For a long time it was considered that emotions were mere physiological responses, basic processes, phylogenetically ancient, where the origin of «primitive» behaviour lies. In short, emotions were considered animal
What do a tree, a planet, an annoyance and a promise have in common? Their number: one! Numbers are the abstraction of language that enables us, among other things, to account for
It is the third time I have been offered erection pills. Not that I need them
There was a time when Homo Sapiens coexisted with other species of the same genus such as Homo neanderthalensis or Homo denisova. However all the groups were very small. Today
«Even being born results in a loud cry», Raimon sings. There are two crucial moments that demarcate human existence: birth and death. Death comes in many forms, agonising or peaceful,
I vividly remember a conversation about the importance of basic science at Harvard University with chemistry Nobel laureate Walter Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert stressed the importance of doing research in order to
If anything makes space travel particular is its roughness: fuel bursting in a controlled explosion, which, more than once, end up being uncontrolled. But space exploration based on chemical rockets is well established, it
Microbes are a constant source of surprise. Their «invisibility» does nothing but increase our puzzlement when a microorganism, or its activity, become evident for the first time. Although microbes are
The sun of a crisp spring morning gently casts its warmth over the immaculate green of a remote North American prairie. Hidden in the tall grass, a male funnel-web spider
The generation of scientists and physicians who lived during the interwar years (1914-1945) were specially involved in the military and political events that shaped the history of the twentieth century.
The World Wide Web does not increase polymathy instrumentally. The Internet rather discourages it. Actually, the Internet generation and the library generation have more than a generational conflict. They stage a cultural rupture.
Culture, understood as information transmitted via non-genetic means, begins in the animal world when biological evolution is quite advanced. Crows and chimpanzees, for instance, do not only use tools, but