Among them is a new paper published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Researchers Gianmarco Maldarelli and Onur Güntürkün from Ruhr University Bochum emphasize three key areas where birds exhibit significant parallels with mammalian conscious experience: sensory consciousness, the neurobiological foundation, and the nature of self-consciousness.
Maldarelli and Güntürkün demonstrate that there is increasing evidence that (i) birds possess sentience and self-awareness, and (ii) they also have the necessary neural structures for these traits. Image credit: Kutte.
First, research on sensory consciousness reveals that birds do not just automatically respond to stimuli; they also experience them subjectively.
Similar to humans, pigeons can alternate between different interpretations of ambiguous visual signals.
Moreover, crows exhibit neural responses that reflect their subjective perception rather than just the physical presence of a stimulus.
At times, crows consciously recognize a stimulus, while at other times, they do not; certain neurons activate specifically in correspondence to this internal experience.
Second, bird brains possess functional components that satisfy theoretical requirements for conscious processing, despite their differing structures.
“The caudolateral nidopallium (NCL), which is akin to the prefrontal cortex in birds, features extensive connectivity that allows for flexible integration and processing of information,” noted Güntürkün.
“The avian forebrain connectome, illustrating the complete flow of information among brain regions, shows numerous similarities to those of mammals.”
“As such, birds fulfill criteria outlined in many established theories of consciousness, including the global neuronal workspace theory.”
Third, more recent studies indicate that birds may exhibit various forms of self-awareness.
While certain corvid species have successfully passed the traditional mirror test, alternative ecologically relevant versions of the test have unveiled additional self-awareness types in other bird species.
“Research has demonstrated that pigeons and chickens can differentiate their reflections in mirrors from real-life counterparts and respond accordingly,” explained Güntürkün.
“This indicates a fundamental sense of situational self-awareness.”
The results imply that consciousness is an older and more prevalent evolutionary trait than previously believed.
Birds illustrate that conscious processing can occur without a cerebral cortex, achieving similar functional solutions through different brain architectures.
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Gianmarco Maldarelli and Onur Gunturkun. 2025. Conscious birds. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 380 (1939): 20240308; doi: 10.1098/rstb.2024.0308
Recent studies indicate that humans possess the capability to detect objects without physical contact, a skill seen in certain animals.
Chen and colleagues. The first study examined human fingertip sensitivity to tactile signals from buried objects, while the second utilized a robotic arm with a long short-term memory model to detect objects. Image credit: Gemini AI.
Typically, human touch is viewed as a sense limited to direct physical interaction with objects.
However, recent insights into animal sensory mechanisms challenge this perception.
Some species of sandpipers and plovers, for instance, utilize a form of remote touch to locate prey concealed beneath the sand.
Remote touch allows for the detection of objects hidden beneath particles by subtle mechanical signals transmitted through the medium when nearby pressure is applied.
In a groundbreaking study, Dr. Elisabetta Versace from Queen Mary University of London and her team explored whether humans share similar capabilities.
Participants delicately glided their fingers over the sand to locate a hidden cube before making physical contact.
Remarkably, the study outcomes revealed a sensitivity analogous to that found in shorebirds, despite humans lacking the specialized beak structure that facilitates this ability in avians.
Modeling the physical attributes of this phenomenon, researchers concluded that human hands are so sensitive they can perceive buried objects through minute sand displacements.
This sensitivity approaches the theoretical threshold for detecting mechanical “reflections” of granules when the movement of sand is reflected by a stable surface (the concealed object).
When evaluating the performance of humans against robotic tactile sensors trained using long short-term memory (LSTM) algorithms, humans achieved a remarkable accuracy of 70.7% within the anticipated detection range.
Interestingly, the robot could sense objects from slightly greater distances on average but encountered frequent false positives, resulting in an overall accuracy of only 40%.
These findings affirm that humans can genuinely detect objects prior to physical contact, showcasing an extraordinary aspect of our senses typically linked to direct interactions.
Both humans and robots demonstrated performance nearing the maximum sensitivity predicted by physical models of displacement.
This research uncovers that humans can identify objects buried in sand without direct contact, broadening our understanding of the extent of tactile perception.
Additionally, it provides quantitative evidence of tactile abilities previously undocumented in humans.
