Communication

A cylinder seal (left) engraved with symbols that was used to press markings into wet clay (right)

The World's Earliest Writing System May Have Been Influenced by Older Symbols Found on Stone 'Cylinder Seals'

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors used symbols to track the sale of textile and agricultural products. New research suggests that these markings informed the development of writing

NASA's aging Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space in 2012 and has faced a handful of technical issues over the last year, even as it continues to collect scientific data.

Voyager 1 Breaks Its Silence With NASA via a Radio Transmitter Not Used Since 1981

The farthest spacecraft in the universe went momentarily rogue, but scientists breathed a sigh of relief when it reconnected at an unexpected radio frequency

Officials unveiled the portal installation in Philadelphia's LOVE Park on October 22.

New 'Portal' Opens in Philadelphia, Connecting Residents to Cities Around the World With Identical Installations

The looming sculpture features a small camera above an eight-foot-tall screen, which displays live video from Lithuania, Poland and Ireland

Dolphins living in captivity often make an open-mouth facial expression while playing with each other.

Bottlenose Dolphins 'Smile' at Each Other During Playtime, Study Finds

Researchers still don't know what the open-mouth facial expression means or whether it's akin to smiling in humans—but several animals make a similar face during play

Scientists observed two bowhead whales synchronizing dive schedules whenever they were within earshot of each other.

How Did Two Bowhead Whales That Were 60 Miles Apart Sync Their Diving?

Researchers suspect the marine mammals may have been communicating across the vast distance

Two chimpanzees at the Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda

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

Elephants at Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, on May 3, 2024. Elephants use low, rumbling vocalizations to call to others and while caring for their young.

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

Elephants use different greetings depending on whether the other animal is looking at them.

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

The portals were unveiled on May 8 in Manhattan's Flatiron District and on Dublin's O'Connell Street.

Through Newly Installed 'Portals,' New Yorkers and Dubliners Can Wave, Dance and Inappropriately Gesture to Each Other in Real Time

New art installations connect the two cities through continuous silent video feeds

Male belugas were more likely than females to change the shape of their melons, or foreheads.

Belugas May Communicate by Changing the Shape of Their Squishy Foreheads

Scientists documented five different melon shapes among the marine mammals living in captivity: push, flat, lift, shake and press

Sperm whales communicate by making clicks.

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"

Japanese tits have previously been observed combining different calls into phrases to convey meanings. The birds may also use their wings to signal to their partner that they should enter the nest first.

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

Not everyone was a fan of rumor clinics. Some critics faulted them for helping hearsay reach an even larger audience.

World War II 'Rumor Clinics' Helped America Battle Wild Gossip

Newspapers and magazines across the United States published weekly columns debunking lurid claims that were detrimental to the war effort

While most of the fripperies at Tiffany & Co. were out of reach for average New Yorkers, Charles Lewis Tiffany priced his telegraph cable souvenirs at just 50 cents each—about $19 today.

To Make Tiffany & Co. a Household Name, the Luxury Brand's Founder Cashed in on the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Craze

Charles Lewis Tiffany purchased the surplus cable from the 1858 venture, turning it into souvenirs that forever linked his name to the short-lived telecommunications milestone

The envelope was sent twice: once on May 2, 1840, and again on May 4, 1840.

First Known Piece of Mail Sent Using a Stamp Goes to Auction

The 183-year-old envelope is a rare example of two early forms of prepaid postage: Mulready envelopes and adhesive stamps

Dogs are one of the few animals that use their tails primarily for communication.

Why Do Dogs Wag Their Tails? Scientists Examine the Endearing Behavior

Dogs communicate through tail-wagging, and humans may have selected for the trait during domestication

Cats have 26 different facial movements that combine to make 276 distinct expressions, according to a new study.

Cats Make Nearly 300 Different Facial Expressions

From ear position to pupil size, a new study examines how felines express themselves while interacting with one another

TranscribeGlass is an attachment device that can pick up speech or audio from across a lecture hall.

This Augmented Reality Tool Could Change Communication for Some Deaf and Hearing Impaired People

TranscribeGlass attaches to any pair of glasses and projects real-time subtitles in the user’s field of vision

Some birds—including blue jays—are strong vocal learners that can mimic other birds and make lots of different sounds.

Songbirds That Learn to Make New Sounds Are the Best Problem-Solvers

Birds—and humans—are vocal learners, meaning they can imitate new vocalizations and use them to communicate

Ann, 47, suffered a stroke that caused paralysis in 2005. The interface in the new study aims to help people who are unable to speak to communicate verbally.

Woman With Paralysis Can Speak By Thinking With a Brain Implant and A.I.

The experimental interface allows the patient to communicate through a digital avatar, and it's faster than her current system

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