BBC Science Focus - 02.2020

FROM THE

EDITOR

Wheredoesconsciousnesscomefrom?It’sthebig,

unansweredquestionat theheartofpsychology.We

havea pictureofhowourbrainsensestheworld

aroundit,howit createsandrecallsmemoriesandhow

emotionstakeshape.Butaska psychologistwhat

makesusself-aware,andyou’llgetdifferentanswers

dependingonwhoyouask.Somesayit’sanillusion,

otherssayit’sa by-productofourbrain’smechanics,andsome

eventhinkconsciousnesscouldbetheresultofquantumphysics.

Thewide-rangingnatureofthesetheories,andindeedthe

slipperynatureofconsciousnessitself,makesthingstricky.That’s

whyoneinstitutionhascreatedwhat,fromtheoutside,lookslikea

scienceBattleRoyale.A dozenorsotheorieswillgohead-to-head,

inwhat’scalledadversarialcollaboration.Inthisformat,teams

runmutually-agreed-uponexperimentsthatwillultimately

supportonetheoryanddisprovetheother.There’snomedal

ceremony,butonesidewillconcedetothetheorythatbetterfits

thedata.Bytheendoftheprocess,wewillhopefullybeleftwith

justa fewoptions,andwemightfinallycloseinonwhatexactly

makes us conscious. Discover the full, mind-bending story on p52.

Daniel Benne,Editor

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ONTHEBBCTHISMONTH...

Dofisheverget

boredinfish tanks?

p

STUARTCLARK

Lastyeara mysterious

objectvisitedusfrom

anothersolarsystem.

Astronomyjournalist

Stuartinvestigatesthe

missionthatcouldgetusa

closerlookif suchanobject

passes by again.p

DRELISARAFFAELLA

FERRÈ

Withcommercial

spaceflightonthehorizon,

researchersareracingto

discoverwhatliving

of fEarthmightdotoour

brains.PsychologistElisa

explainswhather

experimentsontheVomit

Cometrevealaboutthe

impactofgravityonour

cognition.p

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