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Scientists compared neonate cockroaches that had been allowed to consume their colony's feces and were exposed to fecal odors with neonates that had not engaged in coprophagy. German cockroaches are born with no gut microbiome and rely on eating feces from a collective fecal pile within their cockroach "aggregation" to gain the microbes and fecal nutrients they need.

Neonates who ate from the aggregation's feces after hatching displayed an affinity for the specific pheromone present in that aggregate, while neonates without any microbiome—known as naïve neonates—showed a much broader, less focused array of interests.

Using pheromones against infestations

"This finding could be used to help control cockroach infestations," said Ayako Wada-Katsumata, a principal research scholar in North Carolina State University's Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and lead author of the paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

"What we've found is that aggregation pheromones are extremely important in how these cockroaches find each other and group together," Wada-Katsumata said. "Because the aggregation gives these neonates everything they need early in life, they have little reason to leave it, which makes traps and insecticidal baits less effective.

"If we can develop an aggregation pheromone that works across the entire species, we could make traps and baits far more effective and make it easier to control populations in places like residences, hospitals and restaurants."

Cockroaches show stronger social ties

Beyond the practical applications, this research also unveils a fundamental misunderstanding about cockroach social structures, said Coby Schal, co-author of the paper and the Blanton J. Whitmire Distinguished Professor of Entomology at NC State.

"We think of cockroaches as being subsocial, in that they are not completely solitary but also do not exhibit the kinds of group behaviors that bees or ants do," Schal said. "The use of fecal aggregation pheromones to recognize their natal group is a behavior that mirrors that of social insects like bees, wasps, ants and termites, which typically use body odors instead of fecal odors to recognize nestmates. Both groups of insects share a similar mechanism that involves learning and memory of their colony's unique odor, but the anatomical source of the pheromone is different."

This behavior implies a greater capacity for social structure and learning than has often been attributed to the German cockroach, Schal said.

"What we're seeing here is a capacity for learning and memory retention that is often thought of as being beyond that of an insect as primitive as the cockroach," he said. "Cockroaches have evolved their own twist on forming kin bonds."

Publication details

Ayako Wada-Katsumata et al, Group recognition in the German cockroach, a subsocial omnivore, is based on faecal odour preference that is modulated by coprophagy, diet and learning, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2025.3042

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Lisa Lock

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Robert Egan

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Citation: German cockroaches appear to be more social animals than previously thought (2026, August 5) retrieved 5 August 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-08-german-cockroaches-social-animals-previously.html

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In addition to Lifehacker, her work has been featured on Wirecutter, Tom’s Guide, and ZDNET. Emily has also worked as a travel guide around the U.S. and as a content editor. She has a masters in social work and is a licensed therapist in Utah.

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August 5, 2026

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Key Takeaways

1. A new hacking campaign, known as CaptiveCrunch, is targeting wireless networks at hotels, conference centers, airports, and other hospitality venues.
2. Attackers are using phishing sites, ClickFix attacks, and man-in-the-middle tactics to distribute malware.
3. Users are urged to connect via personal hotspots or cellular data instead of using public wifi.
4. Never download software or browser updates, certificates, tools, or utilities through captive portals, pop-up messages, or web prompts.

Table of Contents

You've likely heard the warnings that public wifi can't always be trusted, and now Microsoft is giving you a good reason to avoid them. A new hacking campaign, known as CaptiveCrunch, is targeting wireless networks at hotels, conference centers, airports, and other hospitality venues in an attempt to steal credentials and compromise devices.

Hackers are targeting hospitality wifi networks

The warning comes from Microsoft Threat Intelligence, a group of security experts and researchers who found that Russian threat actors are using the captive portal prompts that appear when users connect to wifi to phish sensitive information and spread malware. Users are accustomed to seeing these pop-ups when logging onto public networks, so they're less likely to be suspicious.

