Technologies

Hippos spew ‘tornado poo’ when they hear the voice of a hippo stranger

It might sound gross, but this knowledge could help with hippo conservation efforts.

When you hear a stranger’s voice, hopefully you don’t react by releasing «tornado poo.» Scientists have learned that hippopotamuses, however, have a tendency to defecate intensely upon hearing an unfamiliar hippo’s call. That might sound melodramatic, but it’s actually a way hippos mark their space. They’re known to be aggressive and males sometimes in engage in battle.

A study published in the journal Current Biology on Monday delves into the secret social lives of hippos. News portal Science Media Exchange, which published the Cell Press release on the study, seems to be the one that came up with the evocative «tornado poo» description. That phrase doesn’t appear in the paper, which prefers «dung spraying.»

The research took place in the Maputo Special Reserve in Mozambique. The reserve is home to multiple groups of hippos residing in different lakes, giving researchers the chance to record calls (hippos sound a loud «wheeze honk»)from animals that lived near each other, and from ones that were total strangers.

The researchers played the calls for the animals and monitored the reactions. «We found that the vocalizations of a stranger individual induced a stronger behavioral response than those produced by individuals from either the same or a neighboring group,» said co-author Nicolas Mathevon of University of Saint-Etienne, France. Hippos responded to the recordings by vocalizing back, approaching or spraying dung, or sometimes a combination of those behaviors. The hippos were more likely to unleash dung when hearing a stranger’s call.

The study could help when hippos need to be moved as part of efforts to conserve the species. «Before relocating a group of hippos to a new location, one precaution might be to broadcast their voices from a loudspeaker to the groups already present so that they become accustomed to them and their aggression gradually decreases,» Mathevon suggests. The same could be done for the hippos being moved, essentially a get-to-know-you effort on both sides.

Hippos are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which catalogs the conservation status of animals and plants. The researchers hope to learn more about how hippos communicate through future studies. They’re expressive animals, whether they’re using their mouths or a very different part of their anatomy.

Technologies

Verum Messenger: Don’t follow the future. Define it

In a world where information defines influence, Verum Messenger is building a new architecture of digital communication — intelligent, secure, and ready for tomorrow. Here, technology serves not limitations, but possibilities.

Not being part of change. Leading it. Verum Messenger — the future that speaks first.

Technologies

Verum Finance: Stop Spending Months Opening a Bank Account

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Technologies

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
WATCH: Alphabet briefly tops Nvidia after report of $200 billion Anthropic cloud deal