Categoría: Sentience in Animals
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What is the problem of consciousness?
The problem of consciousness can be formulated as follows: how is it that, from a purely material basis (a brain or a centralized nervous system), consciousness emerges? This is what the problem of consciousness really boils down to. Answering this requires answering the question, what structures must be present in an organism and how would they…
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Researchers discover technique to alter a patient’s DNA that could cut chronic agony for sufferers
Scientists have discovered how to switch off a key ‘pain gene’, dramatically raising hopes of a long-term treatment to relieve the agony of serious illness for millions. The revolutionary technique alters a patient’s DNA, silencing a gene that transmits pain signals up the spine. Preliminary studies on mice have already proven successful and US researchers…
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Living robots created as scientists turn frog cells into entirely new life-forms
Xenobots. Could self-replicating blissbots create a happiness explosion? Seen in The hedonistic Imperative «The world’s first living robots have been built using stem cells from frog embryos, in a strange machine-animal hybrid that scientists say is an ‘entirely new life-form.’» Read more
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Researchers are keeping pig brains alive outside the body
There was no evidence that the disembodied pig brains regained consciousness. However, in what Sestan termed a “mind-boggling” and “unexpected” result, billions of individual cells in the brains were found to be healthy and capable of normal activity. “These brains may be damaged, but if the cells are alive, it’s a living organ,” says Steve…
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List of Animals That Have Passed the Mirror Test
When conducting the mirror test, scientists place a visual marking on an animal’s body, usually with scentless paints, dyes, or stickers. They then observe what happens when the marked animal is placed in front of a mirror. The researchers compare the animal’s reaction to other times when the animal saw itself in the mirror without…
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Scientists put 3D glasses on cuttlefish and showed them film clips. The results were surprising
The researchers successfully demonstrated that, like humans, cuttlefish brains can compute distance using incoming information from both eyes at once. However, they write in the paper, «Cuttlefish stereopsis is likely afforded by a different algorithm than in humans, and not just a different implementation. Read more
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Parrots using currency
❝ The birds’ generosity has animal scientists intrigued. It’s one thing to pass a partner a piece of grub; it’s another to give them the currency to purchase it. Such acts of charity have long been thought to be restricted to primates like humans, orangutans and bonobos. Few, if any, other mammals were thought capable…
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Alex the parrot
«Alex had a vocabulary of over 100 words, but was exceptional in that he appeared to have understanding of what he said. For example, when Alex was shown an object and was asked about its shape, color, or material, he could label it correctly. He could describe a key as a key no matter what…
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Animals without neurons
According to this lists, Sponge and Trichoplax are animal species without neurons. Sponge (source) Trichoplax adhaerens / Placozoa (source)
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El imperativo de abolir el sufrimiento: una entrevista con David Pearce
English | Español | Português Foto: Peter Singer, Justin Oakley y David Pearce en el evento EA Global Melbourne. David Pearce es un filósofo británico famoso por su propuesta de que los humanos tenemos un gran imperativo ético para trabajar por la abolición del sufrimiento de todos los seres sintientes (conocida como «El Imperativo Hedonista«).…