

Denyse O'Leary


Has Physics Pounded a New Nail in the Coffin of Materialism?
Cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman says that matter is now known not to be fundamental but that fact is taking a while to catch on
Study: Neanderthals invented their own tech, didn’t copy others

What Did the Multi-Year Consciousness Study Really Find?
Surprisingly, the joint research teams found that the prefrontal cortex, the “personality center,” may not be as important for consciousness as we think
Fish Can Recognize Individual Humans — But What Does That Imply?
Wild fish told the divers apart by their diving gear when they could gain a food reward for doing so
Old-fashioned journalists aren’t dead; they’re on Substack

ET Doesn’t Need to Exist in Order to Do His Real Job
His real job seems to be to support a lame argument about why humans are not exceptional. But the very idea of his existence works just as well
Salvo: The Facts and Fictions of the Scopes Monkey Trial
Society has changed so much that biologists face trouble not for believing in Darwinism but for believing in the reality of biology
Consciousness in unborn children: Touching the third rail

Does Our Humanity Really Depend on “Concept Cells”?
A recently discovered type of brain cell, thought to be unique to humans, codes for a variety of types of information around a single concept
A sober assessment of the deadly gain-of-function virus debate

A Neurosurgeon Makes the Neuroscience Case for Free Will
Michael Egnor is concerned about the serious social implications of denying free will
The Nearly Unfathomable Complexity of Even a Mouse’s Brain
Mapping a small part of a mouse's brain required 1.6 petabytes of data, which is equivalent to 22 years of nonstop high-definition video
Reptilian Renaissance: How Did Reptiles Develop Intelligence?
Scientists used to think reptiles were dumb but then they looked more closely
At Quanta: High Bird Intelligence Developed on a Different Path
High intelligence developing on different paths is consistent with convergent evolution. It’s also consistent with design in nature
Did the Enlargement of the Human Brain Depend on Two Genes?
The genes, unique to humans, spurred brain growth when introduced in mice and chimpanzee stem cells
Information Imperialism: The Battle for Free Access Heats Up
Headline incidents are only one part of an international trend toward attempted government control of the news stream
Journalist: Seizures gave me a healthy respect for the brain

Facebook Ends Fact-Checking, Moves to Community Notes Format
Top executive admits that there was "too much political bias" at Facebook, Instagram, Threads…