Philosophy Wire: Life. Terror.

Tiny, seemingly harmless ocean plants survived the darkness of the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs by learning a ghoulish behavior -- eating other living creatures. [1] I am alive. I will survive. I will eat others. I will kill. Look at me in the dark. Moving in the shadows. I am fear. I am terror itself. (Mother. Can you love me?) I am alone. I am weak. I am afraid. I could never survive without the ones who cannot! And in the darkness spread the word. I will be killed. I will die. I am strong. I will suffer!

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Philosophy Wire: Male. Female. Cosmos. Day. Night.

After 10 months of camera surveillance in the Tanzanian rainforest, researchers have concluded that female and male leopards are active at very different times of the day. The discovery contradicts previous assumptions and could be used to help protect the endangered feline, whose populations have dwindled by 85 percent over the past century. [1] Wake up. Someone else is falling asleep. Dream. Someone else is going to work. A cosmos in constant movement. With only one purpose. To make you go to sleep again. So that you can wake up. To wake me up. So that I can dream…

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Philosophy Wire: (Common) Brain.

Researchers conducted a first-of-its-kind study designed to investigate brain connectivity in 130 mammalian species. The intriguing results, contradicting widespread conjectures, revealed that brain connectivity levels (namely the efficiency of information transfer through the neural network) are equal in all mammals, including humans. [1] Brain. So unique. So common. We believe it means everything. But we do not notice of our heart crying. Information will be processed. Information will be understood. At the end we and everything else will know of everything.

And we will not notice that small fly flying nearby.

And we will be startled!

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Philosophy Wire: Flies. Humans. Cosmos.

Humans and flies employ very similar mechanisms for brain development and function. [1] Flies and humans. Same. And yet so different. Humans writing. Flies buzzing. We try to understand the cosmos. All the flies do, is to disturb us.

Petty flies!
Behold!
I am the creator!

The conqueror of the universe.
I understand myself!
At the end.
I even managed to fly!

But the flies…
Never manage to…
Oh, no!

Why is that fly bothering me while I write?!?

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Philosophy Wire: Antarctica. Frogs. Change.

A 40-million-year-old frog fossil from Seymour Island near the Antarctic Peninsula is the first evidence that amphibians like those alive today once inhabited Antarctica. [1] All things used to be different once. Things that are changing. And changing again. Only to show us that beyond all the things that do, there is something that does not change at all.

Take a good look.
Can you see?
Everything change!

(Why are you here?)

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Philosophy Wire: Falling trees…

Treefalls happen all the time, but this one just happened to occur in the exact spot where a decades-long ecological study was in progress, giving University of Illinois researchers a rare look into tropical forest dynamics. "After the treefall, we saw a very large spike in the total number of hummingbird species," says Henry Pollock, a postdoctoral scholar. "The year after the treefall happened, we got 16 unique individuals of this one species, and total diversity of hummingbirds more than doubled." And then, almost as quickly, the birds disappeared. "What that suggests is these birds are incredibly mobile and opportunistic," Pollock says. [1]

Falling trees.
Noise.
For a second there, the world speaks.
And there is no one there to listen.
Except birds.
Now the birds are leaving again.

Listen.

Falling seed.
Only Silence.

Listen.

The world is ready to speak once more…

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Philosophy Wire: Extinct…

Photo by Spiros Kakos @ Pexels

The Chinese paddlefish’s sharp, protruding snout made it one of the largest freshwater species in the world. Since scientists declared it extinct in a research paper published some years ago, Chinese internet users and media outlets had been paying tribute to the creature. [1]

Extinct.
Because a scientific paper says so.
So easy to accept that it does not exist now.
Lost in the mist of time.

An animal that you never saw.
An animal that never saw you.

Lost in the mist of existence.
Humans.
Extinct.
Cruel paddlefish.

You never cried for me.

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Philosophy Wire: Hungry!

A study sheds light on the mechanisms governing feeding behavior in fruit flies and how skeletal muscle communicates energy needs to the brain. [1] The mind controls everything. But it is the brain which provides feedback on how this is done. The brain controls everything. But it is the muscles which give input on what to do and decide. Humans control the Earth. But it is the little worm which defines how Earth will be governed…

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Philosophy Wire: The new king is dead. Same as the old one.

Fossil records show giant human-sized penguins flew through Southern Hemisphere waters - along side smaller forms, similar in size to some species that live in Antarctica today. [1] At some point the old penguins faded away. And their ancestors filled the Earth. Isn’t that always the case? Meet the new king. Same as the old king. Because it matters not. For all kings will eventually die. And the rule of the earth will come to those who never ruled. Can you feel the rain under the sun? Long live the King. The King is dead…

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Philosophy Wire: Catching birds… Sacrifice…

In ancient Egypt, sacred ibises were collected from their natural habitats to be ritually sacrificed, according to a new study. [1] Flying high. Past everything earthly. Caught. Killed. Spilling blood on the dirt. For people who dream of flying too. So noble a fate. So tragic a loss. Poor bird. Why did you die? Poor man. Why were you born?