As Malwarebytes Labs describes, hackers are able to manipulate DNS and HTTP traffic from these portals, which allows them to send users to phishing sites (and harvest login credentials and device codes), push malware via fake update and ClickFix prompts, and run machine-in-the-middle attacks to intercept and redirect traffic. Users may see a number of fake dialog boxes when connecting to hotel or airport wifi, such as a Windows Update or Windows Security window or a prompt to download a PDF viewer or disk optimization utility.

How to keep your devices safe from public wifi attacks

Microsoft researchers are urging travelers to assume that public and guest wireless networks at hotels, conference centers, and airports are untrustworthy. Whenever possible, users should rely on private connections, such as mobile hotspots and cellular data, instead of logging onto public wifi. If you're on a work device specifically, you should have an enterprise-managed travel router or hotspot that provides an encrypted connection to your company's infrastructure.

If you must use hotel or airport wifi, Malwarebytes Labs recommends using a VPN with a killswitch, which blocks internet traffic if your connection drops unexpectedly. Inspect login pop-ups carefully, and be wary of portal pages that ask for information beyond a room number or last name in order to connect. Use an email alias if you need to provide an address.

What do you think so far?

Never download software or browser updates, certificates, tools, or utilities through captive portals, pop-up messages, or web prompts, as these may introduce malware to your device. If you are unsure whether an update is required, go directly to the service or your system settings. (You should never be required to download anything to connect to wifi.) If you're prompted to copy code or run commands on your device, exit immediately, as this is a sign of a ClickFix attack. Anything urgent, such as a countdown timer, is also a red flag.

Finally, ensure your devices, apps, and software are up to date before you travel to patch security flaws and minimize the likelihood that you'll need to download anything while you're on the road. %!s()

Dafoe is hardly chasing notoriety, but Saxberger’s impulse to put down his pen and walk away from work is very unlike him. His five other 2026 projects include “Tenzing,” in which Dafoe plays the commander who led the first successful attempt to surmount Everest, and “Werwulf,” the latest Robert Eggers gothic-horror freakout, this time set in the 13th century.

Since beginning his career in New York’s experimental theater scene in the 1970s, Dafoe has ranged from indie cinema — with his two most recent Oscar nominations coming from Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project” and Julian Schnabel’s “At Eternity’s Gate” — to major productions. Of late, his collaborations with Eggers (“Nosferatu,” “The Lighthouse,” “The Northman”) and with Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things,” “Kinds of Kindness”) have been particularly fruitful. But those performances tend toward the grander-scale; in “Late Fame,” Dafoe is muted and interior, conjuring both the cerebral quality of a poet and the stoicism of someone who had believed he had made the choice to live a quiet life.

Variety spoke with Dafoe about the film, and about lessons he’s learned over a long career.

Your character has left his art behind and seems not to reflect upon it much — it’s a chapter of his life that is now over. For you, the act of making art seems so fundamental. Did you find it challenging to relate to his decision to walk away?

No, only because there were so many models for me. When I went to New York City, there was a scene there. At least it felt that way as a young man. I wasn’t part of it — I was basically locked in a theater, trying to make theater pieces. But I was aware of a scene, and, as part of that scene, there were poetry readings and loft performances. A lot of those people that I knew, they burned hot, they were making interesting things, they did what they did with passion, and they weren’t thinking of career. They were in freefall. 

The scene went away. Things changed, and they didn’t have the community to sustain them. And then people get practical. So I had lots of models of people who did beautiful work as young people and weren’t thinking of career, and then one day they came to peace with another way of living. I don’t have judgment — when we first see Saxberger, he’s not a sadsack. 

You may have been on the outskirts of a scene, but I know how involved you were with experimental theater, as a founder of the Wooster Group in the 1970s. “Late Fame” is all about the interplay between youthful passion and the wisdom of experience; looking back at that time in your life, do you recognize the spark you brought to your work? 

Sure! Because I’m self-deluded enough to think I’m still a young man. I seek out people that are turned on like that. It becomes infectious. Because of the eclectic choices I’ve made sometimes, I like going back and tapping into that younger energy, which you can find from younger people. 

