"‘A neural fossil’: human ears try to move when listening, scientists say"
Wiggling your ears might be more of a pub party piece than a survival skill, but humans still try to prick up their ears when listening hard, researchers have found.
Ear movement is crucial in many animals, not least in helping them focus their attention on particular noises and work out which direction they are coming from.
But while the human ear is far more static, traces of our ancestors' ear-orienting system remain in what has been called a "neural fossil".
"It is believed that our ancestors lost their ability to move their ears about 25m years ago. Why, exactly, is difficult to say," said Andreas Schröer, the lead author of the research from Saarland University in Germany.
"However, we have been able to demonstrate that the neural circuits still seem to be present in some state, [that is] our brain retained some of the structures to move the ears, even though they apparently are not useful any more."
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The Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II
The current regime has taken down the page for this memorial, and thank goodness archive.org has it backed up.
The Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II honors Japanese Americans who lived in incarceration camps and those who served in the US military during WWII.
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Automated Archives for January, 31st 2025
This post was automatically generated.
Chess For the Day
Record: 4-0-3
Net Elo Change: +4
Games Played
- Nevalawst27 - LOSS
- Sunarji - WIN
- rasturicic - WIN
- PFon - WIN
- Siamak_991 - WIN
- kayyees - LOSS
- Monkeydpiero - LOSS
Blog Posts On This Day
- January 31, 2024 (2 posts)
- January 31, 2023 (9 posts)
- January 31, 2022 (1 post)
- January 31, 2021 (9 posts)
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