Crows Understand Cause and Effect, Even When the Cause is Hidden | 80beats. For the New Caledonian crow, birdbrain is a misnomer: These members of the corvid family have proved their problem-solving and tool-wielding abilities again and again. The birds may have yet another impressive cognitive capacity, a new study suggests: causal reasoning. The ability to link an event with the mechanism that caused it, even if that mechanism is hidden, is the basis of modern science—and our most basic knowledge of the world around us.
If New Caledonian crows are capable of causal reasoning as well, we can better trace and understand the evolution of this ability. Researchers described how they tested the crows’ reasoning in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Because the birds had to turn their heads away from the bird blind—where the probing stick had emerged—in order to nab a treat from the box, they were understandably cautious after the stick withdrew. Image courtesy of John Gerrard Keulemans / Wikimedia Commons. How Microbes & Plants Around Us Might Prevent Allergies | 80beats. Crawling my way to a healthier immune system. Bacteria are practically everywhere around us, including on and inside you, but that is in many ways a good thing. For instance, having a diverse set of microbes living on your skin might help prevent allergies.
A new study published in PNAS links two factors related to how microbes might affect our health: the observation that diversity of microbes on a person is related to the diversity of microbes in their environment, and the hygiene hypothesis, which suggests that the modern uptick in allergies and autoimmune diseases is caused by childhood under-exposure to bacteria. For a while now, scientists have known that kids living on farms are less likely to have allergies or asthma.
Being around livestock means the farm kids are also around a more diverse set of bacteria than city kids living in an apartment. [via ScienceNOW] Baby image via Shutterstock / Vulkanette. Spectacular Norway Northern Lights. Ornithorynque. Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. L'ornithorynque (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) est une espèce de petits mammifères semi-aquatiques endémique de l'est de l'Australie, y compris la Tasmanie.
C'est l'une des cinq espèces de l'ordre des monotrèmes, seul ordre de mammifères qui ponde des œufs au lieu de donner naissance à des petits complètement formés (les quatre autres espèces sont des échidnés). C'est la seule espèce survivante de la famille des Ornithorhynchidae et du genre Ornithorhynchus bien qu'un grand nombre de fragments d'espèces fossiles de cette famille et de ce genre aient été découverts[1]. Jusqu'au début du XXe siècle, il a été chassé pour sa fourrure mais il est protégé à l'heure actuelle. Taxonomie et étymologie[modifier | modifier le code] Les premières années qui suivirent la découverte de l’ornithorynque, certains scientifiques européens doutèrent de son existence réelle et pensèrent qu’il s’agissait d’un canular.
Description[modifier | modifier le code] Échidné. Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. Les échidnés (du latin echidna, du grec ancien ἔχιδνα / ékhidna, « vipère »; Tachyglossidae) partagent avec les ornithorynques au sein de l'ordre des monotrèmes un mélange de caractères reptiliens et mammifères typiques. Liste des espèces[modifier | modifier le code] Selon Mammal Species of the World (25 janv. 2013)[3], ITIS (25 janv. 2013)[1], Catalogue of Life (25 janv. 2013)[4], on recense quatre espèces d'échidnés actuellement vivantes : l'échidné à nez court : Tachyglossus aculeatus, découvert par Shaw en 1792, pesant de 3 à 6 kg, en Australie et Tasmanie ;les échidnés à long nez (genre Zaglossus)[5] : Le site Mikko's Phylogeny Archive[6], cite plusieurs espèces éteintes du genre Zaglossus : Description et mode de vie[modifier | modifier le code] Les échidnés vivent généralement en solitaire.
L'échidné dans la culture[modifier | modifier le code] L'échidné figure sur la pièce australienne de 5 cents. Voir aussi[modifier | modifier le code] WORLD HISTORY AND BOSNIAN PYRAMIDS 2011 - Fondacija “Arheološki park: Bosanska piramida Sunca, Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation. Almost everything they teach us about the ancient history is wrong: origin of men, civilizations and pyramids. Homo sapiens sapiens is not a result of the evolution and biologists will never find a “missing link”, because the intelligent man is product of genetic engineering. Sumerians are not the beginning of the civilized men, but rather beginning of another cycle of humanity. And finally, original pyramids, most superior and oldest, were made by advanced builders who knew energy, astronomy and construction better than we do. In order to understand the ancient monuments, we need to view them through three realms: physical, energy and spiritual.
Our scientific instruments are simply not enough to explain the purpose of oldest pyramids, for example. Mainstream scientists, archaeologists, historians and anthropologists, are often main obstacle for scientific progress. Gap between physical and spiritual science is to be bridged if we want to get fully understanding of the past. Greffer.net - Tout sur le greffage & autres multiplications végétatives.