English Time with Yves

    It is common knowledge that we have five senses. Some people believe they have six senses. They say their sixth sense is the ability to know something without using the ordinary five senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. Scientists have just discovered that some dolphins have seven senses. Researchers in Germany say bottlenose dolphins can sense electricity produced by their prey. The dolphins can detect the electric pulses produced by the heart beats of other sea creatures. This could help dolphins to find their next meal. Dolphins also use their excellent eyesight and sonar to sense what is around them. This seventh sense may also help them to navigate using Earth's magnetic field. The researchers conducted a study on two dolphins named Dolly and Donna. Experiments tested what kinds of electricity the dolphins could detect. Dolly and Donna could sense both kinds of electricity – direct current and alternating current. They were a lot better at picking up di...

  The merging of human and machine has taken another step forward as researchers have built a "biocomputer". Bioengineers at the University of Indiana in the USA have combined laboratory-grown human brain tissue with microelectrodes. The scientists have dubbed their creation Brainoware. It is in its embryonic stage of development, but it can already perform complex tasks such as voice recognition. Lead researcher Dr Feng Guo hopes his softer-than-usual software will help to advance AI technologies. It could also mean AI hardware uses far less energy than solely using silicon chips. Dr Guo said: "This is just proof-of-concept to show that we can do the job. We still have a long way to go." The researchers said their Brainoware system utilizes "organoids". These are artificially grown bundles of tissue and stem cells that resemble an organ. Dr Guo said his team's organoids are like mini-brains. They have transformed and developed neurons, akin ...