The study also presents a valuable benchmark for enhancing tactile sensing in assistive technologies and robotic systems.
Emulating human sensory perception, engineers can design robots that incorporate near-human touch sensitivity for practical uses in tasks such as surveying, excavation, and exploration where visual cues are limited.
“This is the first instance of remote contact being examined in humans, reshaping our concept of the perceptual fields of living beings, including humans,” stated Dr. Versace.
“This discovery opens avenues for creating tools and assistive technologies that amplify the human sense of touch,” remarked Dr. Student Chen Zhenchi.
“These insights could lead to the development of advanced robots capable of performing delicate tasks, such as locating untouched archaeological artifacts or navigating sandy or granular terrains like Martian soil or ocean floors.”
“More generally, this research facilitates the development of touch-based systems that enhance safety and effectiveness in exploring hidden and hazardous locations.”
“What makes this study particularly intriguing is the mutual influence between human research and robotic research,” noted Dr. Lorenzo Hamone, a researcher at University College London.
“Human experiments informed the robot’s learning strategy, while the robot’s efficacy offered new interpretations of human data.”
“This serves as a prime example of how psychology, robotics, and artificial intelligence can collaborate, illustrating how interdisciplinary teamwork can ignite both fundamental discoveries and technological advancements.”
Z. Chen and colleagues. Exploring haptics for object localization in granular media: A human-robot study. 2025 IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning; doi: 10.1109/ICDL63968.2025.11204359
For many of us, mushrooms are merely peculiar forest growths, and fungi might seem like something that belongs in a dish with cream. However, scientists are increasingly revealing that fungi are far more sophisticated than we once believed.
Some claim fungi are “intelligent,” hinting at a select group of researchers who might possess consciousness.
This theory has stirred up controversy among experts, yet the rest of us are curious whether our breakfast ingredients think about us. What should we take away from such findings?
For ages, biologists have debated animal consciousness in species like fish and bats. Now, even brainless entities like plants, slime molds, and fungi are entering the discussion.
There’s likely more to mushrooms than just their appearance. Cecelia Stokes, a doctoral researcher in bacteria at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, clarifies this.
Underneath the soil, mushrooms connect with thread-like filaments known as mycelium or “hyphae,” which extend through the earth to find food and companions. The visible mushrooms are merely the reproductive organs of the fungi.
“[Fungi have] Stokes stated:
While it remains uncertain if such behaviors signify intelligence, she suggests that, since this concept has been linked to non-living entities like artificial intelligence, it may be “worth considering” a broader interpretation of intelligence.
A New Perspective on Fungi
Fungi have gained recognition, with research suggesting that their mycelium forms a “Wood Wide Web,” connecting trees within forests through nutrient-seeking networks.
They’ve also gained popularity as harbingers of the Zombie Apocalypse in popular video games and HBO series like Our Last.
Recent studies indicate that fungi can perform actions usually associated with humans and other animals, such as learning, memory, and decision-making.
Fukusaki and his team from Tohoku University in Japan noted this behavior while “feeding” the wood-decomposing fungus, Fanerochetevertina, with wood blocks in the dirt.
In a 2020 study, Fukusaki and his colleagues observed that the fungi “decided” on certain wood blocks over others, even “remembering” their growth direction after being relocated.
According to Fukusaki, these actions reflect intellectual behavior. “Of course, it’s not the same system as a brain,” he clarifies, explaining that the fungi’s “remembering” likely involves growing more towards the area where food was first located.
“However, I believe you could argue this is a form of memory within the mycelium system—a sort of structural memory.”
Slime molds, too, display memory-like behaviors, navigating away from previously explored zones during their food searches.
Mycelium not only extends through the soil to locate food but also detects environmental changes – Photo Credit: Getty Images
Last year, Fukusaki’s team conducted another experiment to see if fungi could “recognize” shapes.
Using nine blocks arranged in either a cross or circle in the soil, they monitored the fungi’s growth from the center outward. In the cross formation, the fungi ultimately left the central block to reach the outer blocks.
Fukusaki notes that while this could be a natural response to depleting central resources, he still regards it as “very intelligent.” The fungi’s ability to distinguish between the center and edges implies they recognize spatial orientation.
In their published work, researchers label this behavior as a form of “pattern recognition,” commonly used in computing to identify specific data combinations, but also applicable to how individuals recognize faces and sounds.
