Can you imagine what it's like to be a wild animal or your pet. Tricky, right? It's easy to fall into the trap of imagining your own emotions and senses in an animal's body, but the reality would surely be very different. For starters, the mind of an octopus or a pigeon is very different to that of a human. Scientists would like to know how creatures experience the world and, when they talk about it, they use the word "consciousness".
What is consciousness?
The first big problem is that many experts disagree on the exact definition of consciousness, which can make research quite difficult. How can you prove something exists if you're not exactly sure what it is? Consciousness is a word that, broadly, relates to the way humans and animals experience the world.
Some people think being conscious means having experiences that are influenced by your thoughts and feelings what they call subjective experiences.
To understand what this is, it's helpful to imagine
Bees having a ball
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 80 de The Week Junior Science+Nature UK.
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SMASH STEREOTYPES
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Ben Hoare goes on a safari from his sofa to discover how nature documentaries are made.
Big bum breakthrough
A team of researchers who found out that mammals can breathe through their bottoms have won a prize at the lg Nobel awards.
A jaw-dropping undersea snap
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