Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
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animal behavior

cat
Photo credit: Borna Bevanda, via Unsplash.

The Tao of Meow: Cats Mew Mostly for Humans

It might be smart to ask people who work with animals to interpret some of this first. Read More ›
honeybee
Photo credit: Thomas Bresson, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Honeybees, Traffic Accidents, and the Immaterial Genome

An RV strangely burst into explosive flames yesterday afternoon in a traffic accident in the Mount Baker tunnel that leads from Seattle across Lake Washington. Read More ›
Varbuss
Photo credit: Heiti Paves, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

“Directed Evolution”:  The Tiniest Brain Is Not Simple

Even a cursory examination of the connectome shows the complexity of the brain, despite its tiny size. Read More ›
Grooming_de_Zoé
Photo credit: DBeaune, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

As a Cudgel Against Human Exceptionalism, Researchers Push for Bonobo “Theory of Mind”

Is it true that “recognizing when someone else lacks information” has been thought to be a distinctly human trait? Read More ›
Stonehenge
Photo credit: garethwiscombe, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Science Writing Tries to Smash Human Exceptionalism

Stone tool use among animals versus the Stone Age provides a useful illustration of the tendency. Read More ›
lossy-page1-2235px-Megaphragma_mymaripenne-SEM.tif
Photo credit: Alexey A. Polilov, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

By Design: Brain Miniaturization in Some Very Small Insects

Does reduced brain size affect the behavior of animals? The answer appears to be that there is no effect. Read More ›
pipistrelle
Photo credit: Dave, via Flickr (cropped).

Being a Bat: Some Scientists Push Animal Consciousness

A group of scientists and philosophers have published a declaration that there is evidence that a wide range of animals exhibit signs of consciousness. Read More ›
paws
Photo credit: droїd, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

By Using Floor Buttons, Can Dogs Talk?

The latest fad in the “Talk to the animals” arena appears to be a classic in confirmation bias. Read More ›
Cataglyphis fortis
Photo credit: Markus Knaden, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.

Ants Build Landmarks for Navigation

The difficulty of finding your way back home from a long distance is partly solved in a tiny ant’s brain. Read More ›
Harvester_ant_hole
Photo: Harvester ants at the entrance to their nest, via Wikimedia Commons.

To Regulate Foraging, Harvester Ants Use a (Designed) Feedback Control Algorithm

These elements of harvester ant behavior present a severe challenge for the evolutionary paradigm. Read More ›

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