Things Worth Noting
Sea urchins, long considered brainless animals with just a simple decentralized nervous system (five radial nerves, a circumoral nerve ring, and a diffuse nerve net), are actually one giant distributed brain. A major 2025 study using single-nucleus RNA sequencing on juvenile purple sea urchins revealed that over 60% of their cell types are neuronal, expressing […]
The “God gene” hypothesis by Dean Hamer suggests human spirituality is partly hereditary, linked to the VMAT2 gene, which affects monoamine levels in the brain, potentially providing an evolutionary advantage through optimism. Critics argue spirituality’s complexity beyond genetics, involving cultural and personal factors. Long Version The “God gene” hypothesis, introduced by geneticist Dean Hamer in […]
This article explores the search for the first animal, or the common ancestor of all animals that lived over 600 million years ago. It covers the earliest evidence of life, the first animals, and the rise of multicellular organisms. The search for the first animal remains an exciting and challenging area of scientific research. The […]