A strange mathematical rule organizes the words of all human languages. A recent study reveals that birds also seem to follow this logic. For decades, linguists have observed that the most frequently ...

The performance of natural language models such as ChatGPT is deeply impressive. The performance of another one of these models, the one called "human,"is at least as impressive. The human model ...

Birdsongs have inspired poets and lovers, becoming one of the philosophical focal points in ancient Greece and Rome. They have also led to several long-ago debates about the relationship between ...

For all the world’s linguistic diversity, human languages still obey certain universal patterns. These run deeper than grammar and syntax; they’re rooted in statistical laws that predict how ...

Humans' unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago, according to a survey of genomic evidence. As such, language might have entered social use 100,000 years ago. It is a deep ...

Language has long been considered a uniquely human trait, with features that mark it out as distinct from the communication of all other species. However, research published in Science has uncovered ...

Legend has it that once upon a time, people all spoke the same language. They decided to build a city and a tower as high as possible, to get closer to God. God, annoyed by this act of defiance by ...

At the turn of the 20th century, a famous horse named Clever Hans toured Germany. The horse stunned crowds as his trainer demonstrated the animal's alleged ability to understand German, tell time and ...

From the sun-drenched shores of Saint Lucia to the vibrant streets of Jamaica, a new movement is rising, giving voice to Human Rights in the heart languages of the Caribbean. Launched on Human Rights ...