最近在西班牙阿利坎特(Alicante)的露天考古遺址El Salt ,研究人員收集到了四萬至六萬年前生活在此地的尼安德塔人的糞便化石。使用在飲用水中偵測糞便的方法,拉古納特內里費大學的Ainara Sistiaga(University of La Laguna in Tenerife)以及麻省理工學院的Roger Summons,在糞便化石中檢測到肉與植物的生物標誌物(biological signature)。說得更具體一點,他們檢測到腸道細菌消化膽固醇(肉)以及甾醇和甾烷醇(sterols and stanols,為植物所特有)過程中產生的化學副產品。測試結果表示,在尼安德塔人的便便裡的確包含吃肉會產生的膽固醇和糞甾醇(coprostanol ),但它也含有顯著含量的植物甾醇,顯示尼安德塔人也吃植物。
在德國萊比錫的馬克斯·普朗克演化人類學研究所(the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)工作的古生物學家Amanda Henry也希望看到研究人員利用DNA,或是人類獨有的寄生蟲種類,或是一些其他的方法來更進一步地證明這些糞便化石來自尼安德塔人。不過,她認為這項研究是非常令人振奮的。Henry先前發表了對尼安德塔人牙菌斑的研究,而她的研究表明,當年在現今伊拉克生活的尼安德特人是會吃植物的。Henry認為,如果這篇有關糞便化石的研究結果是正確的,對於尼安德塔人是肉食動物的想法,是又一個有利的反證。
最可疑的是當天在場的俱樂部成員尼可斯(Herbert Bishop Nichols),他也是基督科學箴言報(The Christian Science Monitor)的科學編輯。可考的記錄中,他第一個對外提出相關描述,後來被視為吃猛獁象的證據。
海龜湯的幾位相關人猿。(A) 據說將食材從北極帶回的極區探險家 Father Bernard Rosecrans Hubbard。(B) 極區探險家 George Francis Kosco。(C) 晚宴主辦人 Wendell Phillips Dodge。(D) 保存樣本的 Paul Griswold Howes。圖/取自 參考資料3
原文研究: “The The The The Induction of Jamais Vu in the Laboratory: Word Alienation and Semantic Satiation,” Chris J. A. Moulin, Nicole Bell, Merita Turunen, Arina Baharin, and Akira R. O’Connor, Memory, vol. 29, no. 7, 2021, pp. 933-942. doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1727519
原文研究:“Necrobotics: Biotic Materials as Ready-to-Use Actuators,” Te Faye Yap, Zhen Liu, Anoop Rajappan, Trevor J. Shimokusu, and Daniel J. Preston, Advanced Science, vol. 9, no. 29, 2022, article 2201174. doi.org/10.1002/advs.202201174
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研究對象以西班牙語為母語,他們能在對話中輕鬆地將 banana 念成 ananab,或是將「 basket is fun」念成「nuf si teksab」。研究著重在這兩位有著特殊能力的人,推理、記憶能力是否優於常人,以及大腦灰質、白質比例與一般人(對照組)是否有差別。
大腦如何組織語言一直都是個有趣的研究題目,像是為什麼中文的序順不會響影到閱讀,這也是 A 編跟大家都一樣好奇的。而了解大腦語言是如何形成的,也能推進對於失語症、癡呆症的症狀研究。
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原文研究:“Neurocognitive Signatures of Phonemic Sequencing in Expert Backward Speakers,” María José Torres-Prioris, Diana López-Barroso, Estela Càmara, Sol Fittipaldi, Lucas Sedeño, Agustín Ibáñez, Marcelo L. Berthier, and Adolfo M. García, Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no. 10621, 2020. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67551-z
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原文研究:“Note on the Drawing Power of Crowds of Different Size,” Stanley Milgram, Leonard Bickman, and Lawrence Berkowitz, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 13, no. 2, 1969, pp. 79-82. psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0028070
原文研究: “Intense Upper Ocean Mixing Due to Large Aggregations of Spawning Fish,” Bieito Fernández Castro, Marian Peña, Enrique Nogueira, Miguel Gilcoto, Esperanza Broullón, Antonio Comesaña, Damien Bouffard, Alberto C. Naveira Garabato, and Beatriz Mouriño-Carballido, Nature Geoscience, vol. 15, 2022, pp. 287–292. doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00916-3