How many neurons make a human brain? For years, the answer has been (give or take) 100 billion. But neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel decided to count them herself. Her research approach involved dissolving four human brains (donated to science) into a homogeneous mixture -- in her lab at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Rio de Janeiro, they call it "brain soup." She then took a sample of the mix, counted the number of cell nuclei belonging to neurons, and scaled that up. Result: the human brain has about 86 billion neurons, 14 billion fewer than assumed -- but intriguingly, far more than other animals, relative to brain size.
She suggests that it was the invention of cooking by our ancestors -- which makes food yield much more metabolic energy -- that allowed humans to develop the largest primate brain. She's now working on elephant and whale brains to test her hypothesis.
What i like to think is, if she is correct then we seriously have to re think how we consume our food... Because now overfeeding & obesity starts from childhood and this has to be avoided. And hope that we stay in the steep curve of evolution, to evolve into a better species and earn the respect from our predecessors.
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David Gallo shows jaw-dropping footage of amazing sea creatures, including a color-shifting cuttlefish, a perfectly camouflaged octopus, and a Times Square's worth of neon light displays from fish who live in the blackest depths of the ocean.
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Author I am Harshavardhan B, a radiologist by profession. But I want to be more than that. I would like to live up to the meaning of my name HARSHAVARDHAN - creator of joy & happiness. Archives
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