Category: Animals
-
![Abre los ojos: Right-handed. Left-handed. It matters not… [Asymmetry is just a phenomenon]](https://harmoniaphilosophica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/321244791d742638ded9ec4ea1f54a601-236x260.jpg)
Abre los ojos: Right-handed. Left-handed. It matters not… [Asymmetry is just a phenomenon]
Other people are right-handed and other people are left-handed. "Handed-ness" or left-right asymmetry is prevalent throughout the animal kingdom, including in pigeons and zebrafish. But why do people and animals naturally favor one side over the other, and what does it teach us about the brain's inner workings? Researchers explore these questions in a Review…
-
Editing DNA vs. Evolution. Change vs. One. A battle lost before it even starts.
Octopus, squid, and cuttlefish are famous for engaging in complex behavior, from unlocking an aquarium tank and escaping to instantaneous skin camouflage to hide from predators. A new study suggests their evolutionary path to neural sophistication includes a novel mechanism: Prolific RNA editing at the expense of evolution in their genomic DNA.
-
Cancelling your eyes. Making everything still. Flying…
Scientists analyzed how the brain of a fly compensates for its own movement when seeing and found out that indeed specific neurons are suppressed in order to keep the fly… flying. When a gust of wind unexpectedly blows a fly off course, for example, a powerful reflex known as the optomotor response causes the insect's…
-
Counting as an animal: Do you still think Math is our greatest achievement? Ask the chicken. (and then eat it)
Studies show the origin of the ability to understand the notion of numbers is something we share with the animals. It is true that many nonhuman animals can manage almost-math without numbers. Reports of a quantity-related ability come from chickens, horses, dogs, honeybees, spiders, salamanders, guppies, chimps, macaques, bears, lions, carrion crows and many more.…
-
Dinosaurs. Νείκος. Φιλότης.
A new publication on the bird-like dinosaur Avimimus, from the late-Cretaceous suggests they were gregarious, social animals - evidence that flies in the face of the long-held mysticism surrounding dinosaurs as solo creatures. "The common mythology of dinosaurs depicts solitary, vicious monsters running around eating everything," explains Gregory Funston, PhD student and Vanier scholar at…
You must be logged in to post a comment.