CategoryAnimal mind
Possible Breakthrough: Bee Gene Specifies Complex Hive Behavior
The researchers used CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors to modify or switch off the dsx gene in selected bees
Do Animals Really “Take Revenge”? Another Look…
Four animal behavior specialists offered some thoughts at Gizmodo
Will Colorado Allow Elephants to Sue?
The Nonhuman Rights Project wants to become the guardian of five elephants at the Colorado Springs zoo and take control of their care
Octopus Organizes Packs of Fish to Help It Hunt
Unlike the fish, the octopus can work with stones where prey fish shelter. The fish get whatever the octopus drops — unless they are cheaters
Are There Rules Governing Which Animals Are Smart?
A neurologist makes a case for the importance of warm-bloodedness but cold-blooded reptiles can be learn surprisingly quickly
The Hard Problem of Consciousness Remains Inescapable
Neuroscientist Francisco Aboitiz starts by offering to tell us how consciousness evolved but then makes a critical concession
Of course cats grieve! But how to research it …?
The challenge is separating the cat’s feelings from those of the human interpreter
When Dogs and Pet Pigs Both Heard Humans Cry, What Happened?
Have humans changed dogs’ behavior over thousands of years of domestication?
Will AI Soon Help Animals Talk To Us?
Many animals have a natural tendency to hide their problems for self-protection. AI trained on massive animal datasets might suss them out
New Podcast Asks, Is the World Really Enchanted—or Disenchanted?
At Created Souls and The Banquet of Souls, I want to explore the fact that human consciousness is not about to be made obsolete by AI or explained away by neuroscience
A Darwinian Biologist Winces at Bees That Have Feelings
The problem Jerry Coyne has with Lars Chittka’s evidence for emotions among bees points to a growing conflict between naturalism and panpsychism in science
Does Your Dog Feel “Guilty” When He Rips the Sofa?
Dog expert Zazie Todd says no; when assessing dog emotions, we should think more simply
An “Evolutionary” Analysis of Childhood Provides No New Knowledge
Archeologist Brenna Hassett offers to explain the evolution of childhood and grandmothers — but, unfortunately, ends up providing no real insight
Animals Using Healing Plants Is Old News, Says Classics Prof
Adrienne Mayor tells us that ancient and Indigenous peoples learned herbal medicine in part by observing animals
If Humans Were Just Animals, We Would Not Help Animals
Whether we like it or not, the gulf fixed between humans and other animals is what makes it possible for us to reject cruelty to animals
Can Viruses Cheat? Cooperate? That’s What Sociovirologists Claim
What does it mean to say that a defective string of genes’s behavior could be self-defeating? Or self-preserving? Where did the “self” come in?
What Does It Mean To Say That “Lobsters Are Conscious”?
The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, signed in April by 40 researchers, posits a “realistic possibility of conscious experience” in all vertebrates and many invertebrates
The wildly varying intelligence of big, bad, extinct T. Rex
After centuries with the “stupid” label, T. rex was found in one 2023 study to be as smart as a primate. But then…