You’re on a career run that has included multiple films with both Yorgos Lanthimos and Wes Anderson. What qualities do you seek out in a director? 

Passion, I need. When they’re turned on. If I give myself to a director, I don’t want them to be doing the job. I want it to burn hot. I want it to be a life experience — and maybe that’s too much to ask. But in the best situations, you’re changed. It wakes you up out of habit, and that’s important. 

You’ve been a fixture both of indie cinema and of the “Spider-Man” and “Finding Nemo” films. Are you as able to find the excitement you describe in a big-budget studio project as you are in a small story?

I have been. It is possible. With smaller films, they have challenges, but they do have a certain kind of flexibility, too. The challenges are different. But on a big movie, things have to be a little more planned, a little more sure, a little more measured, and there’s more cooks in the kitchen. On smaller movies, sometimes there are more opportunities — sometimes out of poverty, sometimes out of inexperience. But having to find solutions, it always turns me on. The bigger movies have to be charted out clearly, because there’s such a financial stake. That’s not totally bad, because, with that kind of clarity, you can put your efforts to the very clear tasks you have to do. In [smaller movies], they may lean on you more to collaborate.

One of the tricks of being an actor is, when you enter a movie, you’ve got to identify what we’re trying to do. You don’t have to have an absolute answer, but you’ve got to say, What is the world? How can I contribute something? What room is it? What is my function? What needs to be done? Where can I push? Where can I hold back? 

A collaborator of yours who splits the difference for me — where he makes grand-scale entertainments that have a scrappiness to them — is Robert Eggers. There’s a real sense of play to his work. You’re in his next film, “Werwulf”: What has the experience of working with him over time been like? 

Oh, I adore working with him, because everything’s clear. He gives me fun things to do. It’s like Lanthimos, and other directors I work with: They make the world, and they don’t defer. It’s his world. He has collaborators that help him a great deal, but they’re so in sync that it’s so specific, it’s so strong.

He puts you in a world that’s very challenging. So you’ve got to step up, and that’s your contribution. He gives you not only fun things but very difficult things; he designs shots very specifically, and you have to bend yourself to the shot, serve the shot, but also play the scene. That is a kind of combination, because you have a clear plan that you have to submit to. But inside of that, there’s lots of space to kick it up. 

I want to close by talking about the scene in which your character stands onstage and reads a poem he’d written decades before. The poem seems to chart the character’s emotional journey, but does so in a very enigmatic, elliptical way — kind of like how poetry works. As a non-poet, how did you prepare to play that scene?

We struggled a lot to find the right tone for that poem. Kent has some poet friends. I have some poet friends. Ultimately, Kent wrote it, and then I had some details that I really required to personalize it. He came up with a poem that was, in the end, a combination of me and Saxberger. I was quite happy reading that poem. It meant something to me.  %!s()

The findings suggest cities should prioritize protecting mature trees alongside planting new ones. Given the myriad health benefits associated with trees, tree maintenance has become even more crucial as human-caused climate change drives more extreme weather and intensifies heat risks in cities.

The study was published in the journal GeoHealth.

"Previous studies have mostly looked at how health outcomes are associated with static tree canopy coverage," said Northwestern's Daniel Horton, the study's senior author. "These snapshot-style studies looked at mortality rates and the tree canopy at one moment in time. But cities and their tree canopies constantly change, so we looked at how the canopy and death rates change over the years. We found that as tree canopy decreases, mortality increases."

Horton is an associate professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, where he leads the Climate Change Research Group (CCRG). He also is a faculty affiliate of the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy and the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.

Exploring nature-based solutions

The study grew out of the Buffett Institute's Defusing Disasters Working Group, an interdisciplinary initiative that unites climate scientists, physicians, public health experts, city leaders and community partners to explore how extreme weather affects vulnerable populations in Chicago. Co-led by Horton, the group also develops practical strategies to help cities reduce health risks and strengthen climate resilience.

"The Defusing Disasters Working Group set out to determine what makes Chicago residents vulnerable to extreme heat," Horton said. "We found that a number of different factors contribute to heat vulnerability, and trees are one part of the equation."

