Blue acaras use pure pursuit rather than parallel navigation when pursuing robotic prey

Predators depend on their ability to accurately target and capture prey; however, identifying how predators capture highly evasive prey remains challenging. Experiments involving real predators and responsive robotic prey are a promising method to understand how predators can overcome prey escape tactics, since they allow prey behaviour to be controlled and experimentally manipulated. Using interactive robot-controlled prey, we tested how the predictability of the prey’s initial escape direction influenced the pursuit strategy adopted by blue acaras, Andinoacara pulcher. Individual fish were repeatedly presented with a single robot-controlled prey that was programmed to flee from the approaching predator. Predators experienced either predictable prey that consistently escaped in the same initial direction over successive trials or unpredictable prey that escaped in random directions, mimicking the variability that is commonly seen in the escape paths of real prey. To determine the predators' pursuit strategy, we analysed the trajectory of the predator during the period after the prey had started to escape. We compared the observed pursuit trajectories with simulated trajectories based on either pure pursuit, in which the predator steers directly towards its target, or parallel navigation, which enables the predator to intercept prey. Simulations based on pure pursuit consistently provided a better match with the observed trajectories than simulations based on parallel navigation. There was no evidence for an effect of the prey’s predictability on the type of pursuit strategy followed by the predators: pure pursuit was favoured over parallel navigation in the majority of trials, regardless of the predictability of the prey’s initial escape direction. Although our previous research has demonstrated that blue acaras adjust aspects of their behaviour in response to uncertainty about the prey’s likely escape direction, these results show that they maintain the same pursuit strategy, irrespective of the prey’s escape tactics

Susan Sontag's Tangential Classics

Susan Sontag (1933-2004) once declared: "My idea of a writer: someone interested in 'everything'. Being interested in 'everything' had come naturally to me." This statement was made thirty years after the publication of Against Interpretation in 1966, towards the end of a prolific career as an essayist, diarist, novelist, filmmaker, and activist. The Greco-Roman classics play an intriguing part in this narrative of insatiable thirst for knowledge. Susan Sontag's Tangential Classics sets out to focus on this juncture in her work. Instead of offering an account of antiquity in Sontag, or of Sontag on antiquity, the collected chapters are specifically concerned with her as a case of a thinker in whom the classical tradition does not come into exclusive focus, but emerges tangentially—in often disparate and exiguous traces, connections, and references within a polymathic awareness. This volume examines Sontag's work and life to probe new strategies of plotting antiquity, when its presence in modernity is alluring yet barely there, and when the connective thread of influence seems to exist at breaking point. Susan Sontag's Tangential Classics directs our attention to a twentieth-century thinker who invites a markedly different perception of antiquity and its influence in her thought: at once captivating and light, provocative and uncertain

Late Miocene weakening of the South Asian Monsoon:Insights from the Siwalik of Nepal

The South Asian Monsoon (SAM) is the strong summer monsoon within the Asian Monsoon System, driven by the thermal gradient between the warmer Asian landmass and the cooler Indian Ocean. High-resolution marine proxies indicate a decline in SAM strength after approximately 10 million years ago (Ma); however, terrestrial evidence has been limited. We present high-resolution and well-dated leaf assemblages from the Lower and Middle Siwalik of central Nepal, supported by paleoclimate modelling, which suggest a weakening of the SAM between 10.24 and 8.5 Ma. This decline is linked to a reduction in moisture supply, possibly due to a weakening of the Somali Jet. Our study highlights the potential of leaf physiognomy to reconstruct monsoon strength

Risk of bicycle collisions and ‘safety in numbers’:a natural experiment using the local introduction of e-scooters in England

Background Ecological studies hypothesise a ‘safety in numbers’ (SiN) effect whereby road safety for bicycles and other micromobility users improves as their numbers increase, due to behavioural changes of motorists. Causal interpretation of these studies is difficult due to confounding and reverse causation. The introduction of electric scooter (e-scooter) rental schemes in selected districts in England meant an increase in micromobility users in these areas, which presented an opportunity to test the SiN hypothesis using a natural experiment.Methods Time-series analysis of police data on road collisions in local authorities (LAs) in Great Britain, 2015–2023. Random-effects Poisson regression time-series models compared collision rates in LA districts with an e-scooter trial (n=41) versus matched control districts (n=41). Primary outcomes were all road collisions and bicycle collisions. Models adjusted for time; seasonality; baseline collision rate; COVID-19 period; and preintervention/postintervention period (proxied by intervention group/COVID-19 period interaction).Results The rate of bicycle collisions reduced following the introduction of the schemes, compared with control districts (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.78, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.89 during peak COVID-19; IRR 0.87, 95% CI 0.77 to 0.99 in the post-COVID-19 period). This effect was specific to bicycle collisions and strongest in the subgroup of serious/fatal collisions.Conclusions Findings suggest that the increase of a new and sustainable mode of transport, e-scooters, may have reduced bicycle collisions. This could have far-reaching benefits including reduced injuries, safer environments, and public health and environmental benefits if more people choose bicycles and micromobility over car transport. Findings should be verified in further work

