Why animal intelligence tests can be misleading

A failed intelligence test may say more about the test than the animal

When an animal fails a thinking test, it does not always mean the animal lacks the ability being tested. Stress, captivity, motivation, past experience, and an unnatural task can all change performance. The experiment may partly be measuring the conditions it created.

Our galaxy may contain billions of planets without stars

Not every planet orbits a star. Some worlds travel through the galaxy on their own, possibly after being ejected from planetary systems or forming independently. Astronomers can sometimes detect these rogue planets when their gravity briefly magnifies light from a background star. Their total number remains uncertain, but they may be extremely common throughout the Milky Way.

The kilogram is no longer defined by a metal cylinder

For more than a century, the kilogram was defined by a particular metal cylinder kept in France. Since 2019, the SI system has instead defined it through a fixed value of the Planck constant. Other base units are also linked to fundamental constants or physical phenomena. Measurement standards no longer depend on preserving a single object that might change over time.

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Why animal intelligence tests can be misleading

A failed intelligence test may say more about the test than the animal

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