Animals
Music
idea
I learned to hear the music of Earth’s underwater musicians
If we consider the sounds of whales and other organisms with an open mind, we find a strange beauty – and can even join in
by David Rothenberg
Animals
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Same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals evolved to keep the peace
Although these new findings can’t tell us much about human sexuality, they could help to solve an evolutionary paradox
by Shayla Love
Animals
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If animals are persons, should they bear criminal responsibility?
Were medieval trials of animal criminals not a sign of backwardness, but in fact strangely progressive?
by Ed Simon
Animals
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Human exceptionalism imposes horrible costs on other animals
We owe it to other animals and to ourselves to resist human exceptionalism. Accepting their inner lives is the first step
by Barbara J King
Animals
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A basic sense of numbers is shared by countless creatures
Birds, bees, cats and other animals have an ability to use numbers. How can this help us understand people with dyscalculia?
by Brian Butterworth
Evaluating therapies
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Time to move beyond the anecdotes around animal-assisted therapies
There’s so much excitement about using animals to help children with mental health problems, but what does the science say?
by Mirena Dimolareva
Animals
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Sex lives of the pygmy seahorses – a hidden, miniature marvel
Randy females, pregnant males and breeding quartets: the secret sex lives of the pygmy seahorses of Sulawesi in Indonesia
by Richard Smith
Nature and the environment
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Grey whales taught me how to mother, how to endure, how to live
When I was in crisis, grey whales taught me how to mother and how to endure, till I could find my own paths through change
by Doreen Cunningham
Animals
idea
Calling Australia’s wildlife ‘weird’ puts it at risk
To see Australia’s wildlife as weird or bizarre adopts the colonial framings of past naturalists – and puts animals at risk
by Jack Ashby
Knowledge and reason
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Babies and chicks help solve one of psychology’s oldest puzzles
From the beginning of life, both humans and other species can grasp important characteristics of the world around them
by Giorgio Vallortigara
Animals
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Be they friend or foe, animals share our blood and our planet
Human society is enmeshed with nonhuman animals: they are our kin and our fellow travellers on this planet we call home
by David P Barash
Nature and the environment
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A vast, thrilling world of nature unfolds outside of human time
Human life might stretch over decades, but the lifespans of many other organisms on this pale blue dot leave us in the dust
by Nicholas P Money