STORRE

The arcuate fascicle (AF) is the main fibre tract in the brain for human language. It connects frontal and temporal language areas in the superior and middle temporal gyrus (MTG). The AF’s connection to the MTG was considered unique to humans and has influenced theories of the evolution of language. Here, using high-resolution diffusion MRI of post-mortem brains, we demonstrate that both wild and captive chimpanzees have a direct AF connection into the MTG, albeit weaker than in humans. This ...

Pathogens often exert strong selection on host populations, yet considerable genetic variation for infection defence persists. Environmental heterogeneity may cause fitness trade-offs that prevent fixation of host alleles affecting survival when exposed to pathogens in wild populations. Pathogens are extensively used in biocontrol for crop protection. However, the risks of pest resistance evolution to biocontrol are frequently underappreciated: the key drivers of fitness trade-offs for pathog...

The quantity and positioning of glazing on a building's facade has a strong influence on the building's heating, lighting, and cooling performance. Evolutionary algorithms have been effective in finding glazing layouts that optimise the trade-offs between these properties. However, this is time-consuming, needing many calls to a building performance simulation. Surrogate fitness functions have been used previously to speed up optimisation without compromising solution quality; our novelty is ...

During the ongoing ‘cost-of-living (CoL) crisis’, households have faced increased household expenses, including water bills, which will hinder efforts towards tackling water poverty. Using a quota-based online panel survey (n = 726), we aimed to quantify the impact of the CoL crisis on water poverty in Scotland. Using lived experience rather than the typical income-based approach, we found that age and household income were significant predictors of water poverty, with younger respondents bei...