In the case of the circle formation, the fungi vacated the center, indicating they “determined” that enough food was already available, sharing this information throughout their network.
Given these findings, Fukusaki believes we gain a broader understanding of intelligence by viewing it on a spectrum. “This way, we can discuss intelligence in a wider context and compare ourselves to different life forms,” he states.
“If we define intelligence solely by human standards, we cannot effectively discuss its evolution.”
read more:
Extending Our Understanding
Studies like Fukusaki’s inspire new ways to ponder fungal consciousness, such as the “Fungal Heart,” a concept introduced by fungal biologist Dr. Nicholas Money.
He presented the argument in an essay for Psyche magazine in 2021, suggesting that fungi could possess consciousness if we broaden our understanding of what consciousness entails.
In his paper, Money asserts that “this broadens the identification of different forms of consciousness across species, ranging from apes to amoebae.”
Other primitive mind theories consider the notion of a “liquid brain,” explaining how slime molds and various microbial consortia process information without traditional neurons.
Furthermore, electrical signals detected in fungi are likened to those found in animal neurons, leading some to question if fungi possess a brainless nervous system, a topic also raised in discussions about plants.
However, for Fukusaki, the consciousness of fungi is less critical. “For me, it’s insignificant whether fungi are conscious; what’s essential is that they exhibit intellectual behaviors and can solve their problems,” he explains.
Stokes, on the other hand, finds the concept of consciousness too malleable. She acknowledges that fungi could fit into the same category as humans and other animals and could seem more relatable, yet she asserts that science “hasn’t kept pace with the complexity of the findings.”
By drawing such comparisons, she warns, “we overlook many of the unique biological features that set them apart from us.”
Theory Versus Evidence
Humans have a tendency to draw parallels; thus, what about claims regarding a brainless nervous system? According to Stokes, it’s no surprise that fungi and plants can detect electrical signals.
“Every cell generates energy through the movement of ions across membranes,” she explains. Mobile ions (charged atoms or molecules) are crucial for how cells function to produce energy.
However, while it’s easy to dismiss the theories surrounding fungal intelligence and consciousness as eccentric, it’s important to explore what drives these ideas.
Often, the urge to humanize organisms that seem unfamiliar to us serves to make them more relatable. Attribute human characteristics to species can, at times, sway public sentiment towards their protection.
Nonetheless, when it comes to the Wood Wide Web, some scientists argue that the theory has been overstated. The belief that trees communicate through fungal networks is often stated as fact despite the thin evidence supporting it.
Similarly, defining fungi as conscious under current frameworks might be premature and could potentially hinder conservation efforts. Conversely, altering the definition opens up too broad an interpretation. But, why does that matter?
“You don’t need to attribute human traits to recognize how fascinating fungi are,” asserts Stokes, whose research specializes in toxic “deathcap” mushrooms.
About Our Experts
Cecelia Stokes is a doctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the U.S., known for her contributions to scientific journals including New Botanist.
Fukusaki is an associate professor specializing in forest microbial ecology at Tohoku University in Japan. His research has been published in journals such as An Interdisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology, Fungal Ecology, and Forest Ecology and Management.
These toxin delivery systems are completely similar and often rival the complexity of the venom delivery systems found in animals such as venom snakes, scorpions, and spiders.
Four representative plant species introducing the poison delivery system: (a) Many ant plants share ants that provide homes and food. (b) Horstria, a parasitic plant that attacks other plants. (c) Stingy trichomes of stinging plants. (d) Raffide penetrates the oral membrane of an animal browsing a plant. Image credit: Hayes et al. , doi: 10.3390/toxin 17030099.
Toxologists and other biologists have studied toxic organisms and their secretions for centuries.
Their interest is largely due to the frequently and severe consequences of human exposure.
Humans also take advantage of the potential of toxins to explore the treatment of human illnesses and illnesses.
In doing so, scientists have leveraged countless natural experiments involving interactions between toxins and target cells and tissues.
The classification of biological toxins, in particular the distinction between venom and venom, is characterized by a colorful and sometimes controversial history.
Nevertheless, with the views of consensus and the introduction of the third phase, toxic biological secretions can be divided into three groups based on their mode of delivery to other organisms.
