From the classic fingers pinched against thumbs to indicate frustration, bewilderment or delight to airy waves and shrugs, the Italian obsession with gestures is legendary. Now, a study has confirmed that Italians really do talk with their hands. Passionate people from Italy use more than 40 hand gestures a minute while speaking, the study revealed. That's twice what an average Swede does, according to researchers from Lund University. And while other cultures use gestures to help illustrate parts of a story, Italians use them as a kind of running commentary on what they're saying.

An international research team led by Lund University in Sweden has created a new technique for using artificial intelligence (AI) and DNA analysis to date human remains that are up to 10,000 years old. The new method could aid in mapping historical human migration patterns, frequently accomplished by precisely dating ancient remains. Radiocarbon dating has been the accepted dating method since the 1950s. Based on the ratio of two separate carbon isotopes, this dating technique has been extremely influential in contemporary archaeology. Having said that, it can be challenging to map ancient people's movements because the technology can sometimes be inaccurate.

An international research team led by Lund University in Sweden has developed a new method of analyzing DNA with artificial intelligence (AI) to accurately date up to ten-thousand year-old human remains. The new study was published in Cell Reports Methods. The new technique could help map how people migrated throughout history, which is often done by accurately dating ancient remains. Since the 1950s, the standard dating method has been radiocarbon dating. This dating method is based on the ratio between two different carbon isotopes, and it has played a huge role in modern archaeology.

Before the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, Pompeii was a thriving city with a population of up to 20,000 people. Now, scientists have delved deeper into one of Pompeii's most beautiful homes, the House of Greek Epigrams. While the house has been damaged through centuries of neglect, weathering and volcanic eruptions, researchers from Lund University have been able to rebuild it, using virtual reality and eye-tracking technology. 'Eye-tracking technology and virtual reality do now provide unprecedented opportunities to assess the visual qualities of ancient spaces,' said Dr Giacomo Landeschi, co-author of the study. Moment Miley Cyrus' plane was struck by lightning The House of Greek Epigrams is an impressive home in northeast Pompeii that was once decorated with intricate frescoes.

Developed by experts from Sweden's Lund University, the approach has the potential to speed up diagnoses while removing the need for costly, specialist equipment. At present, some 20–30 per cent of patients with Alzheimer's disease are misdiagnosed in specialist care alone, let alone primary care, the team noted. A new tool -- using just a blood test (pictured) and a quick set of cognitive tests -- can predict whether someone will develop Alzheimer's in four years with 90 per cent accuracy'Our algorithm is based on a blood analysis of phosphylated rope and a risk gene for Alzheimer's, as well as testing of memory and executive ability,' said neurologist Sebastian Palmqvist of Lund University and the Skåne University Hospital. 'We have developed an online tool to calculate the risk at the individual level that a person with mild memory difficulties will develop Alzheimer's within four years.' In their study, Professor Palmqvist and colleagues examined 340 people with mild memory difficulties who had been recruited into the Swedish BioFINDER Study into neurodegenerative diseases and 543 people from North America.

Babies know when you imitate them - and they perceive it as a sign of friendliness, according to a new study. Swedish research suggest the imitation game is an infant's favourite way of interacting with adults, making them more engaged and likely to approach an adult. In experiments, six-month-old babies looked and smiled longer, and tried to approach the adult more often during the close mirroring of their actions. Babies also responded to being imitated with'testing behaviour' – actions that encouraged the adult imitator to imitate in turn. Imitation on behalf of the adult helps nurture a baby's sensitivity to others and could be a driving force of driving early social cognition, the research team report.

It may be possible to add a short talk.

Ravens can plan for future events at least as well as 4-year-old humans and some adult, non-human great apes. The birds did this in tasks they wouldn't encounter in the wild, so it isn't an adaptation to an ecological niche, but rather a flexible cognitive ability that evolved independently in birds and hominids, whose lineages diverged about 320 million years ago. Planning for future events requires the use of long-term memory for some anticipated future gain. For a long time, it was thought to be a uniquely human trait. Children begin showing such abilities when they are about 4. But it turned out that chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans have this ability too, making tools to use later on.

Ravens are known for being remarkably intelligent. Now a new study has revealed that these clever birds plan for the future, just like us. They can imagine future events via'mental time travel' and are capable of exercising self-control to delay gratification, researchers found. This skill of future planning was thought to be exclusive to humans and great apes. As ravens and great apes have not shared a common ancestor for more than 300 million years, these results suggest'planning' abilities evolved independently of one another.