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Articles by Eric J. Cassell
Found: Oldest Evidence for an Organismal Magnetic Compass
Research conducted by a group led by scientists from Cambridge University and the Max Planck Institute has found the oldest evidence for the possible use of a magnetic compass by an organism.1 The evidence exists in so-called magnetofossils found in marine sediments that have been dated to 97 million years old. The material in the fossils is magnetite, which is one of the theorized mechanisms for animal magnetoreception.
Bee-ing There: Innovative Behavior by Bees
A paper published in the journal Science by a group of scientists in Finland provides new evidence for innovative behavior by bees.1 There has not been significant evidence of problem solving and innovative behavior in insects. This experiment tested whether bumblebees could move a ball to a position where it would enable gaining access to a reward. To achieve this a bee first had to roll the ball into a pit underneath a flower and then climb onto it to access the reward (sucrose).
Without Design Hypothesis, Bee Decision-Making Is a Mystery
Animals are constantly faced with having to make behavioral decisions. An example is when they forage — searching for food. Bee behavior when questing for pollen and nectar has been a favorite subject for biologists to study. One reason is that rather than searching randomly for flowers, bees exhibit clear tendencies and preferences. Research has determined that bees use information about flower characteristics to make their foraging decisions.
Three Animal Magnetic Compass Mechanisms, All by Design
In 1855 Russian zoologist Alexander von Middendorff was one of the first scientists to postulate that animals could sense the Earth’s magnetic field and use it for navigation.1 Versions of a magnetic compass are now known to exist in all vertebrate classes (birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals), as well as insects and some bacteria.
Animal Algorithms: Moth Celestial Navigation
It has been known for some time that some birds migrating long distances can use the stars to navigate. This is a form of celestial navigation. One type of celestial navigation is to use the star Polaris (the so-called north star) to indicate north.
Evolution News and Science Today
Many different animals use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate when migrating. Because of their impressive long-distance migration, birds are probably the animals best known for their feats of navigation, including the use of a magnetic compass. Sea turtles also well known for impressive navigation and migration. The magnetic field has three components — declination (angle relative to true north), inclination (angle relative to horizontal), and intensity (field strength).
The Tiniest Brain Is Not Simple
The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans has the smallest brain in a free-living animal. There are two forms of C. elegans, male and hermaphrodite. The hermaphrodite brain contains only 302 neurons and the male 385 neurons. The physical characteristics and brain design are different, but there is much in common. The entire body contains approximately 900 cells and is only one millimeter long.
Brain Miniaturization in Some Very Small Insects
In the last several years there has been increased interest in and research into so-called “microinsects.” These are insects that are miniaturized compared to the majority of other insect species. They include species of wasps, beetles, and ants. An example is the wasp Megaphragma mymaripenne (pictured above), which is only 200 micrometers long (1⁄125 inch) and is the third smallest known insect. Such microinsects are comparable in size to some single-celled organisms. M.
Study Unravels the Mystery of Fish Hearing
A newly published study in the journal Nature concerning fish hearing has apparently unraveled the mechanism for how they determine the direction of sound.1 For a long time it was believed that fish did not possess any sense of hearing. One reason was because they do not have external ears. That ignored the fact that hearing is accomplished by the inner ear in most animals. It was Nobel Prize-winner Karl von Frisch who conducted experiments in the 1930s that proved fish can hear sounds.
Month: July 2024
Photo: Copyright holder: Denis Noble ("I certify that I own the copyright to this photograph."), Copyrighted free use, via Wikimedia Commons.
Darwinism
caleb-fisher-kI9g40XHb0w-unsplash Intelligent Design Watch: For July 4th, an Intelligent Design-Themed Tour of Washington, DC Intelligent Design Our nation’s capital is steeped in lessons from U.S. history. You could spend years there trying to gather up and learn from them all. In a way the whole city is a memorial to the ideas that inspired the American Founding.
Some Scientists Push Animal Consciousness
Skip to content A group of prominent scientists and philosophers have published a declaration that there is evidence that a wide range of animals exhibit signs of consciousness.
Study Reveals Secrets of Honey Bee Waggle Dance
Skip to content The honey bee “waggle dance” is the method used to communicate to members of a hive information about the location of food sources as well as potential nest locations. The information includes direction and distance. One of the mysteries about the method is how other bees are able to detect the direction that the dancer bee is attempting to communicate. There are several factors that make detecting direction challenging for the observing bees.
Common Design in a Magnetic Compass
A recent article in Biology Letters, published by the Royal Society, provides some of the first evidence that mammals can navigate using a magnetic compass. The finding is significant because there has been little data previously to confirm that mammals navigate long distances using the earth’s geomagnetic field. Some bats migrate hundreds of miles. Being nocturnal, migratory bats must navigate without reliance on visual cues, which is why it has been a mystery how that is accomplished.
A Physician's Lessons in Vulnerability
There are times when the art of medicine and caring for others involves practicing a singular type of expertise — a willingness to be human. BeeLine Reader uses subtle color gradients to help you read more efficiently. My work as an emergency physician has always struck me as a fundamentally creative act. Caring for patients demands creativity as a clinical skill. This insight is neither groundbreaking nor original.
Hank Hanegraaff and Animal Algorithms Author Eric Cassell, Pt. 2
Share Facebook Twitter Print arroba Email Type post Date April 18, 2022 Categorized Intelligent Design Tagged , aircraft navigation, altruism, Animal Algorithms, animal navigation, ant colonies, army ants, Artificial Intelligence, biomimetics, Boeing 737, Charles Darwin, complex systems, constrained optimization, Convergent evolution, design trade-offs, eusocial behavior, evo-dev, Evolution, evolutionary developmental biology, eye evolution, eyes, Hank Hanegraaff, insect architecture,...
The Breakthrough Problem, or Why the Drugs Don’t Work Like They Used To
Thinking may have become easier, but thinking big is as challenging as ever. BeeLine Reader uses subtle color gradients to help you read more efficiently. Louis Pasteur, aged 57, already the most feted scientist of his age, was on the cusp of a new breakthrough. Pasteur had been studying chicken cholera. While preparing the bacillus, he accidentally left the cultures in his laboratory for the summer. Returning in the autumn, Pasteur stumbled across his old experiment.
The Paradox of a Man’s Most-Feared Test, the PSA
The prostate-specific antigen test is one of the most lauded tests for prostate cancer. It’s also controversial and fraught with uncertainty. “Should I get a PSA test?” During the course of researching my book, I heard this question a lot. Even when it wasn’t asked straight out, I could feel it in the air, hovering above my conversations with men about their prostates. “Is the test any good? What sort of number should I have? What sort of number do I want to have?
The goals of medicine do not stop at the edge of the body
Over the last 100 years, the world, people, and our society have changed beyond measure. So have diseases, and we are now almost 75 years into the first ever age where cure of disease, successful organ transplants and near complete recovery from trauma has been possible. Despite all of this change, however, medical school curricula have hardly changed in a hundred years.
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