51¶¯Âþ

It is proposed that the exact process of the domestication of wolves by our species isn't clear, so here's my take on how it might have gone( 9 August, p 34 ). Any tribe consists not only of adults, but children too, and they have a propensity to like small, fluffy things. A young wolf …

Why are many scientists sceptical that an animal (in this case, the hominin Homo naledi ) could respond to the death of a fellow animal by special treatment of the body – burial – as proposed by Lee Berger? Like most pet owners, I have seen one animal mourn another by inspecting and even prodding …

Visualising 1 × 10 90 as the number of particles in the universe was seen as a sort of upper limit for all practical purposes for numbers( 9 August, p 28 ). Why bother with infinity? I think we are capable of visualising much bigger numbers, but do they have a place in reality? Imagine …

Maybe orcas were indeed being altruistic and bringing us gifts. Some cats leave mice, birds or gophers on their owners' doorsteps, which sounds like a gift of food. But a dog (or cat) dropping something at your feet may be asking you to play fetch. What's more, the story explains that the orcas played with …

Now we have realised that we messed up Earth by changing the climate and overpopulating the planet, we cling to the thought that we have left some traces that will tell future alien visitors or intelligent cockroaches about us: we created the Anthropocene, even if it is just radioactive waste, microplastics and rocks formed from …

Keeping the latest 51¶¯Âþ in my toilet/loo/john helps my constipation. There is no better way to relax while waiting for my bowels to spring into action( 9 August, p 38 ).

The article about otroverts, a new personality type, really resonated with me. Growing up, I also felt pressured to join the Scouts, but I never wanted to and my parents respected that( 16 August, p 19 ). It was clear to me from a very young age that I didn't quite belong and that I …

Kaminski claims we are all "born otroverts". How does this fit with the common observation that babies interact and form bonds with others from a young age?

After suffering a bladder prolapse, I was told the importance of not straining on the loo, lest it happen again. Consequently, I researched the subject, bought a folding squat stool and included as much fibre as possible in my diet. The improvement has been huge( 9 August, p 38 ). Something of great importance that …

The ideas at the heart of On Natural Capital remind me of the relationship between externalities – the peripheral costs of producing goods not included in their price – and the economics of recycling( 2 August, p 27 ). My favourite example is plastics, which can be pyrolysed and turned back into alkanes that are …