Can you upload a human mind into a computer? A neuroscientist ponders what’s possible

Science has done many things that seem miraculous. Why not transfer your consciousness to a machine?

Dobromir Rahnev, Associate Professor of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology • conversation
May 23, 2025 • ~7 min

How we discovered specific brain cells that enable intelligent behaviour

How do animals and humans come up with novel ideas? It may be down to some very specific cells.

Mohamady El-Gaby, Postdoctoral Neuroscientist, University of Oxford • conversation
May 1, 2025 • ~6 min

The world’s most bizarre secret weapons: how pigeons, cats, whales and even robotic catfish have acted as spies through the ages

The history of spying shows that many agencies have experimented with using animals for undercover work to gather information.

David Hastings Dunn, Professor of International Politics in the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham • conversation
Dec. 27, 2024 • ~7 min

Octopuses and their relatives are a new animal welfare frontier − here’s what scientists know about consciousness in these unique creatures

Animal welfare laws don’t protect invertebrates, but there’s evidence that some, such as octopuses, are as intelligent as many mammals – even if their cognition takes very different forms.

Rachel Blaser, Professor of Neuroscience, Cognition and Behavior, University of San Diego • conversation
Dec. 20, 2024 • ~11 min

Babies and animals can’t tell us if they have consciousness – but philosophers and scientists are starting to find answers

Dogs and infants may not be able to tell us what they’re thinking, but we are developing the tools that will help us find out.

Henry Taylor, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham • conversation
Aug. 19, 2024 • ~7 min

IQ tests: can you improve your score by practising?

Retaking an IQ test could boost scores by roughly eight IQ points.

Fernand Gobet, Professorial Research Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science • conversation
July 8, 2024 • ~7 min

Are young people smarter than older adults? My research shows cognitive differences between generations are diminishing

Young people are losing their advantage when it comes to IQ.

Stephen Badham, Professor of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University • conversation
May 1, 2024 • ~7 min

How food preferences are linked to cognition and brain health – and why a balanced diet is superior

Vegetarian and low-carb diets aren’t ideal for our brains.

Wei Cheng, Young Principal Investigator of Neuroscience, Fudan University • conversation
April 3, 2024 • ~9 min

Conspiracy theorists seem to favour an intuitive thinking style – here’s why that’s important

The pros and pitfalls of this type of thinking

Darel Cookson, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Nottingham Trent University • conversation
March 20, 2024 • ~7 min

Mounting research shows that COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain, including with significant drops in IQ scores

Two new high-profile studies add to the increasingly worrisome picture of how even mild cases of COVID-19 can have detrimental effects on brain health.

Ziyad Al-Aly, Chief of Research and Development, VA St. Louis Health Care System. Clinical Epidemiologist, Washington University in St. Louis • conversation
Feb. 28, 2024 • ~9 min

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