Franz H

If you refer to 'the earth' as the blob of mainly hot matter moving around space, yes. For 'the earth' as whats going on ontop of its crust, I would make the case that is a living being. Or an array/chain of many different beings. I agree that this living being has no problems in the long run as it will continue living far beyond the existence of mankind.

Is point 4 actually still up to date? I remeber reading that the orginial claim of overpopulation was debunked or even retracted.

Thank you!!! That's exactly what I was looking for! The fact that gene expression is influenced like that is truly amazing! Ah thanks! Very interesting as well!

Ok. So the brain is not needed for protein production. Makes total sense. Is it certain that there is also no way for the brain to influence protein production under specific circumstances? After taking a look at some placebo studies I severely wonder how such effects on the bodily healing abilities are possible.

Dear ScienceForums Community, I have tried to find an explanatory video to illustrate this process, but could only find videos about the inner workings of the DNA and how it is being decoded to build proteins piece by piece. So the process I'm interested in is the process of how (or if) the brain gives the order to start producing a certain protein. I'm wondering whether there is a certain chemical sent by the brain which then starts the process of protein production in certain cells. I'd be thankful for some insight by the biologists or neuroscientists out here! Best Regards Franz

Very interessting! Phenotypic plasticity seems to be the crux here. Thanks!

I think so too. We have inhereted the great tool of written knowledge passed on from earlier generations. Also there is the tool of passing on of information verbally still practiced by some other cultures than ours (the western world). That skill is sadly declining further with the decrease in the need to make use of our great memory capacity.

Good point. That question might not be answerable... Yet ;P Then you are a rather progressive thinker I'd say. Many people believe we are now significantly more intelligent than humans before big civilizations or even than humans a few hundred years ago.

Thanks for highlighting that. I think relevant is whatever interests the individual. If your maxime is intelligence, then not only brainsize is of importance of course. Wow thanks that is already very interesting! That is a great piece of summary. Now two questions remain: What about the brain size of hominids before 300.000 years ago? And if the brain size of Homo Sapiens Sapiens didn't change, did the internal structures change much?

Dear Scienceforums Community, In this article by Beth Blaxland and Fran Dorey (2018) changes in brain size amongst different human species were measured and compared in cubic centimeters (cc). Australopithecus afarensis: 450 cc Homo habilis: 610 cc Homo ergaster: 860 cc Homo heidelbergensis: 1250 cc Homo sapiens: 1350 cc This makes total sense to me. Yet I chanced apon this article via a link at the end of another article also by Fran Dorey from two years after the first one. Which stated that ,,Homo sapiens living today have an average brain size of about 1350 cubic centimetres which makes-up 2.2% of our body weight. Early Homo sapiens, however, had slightly larger brains at nearly 1500 cubic centimetres.''. So I came to this forum because I wanted to have an exchange with archeologists about the actual state of science in 2024. Did brainmass only increase over the course of time or did it actually get reduced in Homo Sapiens Sapiens? Blaxland, B. & Dorey, F. (2018). https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/larger-brains/ Dorey, F. (2020). https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-sapiens-modern-humans/