The best new books, films and games to enjoy in 2020
1 January 2020
Wondering what to read, watch and see this year? Here's our cracking cultural calendar of the most interesting non-fiction, films, games, events and sci-fi in 2020
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Seals only sleep with half their brain when they're out at sea
7 June 2018
Northern fur seals mostly sleep with half their brain while they’re at sea, but sleep with all their brain while on land – unlike any other animal studied
Chimp evolution was shaped by sex with their bonobo relatives
24 May 2018
Some chimpanzee populations gained useful DNA from interbreeding with bonobos, and one may even have become more gentle and “bonobo-like” in its brain structure and behaviour
We may have got the evolution of our big brains entirely wrong
23 May 2018
Many scientists think that our big brains evolved to help us cope with the complexities of social living, but a model suggests it was more to do with finding food and lighting fires
People adapted to the cold and got more migraines as a result
3 May 2018
A gene variant that helps humans cope with colder climates also seems to have put people living in northerly regions at a higher risk of migraine
Male fruit flies feel pleasure when they ejaculate
19 April 2018
Male insects have been genetically engineered to climax on command, and it seems they get a real buzz out of it – perhaps even a fly orgasm
Dog brain scans show if they are looking at a happy or sad face
29 March 2018
Dogs can recognise different human facial expressions, like happy or sad, and now a simple brain scan can reveal which expression a dog is looking at
Heavy metal poisoning may be changing birds’ personalities
22 March 2018
Great tits exposed to toxic metals like cadmium and lead alter their behaviour, becoming less exploratory and more cautious, suggesting their personalities have been reshaped
Birds 'dream sing' by moving their vocal muscles in their sleep
9 February 2018
Zebra finches sing during the day, and at night while they sleep their vocal organs act out the motions of singing, a bit like a sleepwalking person
Young 'dinosauromorphs' may have begged for food like baby birds
26 January 2018
Tens of millions of years before dinosaurs evolved into birds, a proto-dinosaur had surprising features that suggest its young needed parental care after hatching
