29Aug 2022 by Post

Rare Earth: How Vital Minerals “Evolve”

astrobiology, Astrobiology Magazine, biological activity, calcium, carbon, Carnegie Institute, chlorine, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, earth, elements, hydrogen, intelligence, Intelligent Design, magnesium, Mars, microbes, minerals, NASA, nitrogen, origin of life, oxygen, phosphorus, Physics, Earth & Space, potassium, Robert Hazen, selenium, Stephen Jay Gould, sulfur, The Privileged Planet, Titan, Washington State University
It's intriguing that life as we know it depends on a seemingly un-natural distribution of minerals. Source
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13Aug 2022 by Post

What Is It Like to Be a Bee?

Alun Anderson, Antonio Damasio, BBC, bees, Catherine Wilson, consciousness, dancers, Dogs, dopamine, insect rights, intelligence, James Shapiro, Lars Chittka, materialism, Neuroscience & Mind, New Scientist, panpsychism, Princeton University Press, science, sensation, The Mind of a Bee, The Scientist, University of Chicago, USC, waggle dance
What, exactly, does “consciousness” or “feel and think” mean when applied to a bee? This usage is no remote outpost. Source
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21Jul 2022 by Post

How Octopuses Got So Smart? “Junk DNA”

biology, birds, brain, California octopus, clams, common octopus, genome, intelligence, Intelligent Design, invertebrates, jumping genes, Junk DNA, Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements, mammals, marine invertebrates, Neuroscience & Mind, octopuses, oysters, transposons, unguided evolution
Jumping genes used to be dismissed as junk DNA which in turn was held to be slam-dunk evidence for unguided evolutionary processes. Source
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07Apr 2022 by Post

Evolutionary Psychologist Argues that Worms Feel Pain. But How?

Aimen Mirza, alarm system, biology, David Barash, earthworms, endothermic life, Evolution, evolutionary psychology, exothermic life, intelligence, invertebrates, Nautilus, neuroscience, Neuroscience & Mind, pain, panpsychism, Richard Dawkins, sentience, slaughter, Through a Glass Brightly, University of Washington, Wormmy
Wait. Barash’s hypothesis overlooks the fact that suffering is more than an alarm system. An alarm could be going off in an empty building. Source
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27Mar 2022 by Post

Are Birds Really Smarter than Reptiles?

animal behavior, babies, birds, brain size, brain volume, cognitive capacity, Cornell University, cuckoo, Diane Colombelli-Négrel, eggs, facial recognition, fairy wrens, intelligence, Intelligent Design, lemurs, lizards, Malurus cyaneus, neurons, Neuroscience & Mind, Pavel Němec, penguins, reptiles, The Scientist
Scientists clash over how to measure animal intelligence: brain volume, brain organization, numbers of neurons…? Source
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26Mar 2022 by Post

Darwinism and Scientific Totalitarianism: John West’s Darwin Day in America

assisted suicide, beauty, COVID-19, Creativity, Culture & Ethics, Darwin Day in America, Darwinism, death, embryo, Enlightenment, ethics, euthanasia, Evolution, free speech, ingenuity, intelligence, John West, Medicine, New York Times, physicians, racehorse, speech, Terri Shiavo, theology, totalitarian science, unborn
The afterword, on “Totalitarian Science,” published in 2015, shows John West as a prophet of things to come. Source
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03Mar 2022 by Post

The Remarkable Things We’re Learning About Bird Intelligence

African grey parrot, Alex (parrot), apes, birds, chimpanzees, cockatoo, cutlery, Goffin’s cockatoo, golf, intelligence, Intelligent Design, invertebrates, knife, mammals, Neuroscience & Mind, New Caledonian crows, New Zealand, octopus, Smithsonian Magazine, spoon, token, University of Birmingham, utensils, vertebrates, walnut
These findings are only among birds that have actually been studied; most birds have not been studied for intelligence. Source
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