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Half a century ago, one of the hottest questions in science was whether humans could teach animals to talk. Scientists have tried using sign language to converse with monkeys and have trained parrots to use ever-growing English vocabularies.The work quickly attracted media attention and controversy. The research lacked rigor, critics argued, and what appeared to be animal communication could simply have been wishful thinking, with researchers unconsciously causing their animals to respond in certain ways..In the late 1970s and early 1980s the search fell out of favor. “The whole camp is completely disintegrated,” said Irene Pepperberg, a comparative cognition researcher at Boston University who has become known for her work with an African gray parrot named Alex.Today, technological adv...

Spain's ruling Socialist Party emerged Sunday as the winner of regional elections in Catalonia, which had been widely seen as a litmus test for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's polarizing amnesty measure for separatists.The socialists are celebrating what they see as a landmark victory, even though they have not won enough seats to govern on their own. They will most likely face weeks of haggling and perhaps a repeat election if no deal is reached. But for the first time in more than a decade, they may be able to form a regional government led by an anti-independence party.Addressing supporters on Sunday evening at the Socialist headquarters in Barcelona, ​​the party's leader, Salvador Illa, said: “For the first time in 45 years, we have won the elections in Catalonia, both in ...

Last month in Chicago, a United Airlines flight to London was ready to depart, but was still waiting for 13 connecting passengers from Costa Rica. The airline predicted they would miss their flight within seven minutes. Under normal circumstances, everyone would be rushing to rebook.But thanks to a new AI-powered tool called ConnectionSaver, the jet was able to wait for them – even their checked bags – and still arrive in London on time. The system also sent text messages to late-arriving passengers and people on the waiting plane to explain what was happening.The AI ​​may still not be able to find space for your carry-on, but it could help put an end to the 40-gate rush — sprinting to catch your connecting flight before the door closes — as well as other common ones travel headaches.It&...

The United States has not ruled out withholding further military support for Israel's campaign against Hamas should Israel undertake a major attack on Rafah, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Sunday.“If Israel launches this major military operation in Rafah, then there are certain systems that we will not support and provide for that operation,” Blinken said on CBS' “Face the Nation.” He didn't elaborate.Last week, the White House imposed a delay in the delivery of 3,500 bombs over fears of potential harm to civilians in Rafah, where many Gazans have sought refuge since fighting began seven months ago. Blinken said these are the only weapons the U.S. has retained “at this time.”Two days after the State Department sent a report to Congress raising “substantial quest...

Richard “Rick” Slayman, who made history at age 62 as the first person to receive a kidney from a genetically modified pig, died about two months after the procedure.Massachusetts General Hospital, where Mr. Slayman underwent surgery, said in a statement Saturday that its transplant team was “deeply saddened” by his death. The hospital said it had “no indication that it was the result of his recent transplant.”Mr. Slayman, who was black, had end-stage renal disease, a condition that affects more than 800,000 people in the United States, according to the federal government, with disproportionately higher rates among blacks.There are too few kidneys available for donation. Nearly 90,000 people are on the national waiting list for a kidney.Mr. Slayman, a supervisor for the state Department ...

Russian forces continued their advance through northeastern Ukraine on Sunday, seizing a number of small settlements along the border and forcing Ukrainian troops to retreat from some positions, according to the Russian and Ukrainian armies, as well as aid workers.Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday that its troops had captured four more settlements — all but one located directly north of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city — as they pressed forward with a new offensive launched Friday. Aid workers confirmed that Russian troops had advanced deeper into Ukrainian territory and were now threatening several small towns on the outskirts of Kharkiv.A Ukrainian military unit fighting in the area said Russian forces were pushing hard from the Russian-Ukrainian border towards Kharkiv...

Minutes after it became clear that Javier Milei had been elected president of South America’s second-largest nation in November, Elon Musk posted on X: “Prosperity is ahead for Argentina.”Since then, Mr. Musk has continued to use X, the social network he owns, to boost Mr. Milei. The billionaire has shared videos of the Argentine president attacking “social justice” with his 182 million followers. One doctored image, which implied that watching a speech by Mr. Milei was better than having sex, is among Mr. Musk’s most viewed posts ever.Mr. Musk has helped turn the pugnacious libertarian into one of the new faces of the modern right. But offline, he has used the relationship to press for benefits to his other businesses, the electric carmaker Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX.“Elon Musk c...

After Hamas attacked Israel in October, triggering the Gaza war, Israeli leaders described the group's most senior official in the territory, Yahya Sinwar, as a "dead man walking." Viewing him as the architect of the raid, Israel described Sinwar's assassination as one of the main objectives of its devastating counterattack.Seven months later, Sinwar's survival is emblematic of the failure of Israel's war, which devastated much of Gaza but left Hamas's top leadership largely intact and failed to free most of the prisoners taken during the October attack.Even as Israeli officials sought to kill him, they were forced to negotiate with him, albeit indirectly, to free the remaining hostages. According to officials from Hamas, Israel and the United States, Sinwar emerged n...

The Biden administration said Friday it will compensate dairy farmers for cooperating in its efforts to limit the spread of the avian flu virus, as part of a series of expansive measures aimed at containing the outbreak.The payment system represents one of the most aggressive actions taken yet by agriculture officials as they raced to keep pace with the spread of the virus among dairy cows. Farm owners are reluctant to allow state and federal officials access to cows and workers exposed to or infected with the virus and fear the financial consequences of infected herds and contaminated milk.Under the so-called compensation program, farms would receive up to $28,000 to protect workers and cover the costs of treating and testing sick cows. Producers may also receive payments for lost milk ...

The run-up to Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest final in Malmö, Sweden, was unusually tense and distressing, with months of protests over Israel's involvement in the competition, one contestant suspended just hours before the start of the show and clashes between police and militants. Palestinian protesters outside the arena at night.But when the final began, the uproar quickly disappeared. Instead of protests and outrage, there was the usual high-class spectacle, with singers emoting about lost love, half-naked dancers and, at one point, a performer emerging from a giant egg.At the end of the four-hour show, Nemo, representing Switzerland, won with “The Code,” a catchy song in which the non-binary artist rapped and sang operatically about his journey to realizing his identity. ...