These include poisons that are transmitted passively without a delivery mechanism (intake, inhalation, or absorption of the entire surface). Toxicity was fed to the body surface without any associated wounds (e.g., spitting, spraying, or smearing). Poison (e.g., sting, biting) carried to internal tissues through the formation of wounds.
The organisms that possess these toxins are called toxic, toxins, and/or toxic, respectively.
These distinctions provide a meaningful framework for studying the evolution of these toxins, including biochemical structures. Related structures for synthesis, storage and application. And their functional role.
Discourses on poison and poisonous animals focus exclusively on animals.
The use of venom has evolved independently in at least 104 strains within at least eight animal phylums, which emphasizes the pronounced adaptability of the trait.
But do poison distribution systems exist in other entities?
“Our findings show that we rely on poisons to solve problems such as predation, defense, and competition.
“The venomous animals have long been trying to understand the fatal secretions and the properties associated with their use, but have long fascinated biologists who have also contributed to many life-saving treatments.”
“To date, our understanding of venoms, poison delivery systems, and poisonous organisms is entirely based on animals. This represents only a small fraction of organisms that can search for meaningful tools and treatments.”
According to the study, plants inject toxins into animals through spines, thorns and stinging hairs, some of which exist with stinging ants by providing living space and food in exchange for protection.
Even bacteria and viruses have evolved mechanisms such as secretory and contractile injection systems to introduce toxins to the target through host cells and wounds.
“I have a long history of studying venom in rattlesnakes, and I began exploring the broader definition of venom over a decade ago, teaching special courses on the biology of venom,” Professor Hayes said.
“My team and I were working on a paper to define what Venom really is, so we came across non-animal examples and decided to dig deeper to identify many of the possible overlooked examples.”
This research paves the way for new discoveries, and the authors hope that experts and scientists will encourage collaboration across disciplines and explore further how Venom has evolved across diverse organisms.
“We only hurt the surface in understanding evolutionary pathways of venom dissemination, including gene duplication, co-configuration of existing genes, and natural selection,” concluded Professor Hayes.
William K. Hayes et al. 2025. After all, it’s a small world. It is a prominent yet overlooked diversity of poisonous organisms with candidates for plants, fungi, protists, bacteria and viruses. toxin 17(3):99; doi:10.3390/toxin 17030099
To detect low-frequency vibrations, geckos use the saccule, a part of the inner ear traditionally associated with maintaining balance and body position, the institute’s biologist duo said. University of Marylandthis special “sixth sense” serves as a complement to the gecko’s normal sense of hearing and how it senses the world around it.
“As we know, the ear hears sounds in the air,” says Katherine Kerr, a professor at the University of Maryland.
“However, this ancient internal pathway is usually associated with balance and helps geckos sense vibrations traveling through media such as the ground or water.”
“This pathway is present in amphibians and fish, and has now been shown to be conserved in lizards.”
“Our findings reveal how the auditory system evolved from being visible in fish to being visible in land animals, including humans.”
In their research, Professor Kerr and colleague Dr. Dawei Han, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland, focused on: Tokay gecko (gecko gecko).
They discovered that the gecko’s saccule can sense weak vibrations in the 50 to 200 Hz range. This is a much lower spectrum than what geckos can normally hear.
This indicates that the saccule serves a different, but complementary, function to the gecko’s normal auditory system.
Geckos can hear sounds in the air, but many other reptiles do not have this ability.
“Discovery of the role of the saccule in gecko hearing may lead to a better understanding of communication and behavior in other animals previously thought to have limited hearing ability,” said Dawei of the University of Maryland.・Dr. Han said.
“Many snakes and lizards were thought to be ‘dumb’ or ‘deaf’ in the sense that they could not make or hear sounds very well.”
“But it turns out that animals could potentially be using this sensory pathway to communicate via vibrational signals. This has revolutionized the way scientists think about animal perception as a whole. Ta.”
The existence of this common sensory pathway in modern reptiles provides a unique window into the evolutionary history of vertebrate sensory systems, suggesting that the transition from aquatic to terrestrial environments may be more complex than previously thought. This suggests that gradual changes in auditory mechanisms are likely involved.
Although these discoveries are not directly related to human hearing, researchers believe there is always more than meets the eye – in this case, the ears.
“Think about going to a live rock concert,” Professor Kerr says.
