Category archives: Science

Sleeping spines

Sleeping spines

NeurobiologyNeuroscience

By José Ramón Alonso

Sleep is a naturally recurring state of mind and body characterized by altered consciousness, relatively repressed sensory inputs, inhibition of nearly all voluntary muscles, and reduced interactions with surroundings. We spend around one third of our lives sleeping although why we sleep is still theme of debate. Sleep seems to assist animals with improvements in […]

Carotenoids, I see your true colours

Carotenoids, I see your true colours

BiochemistryChemistryPlant biology

By Estíbaliz Urarte

When autumn arrives to temperate climate forests, deciduous trees lose their characteristic green tonalities and start showing a wide spectrum of new colours: yellow, brown, orange, red… Chlorophyll reabsorption takes place in the leaves and carotenoids, present in a lower concentration, are exposed. These pigments are produced in all photosynthetic organisms, fungi and non-photosynthetic bacteria […]

Bilinguals and the theory of mind

Bilinguals and the theory of mind

NeurosciencePhilosophy of sciencePsychology

By José Ramón Alonso

Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, knowledge, etc.— to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that may be different to ourselves. Attributing thoughts to others allows one to predict or explain their actions, and to posit their intentions. It enables one […]

Pain lessons, by the Naked Mole Rat

Pain lessons, by the Naked Mole Rat

Neurobiology

By Sergio Laínez

Nature is one of my favourite places to look for scientific-related answers. As life did start roughly three billion years ago, it has been encountering endless difficulties that needed to be solved in order to prosper. To make things even more complicated, living organisms had to get adapted in multiple different ways because of the […]