Category archives: Humanities & Social Sciences

In the first entry of this series I introduced the new research field of ‘plant neurobiology’, one of whose main sites is the Murcia University ‘Minimal Intelligence Lab’ under the direction of cognitive scientist and philosopher Paco Calvo. In that entry, I offered a brief sketch of the topics covered by the field, topics that […]

Unlike in perfectly competitive markets, there are many instances of economic situations in which selfish rational behavior does not imply an efficient allocation of resources. One example is the financing of a public good. Say some neighbors are asked to contribute to the construction of a park of one hectare (10,000 m 2 ) in […]

Birds’ small brains pack big neuron punch Birds’ brains may be small, but they pack more neurons related to intelligence than many mammals with larger brains Researchers used an isotropic fractionator to measure the number of neurons in regions of birds’ brains and found that many songbirds and parrots packed more neurons in their brains […]

A 1 million-year-old fire lit by human ancestors was discovered in 2012 in the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. The soil of the cave yielded several dozen stone tools, microscopic plant ashes and burned bone bits. It is supposed that a member of the Homo genus, perhaps Homo erectus , made a fire that produced […]

The success of Bohr’s model of the atom in accounting for the spectrum of hydrogen left this question: Could experiments show directly that atoms do have only certain, separate energy states? In other words, are there really gaps between the energies that an atom can have? A famous experiment in 1914, by the German physicists […]

For a great part of the past century bilingualism was believed to affect intelligence negatively . Jespersen, in 1922, claimed that “the brain effort required to master the two languages instead of one certainly diminishes the child’s power of learning other things.” Still, some people (wrongly) believe that children might get confused by exposure to […]

Newly found form of CRISPR can break apart RNA Researchers have found that a mouth bacterium can make a form of CRISPR that breaks apart RNA rather than DNA. The finding could have applications for adjusting proteins in cells or targeting cancer cells. The New York Times Photons’ quantum properties could be used to send […]

In an open letter to the faculty of Harvard University sent in April 2012, the Library’s Faculty Advisory Council warned that the library of the most world famous university, the richest university, and for many the best university, faced a severe crisis. It was a subscription crisis caused, according to this library council, «by efforts […]

It is said of philosophers that they are ever less willing to recognise a mistake than the ordinary intellect… sorry, man on the street. Actually, an old joke tells about a university rector saying to other that his favourite department is that of mathematics, for mathematicians only ask for paper, pencils and paper bins; “oh […]

Unusual underwater structures are geological, not ancient city Uniquely shaped structures found underwater near the Greek island of Zakynthos are naturally occurring geological forms and not the ruins of an ancient city lost to the sea. The circular structures reminiscent of columns, floors and courtyards likely formed about 5 million years ago during the Pliocene […]