“The sound is so loud that you can feel your whole head and body vibrating in the sound field.”
“You don’t just hear music, you can feel it. This sensation suggests that the human vestibular system may be stimulated during loud concerts, which This means that the sense of balance may also be closely related.
of findings Published in a magazine current biology.
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Dawei Han & Catherine E. Kartkay The gecko’s auditory pathway for sensing vibrations. current biologypublished online on October 4, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.09.016
Carpenter Ants (Camponotus) – Jumping spiders, a diverse genus of large ants that inhabit many forested areas around the world, are able to selectively treat the injured limbs of their nestmates by cleaning or amputating the wounds.
Injured (marked in yellow) Camponotus floridanus. His wounds are being treated by his nestmates. Image credit: Frank others., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.06.021.
For animals, open wounds pose a significant risk of infection and death. To reduce these risks, many animal species apply antibacterial compounds to wounds.
In 2023, researchers discovered another ant species, Megaponera analis, uses special glands to inject antibacterial compounds into wounds, reducing the chance of infection.
Florida carpenter ant (Camponotus floridanus) and other species of the same genus Camponotus. Notably, they lack such glands and therefore appear to use only mechanical means to treat their nestmates.
Dr. Eric Frank from the University of Würzburg and his colleagues discovered that this mechanical care involves one of two pathways.
The ants either clean the wound using only their mouthparts, or clean it and then amputate the leg completely.
When choosing which route to take, Ali appears to be assessing the type of injury and tailoring the best treatment approach based on information.
The study analyzed two types of leg injuries: femur lacerations and ankle-like tibial lacerations.
All femur injuries involved a nestmate first cleaning the cut and then biting off the entire leg, in contrast to the tibia injuries, which involved only mouth cleaning.
In both cases, the intervention resulted in a significant increase in survival of ants with experimentally infected wounds.
“With femur injuries, we always end up amputating the leg, and we have about a 90 to 95 percent success rate. And with tibia injuries, where we don’t amputate, we achieve about a 75 percent survival rate,” Dr. Frank said.
“This is in contrast to the survival rates of untreated infected femoral and tibial abrasions, which are less than 40 percent and 15 percent, respectively.”
The scientists hypothesized that preferred methods of wound care may be related to the risk of infection from the wound site.
Micro-CT scans of the femur confirmed that it was mostly composed of muscle tissue, suggesting that it played a functional role in pumping blood, called hemolymph, from the leg to the trunk.
When the femur is damaged, the muscles are damaged and the ability to circulate blood that may be contaminated with bacteria is reduced.
The tibia, on the other hand, has very little musculature and little contribution to blood circulation.
“With a tibia injury, the hemolymph flow is less disrupted, allowing bacteria to enter the body more quickly, whereas a femur injury slows down the rate at which blood circulates in the leg,” Dr Frank said.
“If tibial injury would hasten infection, one might expect that amputation of the entire leg would be the most appropriate option, but in fact the opposite has been observed.”
“It turns out that the speed at which the ants can sever the legs makes a difference.”
“An amputation surgery using ants takes at least 40 minutes to complete.”
“Experiments have demonstrated that in the case of tibial injuries, the ants cannot survive unless the leg is removed soon after infection.”
“This means that the ants cannot cut their legs quickly enough to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria, so by taking their time cleaning the wound in their shins they try to reduce a potentially fatal infection,” says Dr Laurent Keller, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Lausanne.
“The fact that ants can diagnose wounds, determine whether they are infected or sterile, and then treat them accordingly over time with other individuals — the only medical system that could match that would be the human medical system.”
Given the sophisticated nature of these behaviors, the next question to ask is how these ants are able to perform such precise care.
“This is all innate behaviour; ants’ behaviour changes as individuals age, but there is little evidence of learning,” Dr Keller said.
Eric T. Frank othersIn order to combat infections in the ant community, they amputate legs depending on the injury. Current BiologyPublished online July 2, 2024; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.06.021
This article is based on an original release by Cell Press.
Florida carpenter ants are unique in their behavior, as they have been observed selectively cutting off the injured limbs of their nestmates. This unusual behavior was discovered in a study published in Current Biology, where researchers found that the ants use this “surgery” as a form of treatment for their injured companions. The ants were observed to carefully evaluate each injury and decide whether to clean the wound or amputate the leg entirely, based on the extent of the injury.