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Philosophy Wire: Asexual. Sexual. Does it matter? (Life!)

Photo by Spiros Kakos @ Pexels

'Asexual' Chagas parasite found to sexually reproduce. [1] Sexual. Asexual. We are determined to categorize everything. As if we know what life is. As if it matters if reproduction is made in one way or the other. As if we know WHAT is being reproduced. If only we saw the cosmos as clear as the little worm. Don’t laugh at this worm. This worm can live forever. Crawling inside the dirt. And at the moment you step on it full of powerful arrogance, if you listen carefully you will hear the worm wisper… “Poor humans! Can’t you see you are me?”…

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Philosophy Wire: Knowing death…

Researchers review 200 years of documentation on how non-human primates respond to death. Researchers infer that non-human primates have some aspects of death awareness but, thus far, only humans conceptualize it at a higher order. [1] Knowing death. What a fallacy. How can you know anything which you do not know? Unless you do know it. Which means that any attempt to know it will destroy everything you know about it. Look closely at what you don't know. It doesn't look much. And yet. It is the only thing you know!

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Philosophy Wire: Dark sun. Bright moon…

Scientists combined a mirror experiment simulating a different direction of the setting sun and a new test procedure to measure orientation behavior in bats to understand the role of the sun's position in the animals' navigation system. The results demonstrate for the first time that a migratory mammal species uses the sunset direction to calibrate their compass system. [1] The sun is setting low. You will go to sleep now. And the moon will guide you through the dark alleys of existence. To the place where the sun shines forever. It is the darkness of his light that will once more guide you. Back to the bright light of the moon once again. See with your own eyes. There are no shadows in the dark…

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Philosophy Wire: Orangutans. Past. Future. Humans.

Orangutans are the only non-human primates we know of who can talk about the past. [1] Gifted we are. Seeing the past. Pondering on the future. And yet, there is something wrong with this nice picture. We used to cry. We used to laugh. Now we do neither. Now we cry about someone. Now we laugh about something. We used to feel. But now we don’t anymore. We just feel things. We used to exist. We do not exist now. We only do for a reason. We used to think. We do not think anymore. We just think for something. Only because we have forgotten that Being is only about non-thinking. The picture is crying now. Gifted we think we are. But the orangutan is laughing. Seeing the past. Pondering on the future. But only because he does not see the present…

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Philosophy Wire: Learning new songs…

Researchers have shown for the first time that they could teach young sparrows in the wild how to sing a new tune. The wild birds then passed the new songs on to the next generation. [1] What a wonderful cosmos. In the beginning there was silence. And then, suddenly, music filled the cosmos. But only because there was no music in the first place… Listen to that song… How delightfully silent…

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Philosophy Wire: Worms. Brain. Computation. Nothingness.

In tiny worms, researchers find spiking neurons and clues about brain computation: Studying neurons in C. elegans, researchers found that these roundworms, like most animals, process information using a digital, electric code. [1] A cosmos full of life. A cosmos full of information. A cosmos full of computations. A cosmos full of everything. What a void cosmos…

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Philosophy Wire: If humans were clever, would they flock?

Crowd panics, market bubbles, and other unpredictable collective behaviors would not happen if people were smart about these things and just thought through their behavior before they acted. Right? Wrong. A UC Davis researcher looked at how people behave in simple reasoning games and found that people are usually driven to "flock," or behave similarly to others in a given situation. Seth Frey, an assistant professor of communication at UC Davis, said this happens "even when people use the fancy reasoning processes that are supposed to make humans so special". [1]

Following others.
Mimicking.
Part of nature.
As humans.
As pigeons.

Do you think you stand out?
Try looking at a pigeon in the eyes.
No, you are not logical or clever.
You are just following the light.
And you are blinded by it.

Think about it.
Thinking is not what makes us special after all…

(Really. Ask the pigeons)

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Philosophy Wire: Roaring in silence…

Let the beasts roar to show their strength. [1] Be human. And stay silent. In order to show your weakness…

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Philosophy Wire: Animals. Humans. Under the bright sun…

Mammals go nocturnal in bid to avoid humans. [1] In the beginning we loved night (Dionysus). We used to wander in the forests and sing along with the birds. Then came our devotion to the Sun and logic (Apollo). We are enlightened men now. And the forest has started avoiding us…

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Philosophy Wire: Dog owners. Wise humans…

A study shows that dog owners live longer. [1] We like to live more. But once more, we have had our prejudice blind us. The most important humans of all time died young. Seek immortality. Through death. The only way to open the door towards infinity is through nothingness. Oh, and one more thing: Let the dog be…

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