18Apr 2025 by Post

High Bird Intelligence Is Consistent with Design, Not Evolution

abstractions, animal intelligence, birds, brains, chickadees, cockatoos, common sense, crows, Evolution, evolutionary biology, Germany, Giacomo Gattoni, human exceptionalism, humans, intelligence, Intelligent Design, logic, mammals, Maria Antonietta Tosches, Neuroscience & Mind, Niklas Kempynck, Onur Güntürkün, problems, ravens, Ruhr University Bochum, Science (journal), vertebrates, Yasemin Saplakoglu, zoology
A discussion of animal intelligence that refuses to acknowledge human exceptionalism becomes a script for suppressing discussions we need to have. Source
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07Dec 2024 by Post

Who (or What) First Used Tools?

abstract ideas, algae, birds, blanket octopus, chimpanzees, Christophe Boesch, crows, decorator crab, Egyptian vulture, Hedwige Boesch-Achermann, invertebrates, Jane Goodall, Lucy, Max Planck Institute, Neuroscience & Mind, octopus, orange-spotted tuskfish, ostrich eggs, otters, paleontology, Taï National Park, tools, Tracy L. Kivell, Tremoctopus violaceus
It’s not stone tool use that is exclusive to humans; vultures can do that too. It’s the ability to form abstract ideas. Source
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03Mar 2024 by Post

War on Human Exceptionalism Turns to Tool Use

Abigail Desmond, abstraction, animals, archaeologists, bragging rights, capuchin monkeys, chimpanzees, crows, debris, dolphins, environment, hands, Harvard University, human exceptionalism, Human Origins, life forms, Michael Haslam, monkeys, Neuroscience & Mind, octopuses, Oxford University, Saturn V rocket, sea urchins, tool use, tools
As the academic war on human exceptionalism motors on, researchers’ thinking sometimes shorts out — and they don’t even notice. Source
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27Aug 2023 by Post

By Using Floor Buttons, Can Dogs Talk?

abstractions, animal behavior, Bunny (dog), Carl Sagan, chimpanzees, confirmation bias, crows, Dogs, emotions, floor buttons, gibberish, humans, language, Life Sciences, marine biologists, Neuroscience & Mind, puppies, Sarah Sloat, Scientific American, sheepadoodle, Stephanie Pappas, Thomas Fudge, TikTok, Washington State, wolves
The latest fad in the “Talk to the animals” arena appears to be a classic in confirmation bias. Source
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09Dec 2022 by Post

MicroRNAs: A New Clue About Octopus Intelligence?

apes, biology, brain, central brain, cognitive abilities, Cris Niell, crows, cuttlefish, Dogs, dolphins, elephants, Grygoriy Zolotarov, intelligence, MicroRNAs, miRNAs, nervous system, neuroscience, Neuroscience & Mind, neurotransmitters, Nikolaus Rajewsky, octopus, Oregon, RNA, science, squid, vertebrates, whales, William Rainey Harper
While octopus brains are very different from vertebrate brains, they share with vertebrates, a huge number of microRNAs. Source
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29Mar 2022 by Post

Design Inference: Stone Structures Were Intelligently Arranged, Though We Don’t Know by Whom

Archaeology, Argument from Reason, Bedouins, chimps, crows, design filter, Design Inference, designer, Evolution, fairy circles, geoglyphs, geometric structures, Intelligent Design, John West, Jordan, Live Science, Middle East, Namibia, Nazca Lines, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Syria, World War I, Yemen
There are hundreds of these structures. They extend over much of the Middle East: Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Source
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