shanna Swan as she helps couples rid microplastics from their lives as they try to conceive. | Netflix
- Peptides are all the rage in boutique health circles, but the science hasn't yet caught up to the hype. | The Economist
- The company behind Pokémon Go is using crowdsourced data from the game's players to train delivery robots. | MIT Technology Review
| | Like you, I've been made aware of the possible dangers of microplastics, but I'd never really realized just how pervasive they are until watching The Plastic Detox, which came out today on Netflix. It can feel a bit dramatic at times, but if you're curious about the preliminary science behind how microplastics may affect health, it's an interesting watch. I haven't microwaved plastic in years, but now I'm considering replacing my tupperware altogether. Have you done anything to reduce your plastic consumption? Let me know by replying to this email. (Seriously, I need advice.) | | As always, send any cool ideas, comments or feedback on this newsletter to: newsletters@sciam.com. Andrea will be back tomorrow! —Emma Gometz, Newsletter Editor
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