The animals of neuroscience research are an eclectic bunch, and for good reason. Different model organisms--like zebra fish larvae, C. elegans worms, fruit flies, and mice--give researchers the opportunity to answer specific questions. The first two, for example, have transparent bodies, which let scientists easily peer into their brains; the last two have eminently tweakable genomes, which allow scientists to isolate the effects of specific genes. For cognition studies, researchers have relied largely on primates and, more recently, rats, which I use in my own work. But the time is ripe for this exclusive club of research animals to accept a new, avian member: the corvid family.

Before Josh McDermott was a neuroscientist, he was a club DJ in Boston and Minneapolis. He saw first-hand how music could unite people in sound, rhythm, and emotion. "One of the reasons it was so fun to DJ is that, by playing different pieces of music, you can transform the vibe in a roomful of people," he says. With his club days behind him, McDermott now ventures into the effects of sound and music in his lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is an assistant professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. In 2015, he and a post-doctoral colleague, Sam Norman-Haignere, and Nancy Kanwisher, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at MIT, made news by locating a neural pathway activated by music and music alone. McDermott and his colleagues played a total of 165 commonly heard natural sounds to ten subjects willing to be rolled into an fMRI machine to listen to the piped-in sounds.

"To imagine a language is to imagine a form of life." Jeremy England is concerned about words--about what they mean, about the universes they contain. He avoids ones like "consciousness" and "information"; too loaded, he says. When he's searching for the right thing to say, his voice breaks a little, scattering across an octave or two before resuming a fluid sonority. The 34-year-old assistant professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the architect of a new theory called "dissipative adaption," which has helped to explain how complex, life-like function can self-organize and emerge from simpler things, including inanimate matter. This proposition has earned England a somewhat unwelcome nickname: the next Charles Darwin. But England's story is just as much about language as it is about biology. There are some 6,800 unique languages in use today.

It is one of the most terrifying robots ever made. Students have developed a 3D-printed scorpion to demonstrate the'intuitive and complex mechatronic functions' of the technology - and it can even stab people with its tail The Scorpion Hexapod is designed with six-legs that moves in all directions, responds to interactions and has a tail that leaves a'mark' when it attacks. Students have developed a 3D-printed scorpion to demonstrate the'intuitive and complex mechatronic functions' of the technology. The Scorpion Hexapod is designed with six-legs that moves in all directions, responds to interactions and has a tail that leaves a'mark' if it attacks The system was designed with different moves and a few auto responses to interaction, although it can be controlled through a computer. The system was designed with different moves and a few auto responses to interaction, although it can be controlled through a computer. It can walk in all directions, step over elevated surfaces and perform movements a real scorpion would such as, move its claws and strike its tail.

A US government agency claims it has battery technology that could outdo anything dreamt up by the likes of Bill Gates and Elon Musk. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) – a branch of the Department of Energy – says it has several next-generation battery storage projects in the works. While the organisation won't go into details about its technology, it says it has found the'holy grail of batteries' could transform the US electrical grid within five to 10 years. Ellen Williams (right), director of Arpa-E, said her agency has helped kickstart a dozen high-risk projects based on newer technologies that could soon outperform Elon Musk's (left) Tesla batteries The battery division of Musk's Tesla Motors turned a profit in the fourth quarter. This came after the first shipments of its rechargeable products helped to reduce losses from the company's auto business.

The white stick is getting a 21st century makeover - by becoming a wearable. Japanese car firm Toyota has designed a mobility device worn over a person's shoulders that can help blind and visually impaired people get around more easily. Called Project Blaid, the device is currently a prototype, but when it's ready, it'will fill the gaps left by canes, guide dogs and basic GPS devices by giving users more information about their surroundings,' the company explained. Toyota has designed a mobility device to help blind and visually impaired people get around more easily. Named Project Blaid, the gadget is worn over a person's shoulders (pictured) and can help navigate indoor spaces, like offices and shopping centres by pointing out features like toilets, doors, stairs and escalators The gadget is not expected to replace guide dogs or other ways blind people get assistance, but instead is designed to enhance the current methods.

Nine years ago a fireworks accident left Dennis Aabo Sørensen so severely wounded, doctors were forced to amputate his left hand. But now, for the first time since the accident, the 36-year-old has been able to experience what the world around him feels like through his missing limb. Scientists have developed a bionic finger that can be connected to the nerves left in his arm, allowing him to experience textures as they really feel. Dennis Aabo Sørensen (pictured) has become the first amputee to trial a new bionic fingertip that has allowed him to feel and distinguish different textures. The technology could lead to new prosthetic arms that can restore the sense of touch to amputees.

If you're checking into a plush hotel, you expect a warm welcome, but it could be soon be common to receive it from a cold robot. Hotel chain Hilton Worldwide and IBM have joined forces to trial a robot concierge named'Connie' at a hotel in Virginia. The humanoid uses IBM's AI platform called Watson to tell guests about local tourist attractions and hotel features, as well as giving them dining recommendations. Hotel chain Hilton Worldwide and IBM have joined forces to trial a robot concierge named'Connie' at a hotel in Virginia. The cyborg (pictured above) uses IBM's AI platform called Watson to tell guests about local tourist attractions and hotel features, as well as giving them dining recommendations It is the first time IBM has made a Watson-enabled robot for the hospitality market using the NAO humanoid robot, which has previously been used to play football and help teach lessons in schools.

Nasa is shooting for a 2018 launch of the Mars Insight spacecraft which will examine the interior of the red planet. The robotic lander was supposed to lift off this month, but was grounded in December by a leak in a French instrument. It will now be completely redesigned in time for May 2018, the next available launch window. A French-made seismographic instrument destined for Nasa's InSight Mars mission lander (artist's impression pictured) was found to have leaks in its vacuum container. The mission, aimed at studying Mars' interior structure by monitoring its'marsquakes', has now been scrapped The lander, which is about the size of a car, was supposed to be the first mission devoted to understanding the interior structure of the red planet.

Newly released video shows the moment a Google self-driving car learned the hard way not to tussle with a public bus. The collision happened on Valentine's Day, when a Google vehicle struck the side of a public bus in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View. Footage recorded by cameras on the bus shows a Lexus SUV, which Google has outfitted with sensors and cameras that let it drive itself, edging into the path of the bus that was rolling by at about 15 mph. Footage recorded by cameras on the bus shows the Lexus SUV, which Google has outfitted with sensors and cameras that let it drive itself, edging into the path of the bus that was rolling by at about 15 mph. Here, it can be seen on the right of the image, next to the kerb. Footage taken from the bus that was hit by one of Google self-driving SUVs, shows the passengers' reactions onboard Neither the Google employee in the driver's seat -- who must be there under California law to take the wheel in an emergency -- nor the 16 people on the bus were injured.