ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 500

Australia’s Giant Penguins Outlasted Those On Other Continents

Plants and Animals





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Travis Park studies the fossilized humerus of an extinct penguin, with a stuffed modern penguin behind. Ben Healley

The adorable little penguins (Eudyptula minor) of southern Australia, the continent's only surviving penguin species, manage to support a large tourism industry single-flippered. Once, however, Australia was blessed with many of the flightless birds, and a new study suggests giant penguins survived there long after they had died out everywhere else.

3D “Semantic Atlas” Of The Brain Reveals How We All Give Meaning To Words

The Brain





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The semantic atlas of the human brain, where specific regions are shown to be designed to ascribe certain categories of meaning, like "social" and "visual." Nature video via YouTube/Gallant et al

A team of neuroscientists at the University of California (UC), Berkeley have made a major advancement in our understanding of the spoken word by actually mapping out how the brain organizes how we apply meaning to language.

James Webb Space Telescope’s Golden Mirror Unveiled For The First Time

Space





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The primary mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA/Goddard

The next great space observatory is off to a shiny start. The protective covers on the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) primary mirror have finally been lifted.

Billed as the successor to the Hubble space telescope, JWST will afford us fascinating views of the universe when it is launched in October 2018. It has been in construction since almost the start of this century, with its finish date constantly postponed, but now it is closer than ever to being ready.

Earth Doesn’t Get Weirder Than The Bubbling Springs Of Ethiopia

Environment





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Clouds of sulphur and chlorine over sulphur-rich salt deposits.Felipe Gomez/Europlanet 2020 RI

It might look like a drug-induced vision of hell, but for astrobiologists, the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is heaven. With chlorine and sulfur vapor fogs hanging above its near-boiling, bubbling salty lakes, it is one of the least hospitable places in the world.

When It Comes To Killing Pain, Friendships Are Better Than Drugs

The Brain





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When it comes to fighting pain, friends are better than drugs. Although research is so far silent on the combination of both. Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

When the Beatles sang “I get high with a little help from my friends”, they may not have realized just how accurate these lyrics can be. Friendship networks can have an opiate-like capacity to help us resist pain.

Cretaceous Bird Fossil Suggests Similar Digestive Features As Modern Birds

Plants and Animals





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Sketch reconstruction of the enantiornithine bird with indigestible fish bones ejected as a pellet. es, esophagus; gz, gizzard; pe, pellet. M. Wang et al., Current Biology (2016).

Researchers studying a 120-million-year-old fossilized bird from China discovered a compacted, football-shaped cluster of fish bones nearby. Many birds form these so-called pellets out of indigestible food items (like bones) in their digestive tract, and then regurgitate them. This discovery is the world’s oldest bird pellet. And according to a new Current Biology study, it suggests that birds in the Early Cretaceous already had a digestive system resembling that of modern birds. 

Neanderthal Diets Changed With Climate. Ours Didn’t

Plants and Animals





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A fossilized human molar used in this study. S.E. Zaatari et al., PLOS ONE 2016

Researchers studying tooth wear patterns in ancient Homo reveal that – as climate began to fluctuate severely in the Ice Age – Neanderthals adapted their diets in a different way than our own species. The findings, published in PLOS One this week, suggest that human dietary strategies gave our species an edge over Neanderthals. 

Can Marijuana Treat Opioid Addiction?

Health and Medicine





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Medical cannabis is currently legal in 24 states, with another 11 pushing for it. Cannabis Culture/Flick CC BY 2.0

To date, four U.S. states have decriminalized the recreational use of cannabis, while 20 others have legalized its use for medicinal purposes. People with qualifying conditions, such as cancer or multiple sclerosis, can get prescribed pot in order to help with the problem, but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that people with other medical conditions that aren’t on the limited list could also benefit from smoking marijuana.

Parents Found Responsible For Their Toddler’s Meningitis Death

Health and Medicine





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Luiscar74/Shutterstock

A Canadian court has convicted two parents accused of failing to seek appropriate medical attention for their son, who died of meningitis – an easily diagnosable and preventable infection that people can be immunized against via a vaccination.

David Stephan and Collet Stephan from Alberta, Canada, were found guilty under Section 215 of the Criminal Code, which includes "failing to provide the necessaries of life," for which the maximum sentence is five years in prison.

Rebellious Psychopaths May Also Be Creative Geniuses

The Brain





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Loki is often seen as the embodiment of a manipulative psychopath. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Gettyimages

Hunter S. Thompson once said that “some may never live, but the crazy never die.” This groundbreaking writer was certainly a fan of embracing a sense of impulsive madness, and new research reveals that he may have been on to something.