Lead author David Levine, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Würzburg, described this behavior as unique in the animal kingdom, as it involves one ant surgically treating another without the use of any tools. Unlike other ants that have specialized glands for wound treatment, Florida Carpenter ants rely solely on mechanical means to care for their injured nestmates.
The study found that the ants have a high success rate in treating femoral injuries, where amputation is required, compared to tibial injuries that can be treated with a simple mouthwash. This indicates that the ants have a sophisticated system for evaluating and treating wounds effectively to improve the chances of survival for the injured ants.
Credit: Bert Zielstra
The researchers believe that the ants’ ability to diagnose and treat wounds in such a precise manner is comparable to the human medical system. Further research is being conducted to understand if similar behavior exists in other ant species and to explore the ants’ tolerance to pain during these prolonged surgical procedures.
of Tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima)a North American species of the goldenrod family Asteraceaecan recognize other nearby plants without touching them by sensing the proportion of far-red light reflected from their leaves. When goldenrod is eaten by herbivores, it adapts its response based on whether other plants are nearby. Are such flexible, real-time adaptive responses a sign of plant intelligence?
In the context of behavioral ecology, plant responses to environmental stressors are increasingly being studied. This is especially true for plant responses to herbivores, which mediate direct and indirect defense and tolerance. These seemingly adaptive changes in plant defense phenotypes in the context of other environmental conditions have prompted discussion of such responses as intelligent behavior. In their paper, Kessler and Mueller explore the concept of plant intelligence and some of its predictions regarding chemical signaling in plant interactions with other organisms. Image courtesy of Becky.
“There are over 70 published definitions of intelligence, and even within specific fields there is no consensus on what it is,” says chemical ecologist Professor André Kessler. Cornell University.
“Many people believe that intelligence requires a central nervous system, and that electrical signals act as the medium for information processing.”
“Some plant biologists equate the plant's vascular system with a central nervous system, arguing that there is some centralized entity within the plant that allows it to process and respond to information.”
But Kessler and his colleague, Michael Mueller, a doctoral student at Cornell University, disagree.
“Although electrical signals are clearly seen in plants, there is no solid evidence of any homology with the nervous system, but the question is how important they are to the plant's ability to process environmental signals,” Professor Kessler said.
To make the case for plant intelligence, the authors narrowed the definition down to its most basic element: the ability to solve problems toward a specific goal based on information obtained from the environment.
As a case study, Kessler points to previous research looking at goldenrod and its response to being eaten by pests.
When beetle larvae feed on goldenrod leaves, the plant releases chemicals that let the insects know the plant is damaged and a poor food source.
These airborne chemicals, called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are also absorbed by nearby goldenrod plants, causing them to develop their own defenses against the beetle larvae.
In this way, goldenrod attracts herbivores to nearby areas, dispersing damage.
In 2022, Professor Kessler and his co-authors Experiments were conducted To show that Solidago altissima They can also detect a higher proportion of far-red light reflected from the leaves of nearby plants.
If nearby plants are feeding on goldenrods by beetles, the goldenrod will grow faster in an effort to withstand the herbivores, but it will also start producing defensive compounds that help the plant fight off the pests.
In the absence of neighboring plants, plants do not accelerate their growth when eaten, and their chemical response to herbivores is significantly different, but they can still survive a significant amount of herbivore attack.
“This fits into our definition of intelligence: plants change their standard behaviour in response to information they receive from the environment,” Professor Kessler says.
“Neighboring goldenrods also become intelligent when they detect VOCs that signal the presence of pests.”
“Volatile emissions from nearby areas are a harbinger of future herbivore occurrence.”
“They can use cues from the environment to predict future situations and act accordingly.”
“Applying the concept of intelligence to plants could generate new hypotheses about the mechanisms and functions of plant chemical communication and may even change people's ideas about what intelligence actually means.”
“The latter idea is timely because artificial intelligence is a hot topic right now. For example, at least for now, artificial intelligence doesn't solve problems toward a goal.”
“Artificial intelligence is not even intelligent according to our definition of intelligence. Artificial intelligence is based on patterns it identifies from the information it has access to.”
“The idea that interests us comes from mathematicians in the 1920s who proposed that plants might function like beehives.”
