Popular idioms aside, birds can actually be quite intelligent, with some species demonstrating the ability to use tools and to develop complex social dynamics. This despite some substantial differences in the anatomy of bird brains compared to those of mammals, particularly humans.
neuroscience
Science Book Review: Unthinkable – An Extraordinary Journey through the World’s Strangest Brains
[In Unthinkable, Helen] Thomson profiles nine people from all over the world whose subjective experiences of that world push the limits of our ability to communicate about them.
Science Corner: The Prizes are in Bloom
[Karen Uhlenbeck’s] work laid the foundation for a whole new branch of mathematics, geometric analysis, and she also provided mathematical physicists critical tools for working with the Yang-Mills equations which are central to the Standard Model of particle physics.
Science Corner: Fruit Flies Like a Banana… And We’re Closer to Knowing Why
With the American Scientific Affiliation meeting coming up this week, I’ve got connecting on the brain. And now after catching up with the science news, I’m also thinking about the connections in the fruit fly brain.
Science Corner: Shape of My Brain
I’d be particularly curious to know if Sting’s brain reacts differently from other listeners, and if those differences are explained by his experience as a performer and composer, his particular genre-blurring musical tastes, or just being Sting.