In the spring of 2017, Hampshire College welcomed a new faculty member, one without a brain or even a nervous system. Physarum polycephalum, a species of slime mold, joined the campus not just as a scientific curiosity but as a non-human thinker. As the college put it, this organism “researches important problems from a non-human […]
Tag Archives: evolution
May
23
The Primordial Puzzle
posted by Anna McTigue
The Debate Surrounding Life’s First Molecule Few questions are more basic and more human than wondering how we came to exist. How did life arise from nonliving matter to produce the extraordinary diversity of nature: the colors in the flowers, the sophisticated ecosystems, the complexity of the brain, and its ability to hold our thoughts […]
February
02
The Neuroscience of Cute Aggression
posted by Seraphina Solders
The first thing I do when I get home from work each day is make a beeline for my cat Callie. As I hold her against my shoulder while she nuzzles my neck and purrs to greet me, I am overwhelmed with the urge to squeeze her so tightly that she pops like a baloon. […]
September
29
How model organisms are chosen
posted by Ricardo Lozoya
Intro Mice, fruit flies, worms, and monkeys. These are just some of the many animal species that are commonly used by scientists to learn about the nervous system, often with the goal of uncovering something about the human nervous system. If that’s the case, then the species being used is said to be a model […]
June
03
Axolotls: First Ones to the Fountain of Youth
posted by Ricardo Lozoya
Introduction If you look at today’s $50 Mexican peso (left), you won’t see the image of a past president or monument. Instead, you’ll see a lone salamander with outstretched arms and gills in the middle of a lake. For centuries, this small creature, known as the axolotl (ax-oh-lot-al), was well known to the people that […]
January
27
Genetics of Sasquatch: making cryptozoology scientific?
posted by JC Gorman
Growing up in Oregon meant I spent lots of time hearing about Sasquatch. Now working in a lab studying monkeys, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how different primates are related. While it is undeniable that little evidence has been found to prove Bigfoot roams the wild forests of the Pacific Northwest, perhaps […]
November
22
The Brain on Gratitude
posted by Carmine Chavez-Martinez
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, now is as good a time as any to stop and think about the concept of “gratitude.” The general consensus seems to be that gratitude is good for you, being consistently correlated with better physical, psychological, and social health. But for all its supposed benefits, there is still plenty […]
September
19
How long have we been sleeping?
posted by Joydeep De
“J’ai peur du sommeil comme on a peur d’un grand trou, Tout plein de vague horreur…” In his phenomenal ‘Les fleurs du mal’ (‘Flowers of Evil’), Baudelaire promenades through the darkness of the night and with his characteristic gloomy brush, paints sleep as ‘a great hole’ that he fears. This myth surrounding sleep as a […]
August
22
Is evolution the missing link to understanding mental health?
posted by Nicole Mlynaryk
The human brain has been shaped over hundreds of thousands of years, with evolution selecting for traits that helped our species survive and thrive. So why do we still have so many genes that make us struggle? Why did our remarkable cognitive capacity come with such a susceptibility to disorder?
December
06
The Platypus: Sensing the Body Electric
posted by Catie Profaci
Patti was one of my favorite Beanie Babies. Her bright magenta body and yellow webbed feet exuded a certain sunny optimism, and her strange resemblance to a flattened duck endowed her with an undeniable silliness. I remember feeling a bit confused as to whether she was a real creature or more akin to Mystic the […]
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