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In the News: Did Early Europeans Interbreed with Neanderthals?

tanner vea — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:28:20 +0000

Neanderthal reconstruction
Photo: Stefan Scheer, Neanderthal Museum, Mettman, Germany

There were thousands of years that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens inhabited the same regions in Europe. How much did these groups intermingle?

One answer comes from looking at early human DNA… Does it contain any genetic traces of interbreeding with Neanderthals?

The answer, apparently is no. The scientists behind a recent study published in the journal Cell sequenced the mitochondrial DNA of a Neanderthal who lived 38,000 years ago.

While the scientists have been congratulated for the feat — it’s difficult to build a reliable sequence using ancient DNA — the results show no evidence of intermingling.

Get the full story here.

In the News: Why We Attribute Human Qualities to Machines

tanner vea — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:00:31 +0000

It feels natural to attribute human-like properties to machines — think of encouraging and then cursing a computer that seems determined to lose your files. Now researchers observe that the more “human” a robot seems, the more active are the brain regions that think about the intentions and desires of others — even if that other is a machine.

Read the full story here.

In the News: Electrical Stimulation May Improve Learning

tanner vea — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:18:45 +0000

Photo courtesy of Brain Stimulation Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

The brain uses electrical signals to transmit messages along its cells. What happens if you add some external electricity to the process?

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation basically does just that – an electrical current is applied to the head and passed to the brain.

Preliminary results suggest that TDCS could enhance memory and learning.

Read the full story.

Find out more about the Brain Stimulation Unit of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

In the News: Monkeys That Can Count

tanner vea — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:07:46 +0000

Most of the specialized abilities we think of as uniquely human didn’t just burst into existence fully-formed in the human brain. They are based on precursors that we can still see in our evolutionary relatives. So while we can manipulate elaborate equations with square roots and derivatives, monkeys can “count” audible beeps and equate them to visual representations of the same amount. Read this article and check out the video of these macaques listening and choosing – and showing that human beings aren’t the only ones who can keep count.

Researcher Kerry Jordan shared her thoughts with us:

“What makes us unique as humans in the domain of mathematics is our use of an exact counting system that depends on language. Symbolic number systems are so important to human thought that most cultures all around the world have developed them. This is despite the fact that we share a primitive number system with animals – from birds to mammals – which already allows us to estimate quantities without using language.”

Read the full article here.

Video credit: Elizabeth Brannon and Kerry Jordan of Duke University