Preference for consonant music over dissonant music by an infant chimpanzee

It has been shown that humans prefer consonant sounds from the early stages of development. From a comparative psychological perspective, although previous studies have shown that birds and monkeys can discriminate between consonant and dissonant sounds, it remains unclear whether nonhumans have a spontaneous preference for consonant music over dissonant music as humans do. We report here that a five-month-old human-raised chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) preferred consonant music. The infant chimpanzee consistently preferred to produce, with the aid of our computerized setup, consonant versions of music for a longer duration than dissonant versions. This result suggests that the preference for consonance is not unique to humans. Further, it supports the hypothesis that one major basis of musical appreciation has some evolutionary origins.     

Development of a dual functional luminescent sensor for zinc ion based on a peptidic architecture

A synthetic peptide bearing a lanthanide complex, TbOTZ exhibits a decrease of chromophore fluorescence and a concomitant luminescence enhancement due to sensitized Tb³⁺ upon Zn²⁺ binding. Thus, TbOTZ can be a valuable tool for ratiometric sensing of Zn²⁺ as well as for time-resolved fluorescence detection with a single molecule.