“In this case, each cell acts like an individual bee, and the whole plant resembles a hive.”
“That means the plant brain is the whole plant, without any central coordination.”
“Instead of electrical signals, chemical signals are transmitted throughout the superorganism.”
“Work by other researchers has shown that all plant cells have a wide range of light spectrum recognition and sensory molecules to detect very specific volatile compounds emanating from nearby plants.”
“They can sniff out their environment with great precision, and as far as we know, all cells can do that.”
“Cells may be specialized, but they all recognize the same things, communicate through chemical signals, and trigger collective responses in growth and metabolism.”
“The idea is very appealing to me.”
Team paper Published in the journal Plant signaling and behavior.
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Andre Kessler & Michael B. Mueller. Induced resistance to herbivores and intelligent plants. Plant signaling and behaviorPublished online April 30, 2024, doi: 10.1080/15592324.2024.2345985
New research has implications for crew safety in space and could give clues about how aging affects the balance systems of people on Earth.
horges other. We addressed the question of whether body posture influences humans' perception of self-motion and distance. They found that the same amount of optical flow can elicit the sensation of traveling farther when lying on one's back and when sitting upright; that is, optical flow We found evidence that it is more effective in eliciting the sensation of movement. This constitutes evidence that visual and nonvisual cues are at least partially integrated, even when self-movement is presented only visually. However, we found no significant differences in performance in microgravity on Earth and on the ISS, suggesting that vestibular stimulation is not important, if any, in estimating visually presented self-motion.
The study's lead author, Professor Lawrence Harris from the University of York, said: “The perception of gravity has been repeatedly shown to influence perceptual abilities.”
“The most profound way to study the effects of gravity is to remove it. That's why we brought our research into space.”
“We have had a steady presence in space for nearly a quarter of a century, but our efforts in space are ever-increasing as we plan to return to the moon and beyond, ensuring health and safety. It is becoming increasingly important to answer questions about
“Based on our findings, it appears that humans are surprisingly able to use vision to adequately compensate for the lack of Earth's normal environment.
For the study, Professor Harris and his colleagues surveyed more than a dozen astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which orbits about 400 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
“Here, Earth's gravity is almost canceled out by the centrifugal force generated by the station's orbit. In the resulting microgravity, the movement of people becomes close to flight,” Professor Harris said.
“People had previously reported anecdotally that they felt like they were traveling faster or farther than they were actually in space, so this actually motivated us to record this.”
The authors compared the performance of 12 astronauts (six men and six women) before, during, and after a year-long mission to the space station and found out how far they traveled. I discovered that my sense of what I had done was almost intact.
Space missions were hectic endeavors, and it took several days for researchers to make contact with the astronauts after arriving at the space station.
“Our study may not have captured early adaptations that may have occurred during the first few days. Because whatever adaptations occur, they occur very quickly. This remains a good news message,” Professor Harris said.
Space missions are not without risks. Because the ISS orbits around the Earth, small objects can occasionally collide with it and enter the ship, where astronauts must move to safety.
“During the experiment, the ISS had to take many evasive maneuvers,” Professor Harris said.
“Astronauts need to be able to get to safety or escape through a hatch on the ISS in an emergency. So to see that they were actually able to do this with great precision was very exciting. I felt relieved.”
“Our research shows that exposure to microgravity mimics the aging process primarily at a physiological level, including bone and muscle wasting, changes in hormonal function, and increased susceptibility to infections. However, this paper found that self-movement was largely unaffected, suggesting a balance problem.''The problem, which often comes from old age, may have nothing to do with the vestibular system. ”
“This suggests that the mechanisms of movement perception in older people should be relatively unaffected, and that the problems associated with falls are probably more to do with this than in terms of perception of distance traveled. How can they translate that into a balance reflex? ”
B. Horges other. 2024. Effects of long-term exposure to microgravity and body orientation relative to gravity on perceived distance traveled. NPJ microgravity 10, 28; doi: 10.1038/s41526-024-00376-6
WASHINGTON — Tails were once a feature of our ancient animal ancestors. Why did they disappear?
Around 20 to 25 million years ago, during the split between apes and monkeys, the evolutionary branches of our family tree shed their tails. Scientists have been puzzled about the reasons behind this change since the time of Darwin.
Now, a group of researchers has pinpointed at least one crucial genetic mutation that played a role in this transformation.