A walking tour of Chicago's North Lawndale and Douglas Park areas inspired Harrison Garcia, the study's lead author and a medical student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, to consider canopy coverage.

"I noticed how much more exhausting it felt to walk through areas with little tree cover compared to nearby blocks lined with mature trees," said Garcia, who also is a member of the Defusing Disasters Working Group. "I remember thinking that if the heat was affecting me so noticeably during a short walking tour, it must be shaping people's health over the long term."

To capture canopy changes, the team analyzed annual satellite measurements of tree canopy across every Chicago census tract from 2011 through 2021. Then, they combined satellite data with more than 220,000 death records from the Illinois and Chicago Departments of Public Health.

To isolate the relationship between tree canopy and mortality, the researchers developed a statistical model that accounted for differences in summer temperatures, air pollution, income, population size, racial and ethnic residential segregation and other neighborhood-level factors that can influence health. This approach enabled the research team to distinguish the effects of changing tree canopy from differences that already existed among neighborhoods.

Not all neighborhoods are affected equally

The team found that a neighborhood's overall tree canopy within each year was not significantly associated with mortality. Instead, what mattered were the year-to-year changes in tree canopy. Increases in canopy were consistently associated with fewer deaths from cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, several musculoskeletal conditions and mental health-related illnesses.

"We used a technique called K-means clustering to group Chicago neighborhoods based on three factors: tree canopy, temperature and mortality," said study co-author Benjamin Barrett, a Ph.D. candidate in health and biomedical informatics at Feinberg and member of the Defusing Disasters Working Group. "That allowed us to identify patterns across Chicago and to pinpoint where protecting and expanding tree canopy is needed most."

The geographic disparities were striking. According to the model, neighborhoods on the South and West sides tended to experience hotter summer temperatures, greater absolute canopy losses and higher mortality than other parts of the city. Neighborhoods along Lake Michigan generally experienced cooler temperatures and lower mortality, while areas near the Forest Preserves had the city's largest tree canopy and experienced relatively lower mortality.

Mature trees matter

The study co-authors underscore an often-overlooked point: Planting trees and increasing tree canopy are not the same. While young saplings take years to develop broad, leafy crowns, mature trees already provide extensive shade and cooling. Losing those trees—to disease, storms or development—can erase decades of canopy growth almost overnight.

"Chicago must both maintain the canopy it has and expand the canopy where it's needed most," said study co-author Raed Mansour, a member of the Defusing Disasters Working Group and of the Openlands Board of Directors. "That means protecting mature trees from unnecessary removal, providing ongoing care for existing trees, replacing removed trees and investing in their long-term survival."

To illustrate the potential benefits, the research team modeled what might happen if Chicago increased tree canopy by about 0.03% each year, which is roughly equivalent to planting 14,000 trees annually. The model estimated this increase was associated with roughly 105 fewer deaths annually.

Trees as public health infrastructure

While trees can cool neighborhoods by providing shade and reducing the effects of urban heat islands, they also have numerous other health benefits. Trees improve air quality, encourage outdoor activity and contribute to healthier neighborhoods.

"Trees provide dozens of benefits," Mansour said. "They decrease stress, anxiety and blood pressure and increase social cohesion. They also reduce soil erosion and support biodiversity. Maintaining the urban canopy and planting trees where they are needed are both important. Many folks see trees primarily as aesthetic features or amenities, but they should be recognized as part of our public health infrastructure."

More information

Harrison C. Garcia et al, Increasing Urban Tree Canopy Associated With Reduced Mortality: A Longitudinal Analysis of Chicago Neighborhoods, GeoHealth (2026). DOI: 10.1029/2025gh001651

Who's behind this story?

Gaby Clark

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Robert Egan

Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language. Full profile →

Citation: As urban tree shade shrinks, mortality rises (2026, August 5) retrieved 5 August 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-08-urban-tree-mortality.html

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The discovery of human bones is nothing new; in fact, they have turned up at Brading Roman Villa since its rediscovery in 1880. What's remained a mystery is their age, but new radiocarbon dates and some coins hint at a short window of time in which the inhabitants of the villa mysteriously died.

