The term ‘Anthropocene’ is intended to refer to a period in Earth’s history marked by overwhelmingly evident geological processes exclusively triggered by humans. Palaeobiologist Jan Zalasiewicz identified broiler chickens as a new form of animal that has the potential to become a marker species of the Anthropocene. “The enormous numbers of these chicken bones discarded worldwide means that we are producing a new kind of fossil for the future geological record’. In a recent paleontological study, lead author Roy Plotnick added that the fossil record of mammals will provide a clear signal of the Anthropocene. In the state of Michigan alone, humans and their animals (including chicken) compose about 96% of the total mass of animals. The chance of a wild animal becoming part of the fossil record has become very small. “Instead, the future mammal record will be mostly cows, pigs, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, etc., and people themselves. “ In the far future, the fossil record of today will have a huge number of complete hominid skeletons, all lined up in rows.”
SNEAK PEEK
1. Beyond now & here
Creative experts excel in distal imagination (imagining situations far away from “now” and “here”). They turn on a separate neural mechanism — the dorsal medial system default network, which is linked to thinking about others and is used for empathy. Who found it?
1. Meghan L. Meyer (Currently at UCLA)
2. Subliminal Pursuit
If you have decided to eat healthy foods, you don’t have to establish it as a goal to be sought consciously. Subliminal messages, like a poster promoting healthy eating, would suffice because it is consistent with your goal. Who spoke of this unconscious goal pursuit?
2. Juliano Laran (University of Miami) & team
3. Drawing an object
You draw an object, name it and view it. These actions may appear to be distinct processes taken care of by different parts of the brain. Who discovered that, far otherwise, people recruit the same neural representation of an object whether they are drawing it or seeing it?
3. UCSD Cognitive Scientist Judith E. Fan
4. Metabolic switching
Alternating between times of fasting and eating may trigger an age-old adaptation to times of food scarcity — metabolic switching. Who proposed that it occurs when cells use up their sugar-based fuel and begin converting fat into energy in a slower metabolic process?
4. Johns Hopkins Medicine neuroscientist Mark Mattson
5. Schools: class size
Smaller class sizes in themselves do not necessarily result in better pupil performance and achievement, says an analysis of data from a long-term study on the teaching of mathematics and science. Several other factors can influence the outcome. Who did the analysis?
5. Spyros Konstantopoulos (Source: Taylor & Francis Group)
6. Came from lakes?
Phosphorus is scarce on Earth but life requires it — lots of it. Certain types of carbonate-rich lakes, formed very early on Earth, have the right chemistry to provide high levels of phosphorous for organisms. Who proposed that life could have emerged from such lakes?
6. Jonathan Toner (University of Washington)
7. Those ‘V’ patterns
Served in a dish like sushi, salmon or tuna shows distinct ‘V’ patterns in their meat. It’s a muscle arrangement in many fish but it still remains a puzzle. Who saw it as an example of how temporally and spatially varying biophysical forces determine the form of an organism?
7. Timothy E Saunders (Mechanobiology Institute, NUS )
8. Figure-of-8 dance
A bee finds a source of honey, returns to the hive, and does a ‘figure-of-eight’ dance (waggle dance). This tells other bees about the distance and direction (angle from the sun) to the source. Who discovered it, and who found that the dance fails in landscapes altered by humans?
8. Nobelist Karl von Frisch / Dr. Christoph Gruter
9. Protect pollinators!
The US Postal Service’s ‘Protect Pollinator’ series focuses only on the European honeybee among 4,000 bee species. It is quite like focusing on chickens to save all bird species. Who warned that “We could be losing species or causing decline and not even know it”?
9. Utah State University ecologist Joseph Wilson
[ANSWERS]
1. Meghan L. Meyer (Currently at UCLA)
2. Juliano Laran (University of Miami) & team
3. UCSD Cognitive Scientist Judith E. Fan
4. Johns Hopkins Medicine neuroscientist Mark Mattson
5. Spyros Konstantopoulos (Source: Taylor & Francis Group)
6. Jonathan Toner (University of Washington)
7. Timothy E Saunders (Mechanobiology Institute, NUS )
8. Nobelist Karl von Frisch / Dr. Christoph Gruter
9. Utah State University ecologist Joseph Wilson
QUIZ No. 936
1. Who found a link between protecting African elephants and protecting eggplants?
– Louis-Ovide Brunet
– Nicholas Edward Brown
– Peter Poczai
1. Peter Poczai
2. Who reported that children exposed to pet dogs have a lesser risk of schizophrenia?
– Robert H. Yolken
– Herbert Spencer Gasser
– Walter Rudolf Hess
2. Robert H. Yolken
3. Who showed that most people choose to lie face-to-face, not through calls or texts?
– Dr. Brianna Verigin
. Marie-Louise von Franz
– Donald T. Campbell
3. Dr. Brianna Verigin
4. Who programmed a robot to watch and repeat his movements in a form of dance?
– Odest C. Jenkins
– Roland Carl Backhouse
– Steven M. Bellovin
4. Odest C. Jenkins
5. Which video game was created to motivate a country’s youth to join their air force?
– Demons to Diamonds
– Guardians of the Skies
– Pepsi Invaders
5. Guardians of the Skies