“We identified a single mutation in a highly important gene,” explained Beau Xia, a geneticist at the Broad Institute and one of the authors of the study that was recently published in Nature magazine.
By comparing the genetic makeup of six types of great apes, including humans, and 15 species of tailed monkeys, researchers found significant genetic differences between the two groups. To test their hypothesis, they used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to alter the same genetic spot in mouse embryos, leading to the birth of tailless mice.
Xia cautioned that there may be other genetic factors contributing to the loss of tails.
An intriguing aspect of this evolutionary change is whether the absence of tails conferred an advantage to our ape ancestors and ultimately to humans. Was it a random mutation or did it serve a purpose in survival?
“It could have been purely coincidental, but it may have provided a significant evolutionary benefit,” suggested Miriam Konkel, an evolutionary geneticist at Clemson University who was not part of the study.
Various theories speculate on the advantages of being tailless. Some suggest that it may be linked to the development of upright walking in humans.
Rick Potts, who leads the Human Origins Project at the Smithsonian Institution and was not involved in this study, believes that the absence of tails in some apes could be due to their vertical posture even when still in trees. This transition might have been the initial step.
Although not all great apes are land dwellers, orangutans and gibbons are examples of tailless apes that continue to live in trees. Their movements differ significantly from monkeys, as they do not need tails for balance while moving among branches.
Study co-author Itai Yanai, a biologist at New York University, acknowledges that losing the tail was a major change. However, the true reasons behind it remain a mystery that can only be unraveled with a time machine.
A juvenile Patilia miniata starfish with fluorescent staining highlighting the skeleton, muscles, and nervous system.
Laurent Formery
Scientists trying to figure out where the starfish’s head is located have come to the surprising conclusion that the starfish is practically the entire body of the animal. The discovery not only solves this long-standing mystery, but also helps us understand how evolution created the dramatic diversity of animal forms on Earth.
Starfish, also known as sea stars, belong to a group of animals called echinoderms, which includes sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Their strange body design has long puzzled biologists. Most animals, including humans, have distinct cranial and caudal ends, and a line of symmetry runs down the middle of the body, dividing it into two halves of its mirror image. Animals with this bilateral symmetry are called bilateral animals.
Echinoderms, on the other hand, have five lines of symmetry radiating from a central point and no physically obvious heads or tails. However, they are closely related to animals like us, having evolved from bilaterally symmetrical ancestors. Even larvae are bilaterally symmetrical and then radically reorganize their bodies as they metamorphose into adults.
These large differences make it difficult for scientists to find and compare equivalent body parts in bilateral animals to understand how echinoderms evolved. “Morphology tells us very little,” he says. Laurent Formery at Stanford University in California. “That’s too strange.”
Formalie and his colleagues decided to examine a set of genes known to direct head-to-tail control. All bilateralist organizations. In these animals, these genes are turned on and expressed in stripes in the outer layers of the developing embryo. The genes expressed in each stripe define which point it is on the cranio-caudal axis.
The aim was to see if gene expression patterns could reveal the hidden “molecular anatomy” of echinoderms. “This particular gene suite is ideal for investigating the diversity of the most extreme forms of animals,” says the team leader. chris lowe, also at Stanford University. “I think echinoderms are a very extreme experiment in how to use that bidirectional network to produce very, very different body plans.”
To the team’s surprise, the gene that determines the head edge of bilateral animals was expressed in a line running down the center of each star star’s lower arm. The next leading gene is expressed on both sides of this line, and so on.
Even more bizarrely, genes normally expressed in the trunk of bilateral animals were missing from the animals’ outer layers. This suggests that the starfish abandoned its trunk region and released its outer layer to evolve in a new direction, Formery said.
The findings show that “the bodies of echinoderms, at least with respect to their external surfaces, are essentially lip-walking heads.” Thurston Lacari from the University of Victoria, Canada, was not involved in the study. Animals like us may have swam away to escape predation. “Echinoderms didn’t need trunks because they were hunched over and armored,” Lacari says.
The idea that echinoderms are “head-like” animals is “interesting and powerful,” he says. Andreas Heyland at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. This raises some very important and fundamental questions about how ecological factors shape the evolution of anatomy, he says. “Finding the underlying conserved patterns provides important insights into how development evolves.”
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