About 45% of Americans regularly wear a smartwatch or fitness tracker, including 70% of Gen Z-ers and more than half of millennials. Individuals use these devices to collect data for insights into their physical health and well-being. But can wearable devices also provide a window into a person’s mental health?

‍Read more at IEEE Pulse: Toward Personalized Healing: AI-Supported Wearables in Mental Health Practice.

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Play is important for animals in captivity, both as an indicator of their emotional states and as a contributor to their long-term welfare. But we have a lot to learn about how and why different animals play.

Read more at my Animal Minds blog: The Role of Play in Animal Welfare.

In humans, personality similarity between partners can lead to better compatibility and well-being. Is the same true for other pair-bonding primates?

Read my latest Animal Minds post: Monkey Matchmaking and Why It Matters.

Female praying mantises are notorious for eating their mates during or after sex. Now, scientists have discovered a dwarf mantis species in which males avoid this fate with an elaborate dance performance.

Read more about this new species, and see photos and video, at National Geographic: Newly Discovered Mantis Species Dances Like a Snake to Avoid Death After Sex.

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What happens when bats meet rats? Recent videos reveal the surprising dynamics of bat-rat relationships — and suggest how human activity is fueling these interspecies conflicts.

Read my latest for National Geographic: Rats wage war on bats in stunning new footage.