CD133+ cells: How could they have an IMPACT?

How Could Language Have Evolved?

The evolution of the faculty of language largely remains an enigma. In this essay, we ask why. Language's evolutionary analysis is complicated because it has no equivalent in any nonhuman species. There is also no consensus regarding the essential nature of the language "phenotype." According to the "Strong Minimalist Thesis," the key distinguishing feature of language (and what evolutionary th...

Hyperactive children: could they have sleep disordered breathing?

To the Editor: Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is underdiagnosed in children and difficult to differentiate from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Both may present with similar symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, irritability, and daytime sleepiness. Sleep disordered breathing includes primary snoring or obstructive sleep apnea, which are surprisingly common among children w...

Potassium Ion Channels: Could They Have Evolvedfrom Viruses?1[W]

Potassium ion channels: could they have evolved from viruses?

All potassium channels share a common architecture consisting of their pore module with two transmembrane domains and a conserved filter region that selects for K ions. The current view is that the plethora of complex K channels in eukaryotes evolved from a pore module precursor via gene fusions and gene duplications. Here we suggest that this pore precursor might have originated from viruses. ...

Illusions of causality: how they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced

Illusions of causality occur when people develop the belief that there is a causal connection between two events that are actually unrelated. Such illusions have been proposed to underlie pseudoscience and superstitious thinking, sometimes leading to disastrous consequences in relation to critical life areas, such as health, finances, and wellbeing. Like optical illusions, they can occur for an...