Royal Society

New research suggests that the longer hermit crabs spend modifying their shells, the longer their penises are likely to be

Biology

Hermit crabs evolved long members to copulate from the comfort of home

In a new paper titled “Private parts for private property,” a curious Dartmouth College biologist describes an evolutionary phenomenon through which a famously staunch home-owner of the crustacean world is able to protect its living quarters.

The researchers say the phenomenon could be at play among other mammal populations, too

Biology

Poo pile to you, an information center to rhinos

Waste products seem to take on a special meaning in the animal kingdom. A new study has dug deeper into this phenomenon, examining rhino dung samples and finding that they serve as information centers to determine things like the sex, fertility, and territorial ambitious of the recently relieved.

The Parkes Telescope located in Australia is just one of the assets that will be brought to bear in the ambitious new program

Space

The Breakthrough Initiatives: Galvanizing the search for life in our Universe

Earlier this week Professor Stephen Hawking, Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees, and entrepreneur Yuri Milner announced an ambitious 100 million dollar initiative aimed at galvanizing the search for extraterrestrial life.

Space

Lunar Mission One aims to take Moon exploration to new depths

Another private space exploration venture is under way with the British-led Lunar Mission One announcing plans to send an unmanned robotic landing module to the South Pole of the Moon.

The Eugene Goostman chatbot, which simulates a 13-year old boy, has passed the Turing Test

Computers

Eugene Goostman chatbot claimed to have passed Turing Test

It might be time to start being nicer to your laptop, because a supercomputer program has passed the Turing Test for the first time in history. On Saturday, at the Turing Test 2014, the chatbot Eugene Goostman convinced the judges 33 percent of the time that it was a human being and not a computer.

Military

Future wars may be waged with mind-controlled weaponry, Royal Society warns

A report published by the Royal Society warns the neuroscience community to be aware of the military ramifications of its research, including the potential for mind-controlled weaponry.