A fossil site in Bolivia preserves thousands of traces of dinosaurs who walked, ran, and swam along an ancient coastline, according to a study published December 3, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Raúl Esperante of the Geoscience Research Institute, California, U.S., and colleagues.

A rose by any other name? Not necessarily—how words sound aesthetically correlates with their memorability, study finds

Dolphins produce a range of vocalizations used for echolocation and communication. These vocalizations vary with social context, environmental conditions, and external stimuli, communication, reflecting their cognitive and behavioral complexity. A study published in PLOS One on December 3, 2025 by Francesco Di Nardo at Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy and colleagues suggests that the frequency and duration of captive dolphin vocalizations may indicate engagement with structured activities.

Participants in a study who self-reported a stronger desire to have children showed a weaker preference for younger faces compared to those with a weaker desire to have children, according to a study published December 3, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Jingheng Li and colleagues from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, U.K. The preference was unrelated to the potential partners’ perceived wealth or parental prowess.

It’s no surprise that dogs benefit people’s mental health. In a paper publishing in the Cell Press journal iScience on December 3, researchers point to a reason as to why: dogs prompt changes in the collection of microbes that live in and on our bodies, resulting in an increase in mental health.