David Premack reviews the differences between animal and human cognition in “Human and animal cognition: Continuity and discontinuity” (doi). Abstract only:
Microscopic study of the human brain has revealed neural structures, enhanced wiring, and forms of connectivity among nerve cells not found in any animal, challenging the view that the human brain is [...]
Out of body experiences have long been a staple of books about alien abductions and things like The X-Files, and they’ve also been reported after certain types of neurotrauma including seizures and drug abuse. Two research groups are reporting today in Science that these can be experimentally induced, by the use of virtual reality helmets. [...]
Shultz and Dunbar in today’s Current Biology Proceedings of the Royal Society:
The social brain hypothesis argues that large brains have arisen over evolutionary time as a response to the social and ecological conflicts inherent in group living. We test predictions arising from the hypothesis using comparative data from birds and four mammalian orders (Carnivora, [...]
Everyone thinks that chimpanzees and other primates are good candidates for finding complex cognitive capabilities in non-human animals. Unfortunately, they’re just not that smart, really. Sure, they can use sticks to fish termites out of holes, however, there’s another animal which can go a bit further.
The New Caledonian Crow (Corvus moneduloides) is known [...]
Quote of the day:
Debating with creationists is like playing chess with a pigeon, no
matter how well you set up the rules the creationist will fly in knock
over all the pieces, cluck a great deal, crap all over the board, and
fly off claiming victory. Keith Sader over [...]
My new favorite website – “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth – the great internet swear word project“. Go vote for your favorite swear word. This is totally not-safe-for-work, but very educational (what the hell is a “twatbadger”?)
Weston et al in PLoS One show that sexual selection has shaped the Hominin face (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000710):
We consider sex differences in human facial morphology in the context of developmental change. We show that at puberty, the height of the upper face, between the lip and the brow, develops differently in males and females, [...]
PsyBlog reviews the psychological research on pick-up lines:
Indeed, a study by Chris Bale from the University of Central Lancashire
found that sexually-loaded remarks were the type of openers least
likely to lead to further interaction (Bale, 2006). Which begs the
question: why do men still use them?
…Chat-up lines [...]
Out in P.N.A.S. shortly, will be “Dental evidence on the hominin dispersals during the Pleistocene” (doi:10.1073/pnas.0706152104). Get it before it gets embargoed -
A common assumption in the evolutionary scenario of the first Eurasian hominin populations is that they all had an African origin. This assumption also seems to apply for the Early [...]
I’m completely intrigued by ” The cabbage aphid: a walking mustard oil bomb” (doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0237). The potential for self-seasoning coleslaw alone makes this worth a read.
