Cuttlefish — which aren’t fish, but rather cephalopods, like octopuses and squids — have long amazed and bemused scientists for their unparalleled camouflage and intelligence. Researchers have begun to unravel the mysteries of these creatures, and have now identified the neural mechanisms that give them their incredible shape-shifting abilities.
In a recent study published in the journal iScience, the research team explored how cuttlefish skin is made up of two types of small muscular organs, and how these organs are connected to its nervous system. One type, known as “chromatophores,” receive signals from the brain, directing them to change color. The other organs can be controlled to create nipple-like protrusions, called “papillae,” along the cuttlefish’s skin.
In their study, the researchers revealed just how the instructions for the cuttlefish camouflage are sent from the animal’s brain, through its peripheral nerve center, and to its specialized muscle organs. The nerve circuitry they uncovered mirrors that found in squids, which enable them to make their skin iridescent.
“Cuttlefish are able to hold their papillae without sending neural signals — this is very different to most muscles — and the circuit that controls papillae is very different to the chromatophore colouration pathway, meaning it evolved differently and potentially uses skin sensors to direct its activity,” University of Cambridge researcher Trevor Wardill, told Digital Trends. Wardill analyzes skin signaling in cephalopods and is the lead author of the recent study.
Cuttlefish still have their fair share of secrets, however. One of their most perplexing talents is their ability to interpret their surroundings and change their appearance accordingly. Nonetheless, Wardill thinks his team’s recent research will help inform biomimetic structures and materials that can adapt to their surroundings, just like the cuttlefish.
“[This] research will inspire products that could mimic the texture and shape of their surroundings,” he said, “but also may find medical application due to their soft actuator capabilities. Currently we cannot build anything like a papillae that can change from entirely flat to various 3D shapes within one second and remain flexible.”
Google has been finding more ways to make Gemini a part of your daily routine, from putting together playlists to ordering groceries through your favorite apps. Now it's expanding those capabilities to more services, with Google Search joining in, too.
The company has announced a new Connected Apps Platform that makes it easier for developers to bring their services to both Gemini and Search. Alongside this, Google is adding new partners to its growing lineup, bringing more of the apps people already use into its AI ecosystem.
In the broad context of AI and its perceived harms, health and medical risks often pop up in the conversation. The warnings even come from frontier AI labs, such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which have warned about misusing AI to cook up bioweapons. Security experts have already spotted a few such incidents in the wild, especially with the usage of AI models without any solid guardrails.
Well, it appears that the risks run deeper. As per an analysis appearing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), AI bots are now being deployed to influence public policies governing health risks to citizens. In this instance, an attempt was made using AI bots to thwart regulations that aim to restrict the sale of disposable vapes, all while disguising the manipulation efforts as a response from real humans.
What if checking your drinking water for dangerous chemicals were as simple as plugging a tiny gadget into your smartphone? Researchers in Japan have developed a compact sensor that could make that possible, potentially bringing sophisticated water contamination testing out of expensive laboratories and into people's hands.
Scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have created a portable device capable of detecting extremely low concentrations of PFAS, commonly known as "forever chemicals." The findings were published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, which demonstrate how an inexpensive sensor and a smartphone could make identifying potentially harmful chemicals in water a lot easier.