Basically, by performing magic tricks for animals, or employing equipment inspired by stage magic techniques, we can figure out what is surprising to various animals and what is not. By learning how they expect to the world to work and what is unexpected to them, we can understand more about their models of cause and effect and their capacity for various sorts of abstract thought.
Science Corner: Something in the Air
We’ve talked about extraterrestrial gases as a sign of life before, when a methane anomaly was detected by a Mars rover. This time, it was spectral analysis of Venus’ atmosphere causing a stir.
Science Corner: If I Could Turn Back Time
Some of the pleasure of the film is experiencing the twists as they are revealed, but we learn earlier than I expected that the story centers around technology to invert the flow of time and/or entropy.
Science Corner: Maze Runner – The Slime Mold Trials
Some cells need to move around, whether they are unicellular organisms in search of more food or cells of your immune system looking for an infection. The typical explanation for how they know where to go is chemotaxis.
Science Corner: One Is The Likeliest Number
For many real world data sets, what we actually observe is that the smaller digits are more likely, with 1 tending to be the most common digit.