Month: March 2024

Infants and markers: reply to Taylor and Bremner

In a recent paper [1], we suggested that the question of when consciousness emerges is best answered by asking when markers of consciousness that have been validated in adults might first appear. Taking four such markers, we argued in favour of an ‘early onset’ view, suggesting that consciousness is likely to be in place by […]

Published on March 23, 2024

Cluster kinds and the developmental origins of consciousness

There is a clue in the name. ‘Infant’ is derived from the Latin in fans (without speech). Human babies cannot report their experiences and are uncooperative (to say the least) when it comes to experimental task instructions. For these reasons, it has been difficult to establish when babies become conscious. Bayne and colleagues propose a […]

Published on March 23, 2024

Rose essential oil: A safe pesticide for organic agriculture

Following injury, plants release terpenoids to enhance their defenses. Researchers studying terpenoid-enriched essential oils (EOs) have found that rose EO (REO) can stimulate defense genes in tomato leaves. Furthermore, REO attracts herbivores that protect the plant from the moth species, Spodoptera litura, and Tetranychus urticae, a mite pest. This suggests that applying REO could be […]

Published on March 23, 2024