Your cat may not seem to be listening to you, but it's now believed that they recognize the names of their feline friends, and maybe your name as well, according to a recent study by Japanese researchers. Dogs have been known to follow human speech to some degree, but it had not been scientifically clear whether cats have a grasp of human languages. This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites. If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see out this support page.

WASHINGTON - A small tropical reef fish was able to recognize itself in a mirror, scientists said Thursday, in a finding that raises provocative questions about assessing self-awareness and cognitive abilities in animals. The study involved experiments in which the bluestreak cleaner wrasse was given a mirror self-recognition test, a technique developed in 1970 for gauging animal self-awareness. In aquarium experiments at Osaka City University, researchers applied a brown-colored mark on the fish's body in a place that could be seen only in a mirror reflection. The fish tried to remove the marks by scraping their bodies on hard surfaces after watching themselves in a mirror, but never tried to remove them without a mirror present, indicating they understood the reflection was of them, the researchers said. When a transparent, rather than brown, mark was applied, the fish never tried to remove it.

Scientists have revealed a radical plan to grow miniature Neanderthal'brains' in the lab. A team of researchers who have previously inserted Neanderthal genes into mice and frogs' eggs are now using the technique to understand how humans became'cognitively special' compared to our ancient relatives, according to the Guardian. The lab-grown mini brains will only be about the size of a lentil, and cannot achieve thoughts or feelings – but, by mimicking the basic structure of the developed brain, they could reveal key differences in how the nerve cells function. A team of researchers who have previously inserted Neanderthal genes into mice and frogs' eggs are now using the technique to understand how humans became'cognitively special' compared to our ancient relatives, according to the Guardian. The work is led by Professor Svante Pääbo, director of the genetics department at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who previously unraveled the Neanderthal genome, the Guardian reports.