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Denyse O’Leary

free will
Photo credit: Vladislav Babienko via Unsplash.

New Brain Research Supports Free Will

Researchers, altering Libet’s classical experiment, found that human brains show no “readiness potential” when a decision is important. Read More ›
T-Rex
Photo credit: J.M. Luijt, CC BY-SA 2.5 NL <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/nl/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons.

New Claim: Tyrannosaur Was as Smart as a Monkey

One researcher argues that, based on bird studies, the huge predators may have had many more brain cells than we have supposed. Read More ›
La Pasiega Cave
Photo: La Pasiega Cave, by Don Hitchcock, donsmaps.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Possible Cave “Proto-Writing” Challenges Slow Evolution of Human Consciousness

London-based wood carving conservator Ben Bacon has, with academic colleagues, shaken up Ice Age paleontology. Read More ›
cat and mouse
Photo credit: Mark Sardella, via Flickr (cropped).

Can Animals Be Held Criminally Responsible?

While the idea is handled provocatively in philosophy literature, in practice, animals are envisioned as plaintiffs, not defendants, in animal rights cases. Read More ›
consciousness
Photo credit: Dean Marston via Pixabay.

Brain Scientist: Consciousness Didn’t Evolve; It Creates Evolution

Donald Hoffman says that even the Big Bang must be understood in a universe where consciousness is fundamental. Read More ›
Border collie
Photo: Border collie, by Iceblueblue, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Can a Dog Be Bred to Be as Smart as a Human?

An enterprising electrical engineer, Payton Pearson, thinks it can be done. There are reasons for doubt. Read More ›
Venus flytrap
Photo credit: Beatriz Moisset, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Are Plants Conscious? Science Writer Says Yes

Annaka Harris, neuroscience and physics writer, starts by casting doubt on human consciousness. Read More ›
Homo_sapiens_neanderthalensis-Mr._N
Image credit: Neanderthal-Museum, Mettmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Early Humans Were More Sophisticated than We Thought

Neanderthals were not just downing raw hunks of meat 70,000 years ago, as many of us have assumed. Read More ›
octopus-bimaculoides-3-credit-tom-kleindinst-sized
octopus
Photo: California two-spot octopus, by Tom Kleindinst via Marine Biological Laboratory.

MicroRNAs: A New Clue About Octopus Intelligence?

While octopus brains are very different from vertebrate brains, they share with vertebrates, a huge number of microRNAs. Read More ›
Marlies_van_Baalen_with_Kigali
Photo: Dressage, by Fotoimage, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Do Centaurs Really Exist? The Surprising Truth

Well, a half human/half horse cannot literally exist — but the way horses and humans work together has been called a “miracle.” Read More ›

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