💬 Quoted: “They’re basically coming up with names for each other.”

• What do you call an elephant that never takes a shower? A smellyphant By its name, of course. According to a new study in Nature Ecology & Evolution, wild African elephants appear to be the only species other than humans (that we know of) to address each other using personal “names,” with a unique call for each specific member of their family. The study focused on elephants’ constant, low-frequency rumblings, which make up a majority of their vocalizations and are used in a wide variety of social situations. After using AI tools to analyze hundreds of rumblings that appeared to grab the attention of an individual elephant, researchers were able to identify a rumble’s intended recipient at a far higher rate than random chance – indicating that such vocalizations do in fact represent elephant “names.” The results were also supported by fieldwork that found each individual elephant reacted more strongly to a recording of their “name” than to other calls.

🛒 Stat of the Day: Somewhere, Indiana Jones’ ears just perked up – because new data indicates the era of one-stop shopping for groceries is a relic of the past. The average shopper purchased grocery items at 20.7 unique retailers between March 2023 and February 2024, up 23% from the same months between 2019-20, according to a report from Numerator.

🤔 Did You Know? Ancient Egyptians tested for pregnancy by having potential moms urinate on bags containing wheat and barley. If they sprouted shortly after, it was a sign of pregnancy. When scientists reproduced this ancient pregnancy test in a 1963 study, it turned out to be ~70% accurate.

📰 Worth a Read: The Great AI Challenge: We Test Five Top Bots on Useful, Everyday Skills → (Wall Street Journal)