2020 YEAR-END ISSUE | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY 13
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Another Feather in
the Cap
Theyknowwhotheyare.Whetherit is a crow,a
raven,or anotherversionof corvid,theyareoften
renownedfortheirmemory,theirgift-giving,and
theirabilityto solvegeometricpuzzlesandbuild
tools.
Wellnow,scientistsfromVanderbiltUniversity
andtheUniversityof Tübingenin Germanysay
thebirdsalso“knowwhattheyknow”andcan
ponderthecontentof theirownminds,a degree
of intelligenceandinvestigativethought
resemblantof humans.
At 1.5billionneurons,theresearchshowsa
crow’sbrainhasasmanyassomemonkey
species.ButCorvidsaren’ttheonlybirdswith
brains.A 2014studyshowedcertaincrows,
rooks,andEuropeanjayscansolveanoldfable
challengeof droppingstonesintoa water-filled
tubeto bringa floatingbitof foodwithinreach,
somethingkidsgenerallycan’tdountilage7.
Thesebirdswerethefirstnonhumananimals
to solvethetask,accordingto thestudy.Sponge
Job
Whilemostseethemaslittleporous
mushroom-likestalkssproutingfromthe
seafloor,a groupof Harvardresearchers
nowseemarinespongesasidealmodels
forstrongerandtallerbuildings,longer
bridges,andlighterspacecraft.
Accordingto theresearch,the
diagonally-reinforced,squarelattice-like
skeletalstructureof Euplectella
aspergillum,a deep-watermarinesponge,
hasa higherstrength-to-weightratiothan
thetraditionallatticedesignsusedfor
centuriesin theconstructionof buildings
andbridges.
Usingthisnaturaldesignasinspiration
forthefutureof building,researchers
showedthepairedparallel,crossed-
diagonalstructureof marinesponges
improvedoverallstructuralstrengthby
morethan 20 percentandwithoutthe
needto includeadditionalmaterials.
Whencomparedto otherbuilding
strategies,thestudyshowedthesponge
designoutperformedthemall,capableof
withstandingheavierloadswithout
buckling.Have Your Caffeine Yet?
Contrary to common belief, research published by the American Psychological Association revealed caffeine
can help adolescents pay attention for longer periods of time.
In a study made up of three testing sessions, 31 adolescents consumed either 1 mg/kg of caffeine, 3 mg/kg
of caffeine, or a placebo before completing a continuous assignment. Scientists say the task lasted
approximately 30 minutes and required the participants to examine a stream of four-digit numbers to pick up
on the few identical pairs.
Each participant was asked to abstain from caffeine for 24 hours before each testing session.
While performance declined over time, the task’s early stage was comparable across all three doses.
However, researchers discovered performances among participants who received caffeine declined less as
time dragged on compared to the placebo.QUICK BYTES
Photo: iStockphoto.com/racerunner
Photo: iStockphoto.com/tunartPhoto: iStockphoto.com