elephants

Can quantum mechanics help a UK council plan when to collect bins?

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Josie Ford The order of not things Cambridge – of Cambridgeshire, not Massachusetts, before anyone jumps in – is famed as the academic home of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell and G. E. Moore, three philosophers who did much to elucidate, not to say obfuscate, language, logic and meaning. It is very much in their spirit, … Read more

Elephants: Trunk may be one of most sensitive body parts of any animal

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The bundle of nerves that controls the elephant’s trunk contains 400,000 neurons – a lot more than we expected – suggesting the trunk is incredibly sensitive Life 20 January 2022 By Jason Arunn Murugesu An Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) Gerry Ellis/Minden Pictures/Alamy Elephant trunks may be one of the most sensitive body parts in the … Read more

Not so lightweight: Hamsters handle their drink better than elephants

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Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Humans 12 January 2022 Josie Ford Boozing hamsters Feedback has a soft spot for hamsters, whose hoarding and nesting behaviours are similar to our own. Our feeling of oneness only increases with an article in The Atlantic forwarded to us … Read more

Rachel Carson’s Explorations of the Sea, the Human Relationship with Elephants, and More

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NONFICTION Rachel Carson: The Sea Trilogy Sandra Steingraber Library of America, 2021 ($40) Before Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring in 1962—a literary masterpiece and foundation of the modern environmental movement—she was a marine biologist and a prolific writer on the subject of the ocean. Carson first made her name with a trilogy of best-selling books … Read more

Elephants: Young males rein in aggression if older males are nearby

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Young male elephants will sometimes attack humans or other animals, but seem less likely to do so if they are in the company of older males Life 22 December 2021 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre A male elephant acting aggressively Connie Allen Young male elephants appear to manage their aggression towards anything that isn’t an elephant by … Read more