The most disturbing aspect is the bones scattered within the villa itself, said author Michael Fulford, professor of archaeology at the University of Reading. "How did they get there (mixed in) with other Roman domestic rubbish as well? Were the people who brought them in aware of what they had found?"

The mystery of the bones

Brading Roman Villa, today under the stewardship of Brading Roman Villa Trust, was first discovered and excavated by retired army officer Captain John Thorp and William Munns from 1880 to 1881. It was during the initial excavations that workers uncovered the now-famous mosaic floors depicting the god of wine, Bacchus, and a stunning mosaic of Medusa.

However, scattered across the villa within various rooms were also the haunting remains of human bones. According to the study, later digs in the 1990s and 2000s made the same grim finds, human remains dispersed outside the building, including one teenager discovered in a well alongside three young dogs.

Researchers were able to determine that the remains belonged to at least four adults, one teenager and a baby. But matching bones to specific individuals and rooms was no longer possible because the 1880s excavations never properly documented these finds.

"Frustrating, but not unexpected with antiquarian finds," Fulford said.

Examination of the bones revealed chilling details: Some showed signs of cut marks, while others had been gnawed on.

To try to pin down when these people died, five bones were sent for radiocarbon dating at the University of Glasgow. One failed to yield results, but when the other four dates were returned to the researchers, a pattern emerged. All pointed to a single event, or at least a cluster of events occurring one after the other, between A.D. 220 and 410.

Coins may hint at a massacre

An unexpected clue came from 90 Roman coins collected at the site since its first excavations. The coins reveal a curious gap that occurred between A.D. 330 and 348, a gap not evident at most other Roman British sites but one that lines up with the simultaneous deaths of the villa's occupants.

"The radiocarbon dates make it clear that the bones are of late Roman date, not post-Roman, and that is the important result," Fulford said. "The coins point to a possible historical context ... but it is no more than a suggestion."

The gap in the coin assemblage may be linked to a mysterious crisis, something serious enough to prompt a hurried visit from Emperor Constans in the winter of A.D. 343.

The darker possibility points to a bloody purge that occurred in Roman Britain in the 350s, when Roman Emperor Constantius launched a brutal crackdown on Britain after a usurper named Magnentius was defeated, sending an agent to hunt down any of the loser's supporters. The ancient historian Ammianus Marcellinus recorded how Britons, both supporters and innocents, were tortured, imprisoned and executed, with many having their property confiscated.

Either way, it is plausible that the villa's inhabitants fell victim to a massacre, as shown by the cut marks and the abandonment of the grand reception, hinting at the death or disappearance of its former owner.

This may also explain the scatter of bones, with victims thrown into shallow graves, later dug up by scavengers like dogs and foxes who, in turn, left evidence of their destruction in the form of gnaw marks.

But Fulford is careful not to overstate these claims. The researchers cannot definitely prove that the deaths were violent.

For now, the mystery remains open. "I can't be certain of a massacre, hence the question mark in the title," Fulford said.

Yet the disarticulated bones are unusual enough that they demand some kind of explanation.

Written for you by our author Sandee Oster, edited by Sadie Harley, and fact-checked and reviewed by Robert Egan—this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive. If this reporting matters to you, please consider a donation (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you.

More information

Michael Fulford et al, Brading Roman Villa: Evidence of a Late Roman Massacre?, Britannia (2026). DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x26100816

Who's behind this story?

Sandee Oster

Archaeology PhD candidate at Witwatersrand. Science writer for Science X and archaeology blogger. Field research in South Africa. Full profile →

Sadie Harley

BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries. Full profile →

Robert Egan

Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language. Full profile →

© 2026 Science X Network

Citation: Scattered Roman bones point to potential fourth-century purge at Brading Villa (2026, August 5) retrieved 5 August 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-08-roman-bones-potential-fourth-century.html

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