FUP SWAT dataset

A Study Within a Trial (SWAT) was integrated into the Outcome Monitoring After Cardiac Surgery (OMACS) study, a large observational cardiac surgery study, to investigate whether the use of a theory-informed cover letter with 12-month follow-up questionnaires could improve study retention

Expelling the Archbishop and Exhuming the Oidor: Power, Conflict, and Negotiation in Seventeenth-Century Manila

In 1677, Friar Felipe Pardo OP was appointed archbishop of Manila, a dignity he would hold until his death in 1689. From the beginning, it became apparent that Pardo’s tenure was to be characterised by the animosity between the Dominicans and the Jesuits that had become commonplace in Europe. In Manila, this animosity took on a global character, as Pardo began a series of aggressive processes against the Society of Jesus in the Philippine Islands. Although Church and State are often perceived to have worked in tandem in imperial settings, their aims and expectations were often at odds and could erupt into violent conflicts. In Manila, Pardo’s activities led to a head-on clash not only with the Society, but also with the governor, the Real Audiencia and the ecclesiastical cabildo of Manila. As a result of this struggle, the archbishop was violently exiled to Lingayen, in the province of Pangasinan, in March 1683. The head of the party who had physically expelled Pardo was the oidor Dr. Cristóbal Grimaldos de Herrera, a native of Mexico City who had enjoyed a very successful career as a lawyer and jurist. Pardo never forgave him. When a change of governor favoured his return to Manila in November 1684, the archbishop’s desire for revenge was implacable and he initiated several processes to punish and excommunicate those who had been involved in his exile. Oidor Grimaldos, however, had passed away after a sudden and painful illness on 20 November 1683 and had been laid to rest in Manila’s Jesuit church. Pardo was adamant that Grimaldos was to be posthumously excommunicated and exhumed from the church, a decision that Grimaldos’ widow, María Manuela Carrillo y Barrientos, a twenty-one-year-old now in charge of Grimaldo’s young children from a previous marriage, sought to prevent. This chapter will explore the different power dynamics between Church and State, and between the different governmental and religious bodies in the Philippine context. By focusing on the particular case of oidor Grimaldos and the plight of his widow, it will also reveal the global connections, social networks, and specific personal circumstances in which power could be contested and negotiated in the Spanish Monarchy

Partitioning of Ionic Surfactants in Aerosol Droplets Containing Glutaric Acid, Sodium Chloride, or Sea Salts

This data set provides the data underlying the figures in our publication "Partitioning of Ionic Surfactants in Aerosol Droplets Containing Glutaric Acid, Sodium Chloride, or Sea Salts", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2025

Evidence Triangulation in Health Research

For many important questions about influences on clinical and public health outcomes, no single study can provide a decisive answer. The perfect study—a large, diverse, well-conducted trial randomizing all relevant versions of a treatment and comprehensively tracking all relevant health outcomes—is rarely feasible. Instead, we must draw conclusions by piecing together evidence from multiple imperfect studies. A systematic framework for combining disparate, complementary sources of evidence is emerging. We introduce this framework, called evidence triangulation; summarize key approaches based on delineating likely biases due to confounding, measurement, and selection; and review some methods for combining evidence. We illustrate with the example of estimating the effects of alcohol use on dementia. The central tenet of evidence triangulation is to identify the most important weaknesses for any given study approach (and for each specific study applying that approach) and, if necessary, identify which new sources of evidence that do not share these weaknesses are required. Almost certainly, the new studies will have weaknesses, but when results are consistent across studies that rest on different assumptions and for which biases should be unrelated, the conclusions are on much sturdier ground

Major data gaps and recommendations in monitoring regulations of activities in EU marine protected areas

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) play a central role in maritime policies, but there are no comprehensive analyses of regulations in EU MPAs. Using publicly available data on EU MPAs’ regulations for nine activities, we first show that MPA and MSP databases display significant gaps in data comprehensiveness. The regulation of each activity was known in 40% or less of the MPA area (whether allowed, prohibited, or restricted), except for fishing activities (70% of MPA area), albeit with limited detail. Fishing, mining, or dredging/dumping activities were allowed in half of MPA area. Only mining was reported as prohibited in at least 10% of the MPA area. We discuss gaps in MPA regulatory data in light of existing reporting requirements, insufficient connection between various actors and data sources, and challenges in translating legal information into actionable indicators. We provide recommendations for future initiatives to improve the collection and standardization for environmental policies