According to palaeontologists (scientists who study fossils), over the last 20,000 years the average volume has been decreasing – possibly losing as much as 150cc (a chunk the size of a tennis ball). One possible explanation is related to the fact that brain size is correlated with body size. Humans have become smaller over the […]
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Surprisingly the only non-vertebrate animal protected by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act is the octopus. Why? More and more research is pointing to the octopus as a relatively intelligent animal. They can remember mazes, use tools, solve complex problems and appear to have a rudimentary consciousness. Conducting research on their brains appears quite difficult as they […]
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For a quarter-century, women have outnumbered men at Scrabble clubs and tournaments in America, but a woman has won the national championship only once, and all the world champions have been men. Among the world’s 50 top-ranked players, typically about 45 are men. The top players, both male and female, point to a simple explanation […]
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Humans have exceptionally large brains; taking body size into account the human brain is seven times larger than those of other mammals. It has long been assumed that the benefit of this large brain is high intelligence A Brazilian, Suzana Herculano-Houzel, has recently challenged this. There are a number of small brained animals who are […]
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“For as long as IQ tests have existed, there has been a steady, progressive and ubiquitous improvement in the average scores people achieve at a given age, mainly because of a raising of the lower scores. On average, IQ is increasing by 3 per cent per decade. The effect is so strong that it implies […]
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