Popular Mechanics has an article this week suggesting that for millennia, defining consciousness—both what it is and when it emerges—has been the tricky business of scientists and philosophers (and more recently, AI experts). And one of the biggest black holes in our knowledge, even though every human has experienced it, is exploring consciousness when we’re young – like, newborn young.
To explore this confounding gap in our understanding, neuroscientists and philosophers from Australia’s Monash University, Germany’s University of Tübingen, Ireland’s Trinity College Dublin, and the University of Minnesota in the U.S. conducted a widespread review of the literature surrounding prenatal and newborn consciousness.
Although the prevailing theory throughout the 20th century was that consciousness didn’t develop until many months after birth, this new research argues that consciousness could occur much earlier and even possibly in the final month of pregnancy. The researchers published their findings in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
“Nearly everyone who has held a newborn infant has wondered what, if anything, it is like to be a baby,” Tim Bayne, co-author and professor of Philosophy at Monash University, said in a press statement. “But of course we cannot remember our infancy, and consciousness researchers have disagreed on whether consciousness arises ‘early’ (at birth or shortly after) or ‘late’—by one year of age, or even much later.”
This study tracked consciousness across four key markers: functional connectivity, frontal brain networks, multisensory integration, and neural markers of perceptual consciousness. While these four markers possibly begin at different times—multisensory integration, for example, shows up last in the lineup—it nonetheless shows the dynamic process through which human consciousness could arise.
“Our findings suggest that newborns can integrate sensory and developing cognitive responses into coherent conscious experiences to understand the actions of others and plan their own responses,” Lorina Naci, co-author and associate professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, said in the press statement.
The study admits that this is only the tip of the consciousness iceberg, but confidently claims that the idea of newborns as mostly unconscious beings can be safely laid to rest. To further analyze the early days of human understanding, innovations in foetal magnetoencephalography (MEG), as well as improved methods in analyzing fMRI readings in awake infants, could yield even richer data.
So, while the philosophical debate that’s raged for thousands of years continues (and likely will, far into the future), science is slowly providing some clarity as to what it means to be a brand-new, conscious being.
Thanks to popularmechanics.com/science for that thought-provoking insight.
Focustaiwan.tw reports that Taiwan has donated two unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) command vehicles to the Turkish city of Istanbul to help boost its disaster preparedness.
At a donation ceremony on Tuesday, Taiwan’s representative to Turkey Huang Chih-yang said it was important to strengthen Istanbul’s disaster response capabilities, given the high risk of earthquakes in the region and the city’s dense population of over 16 million.
The two drone command vehicles, which carry high-tech equipment, support a new disaster relief model that uses the latest drone technology, Huang said.
The new model incorporates the experience of drone operators who have worked in disaster relief in both Turkey and Taiwan, he said. In response, Ergun Cebeci, head of the Istanbul disaster coordination center (AKOM), expressed thanks to Taiwan on behalf of the city government.
Cebeci said Istanbul is spread across mountains, forests, straits, and dense residential areas, which makes disaster response a diverse and complex operation.
The two UAV command vehicles, with their pioneering equipment, will enhance the city’s search and rescue capabilities, he said. Cebeci also voiced concern about the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck southern Taiwan on Tuesday and said he was pleased to hear that there were no fatalities.
In that Ethiopia’s Afar and Oromia regions have been hit by several earthquakes and tremors since the beginning of 2025, the strongest, with a magnitude of 5.7, striking on 4 January, theconversation.com notes that earthquakes and volcanic activity are both common in Ethiopia. The country is located in a geologically active region, the East African Rift System. But it’s rare for earthquakes to directly trigger volcanic eruptions in Ethiopia.
The current episode of earthquake activity is being caused by magmatic activity in Oromia and Afar region. Magma (molten rock) is intruding into the subsurface beneath two volcanoes, Fentale and Dofen, which are geographically close to each other.
Ethiopia has around 50 active volcanoes. Most are in the Ethiopian Rift, the northern segment of the East African Rift System. An active volcano has magma stored deep within its crust that could potentially erupt in the future. There’s evidence of past eruptions at many of these active volcanoes. Some date back hundreds of years. In contrast, a dormant volcano has not erupted for thousands of years and shows no immediate signs of reactivation or imminent eruption.
Volcanoes and earthquakes are both natural phenomena driven by the dynamic processes that shape Earth’s interior and surface.
The outermost layer of Earth, the lithosphere, is composed of solid rock and is broken into large sections called tectonic plates. These plates fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. They move slowly on the more fluid layer beneath them, the asthenosphere. Convection currents in Earth’s mantle drive the movement of tectonic plates.
Tectonic plates interact at their boundaries in three primary ways: they move apart, they collide, or they slide past one another. These interactions produce geological activity, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Most volcanoes and earthquakes occur along these plate boundaries, where the stress and movement of the plates cause the lithosphere to fracture.
Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes pose risks to human lives, infrastructure and the environment. These events cannot be prevented. But their effects can be mitigated by planning and acting ahead of time.
The authors quote monitoring and early warning systems as being critical, detailed maps that identify areas at risk essential, the establishment of efficient and trustworthy communications channels with clear comms protocols crucial, community preparedness and education being important, educating communities about the signs of volcanic activity and evacuation protocols important, and reserves of emergency supplies such as water, food, medical kit and shelter materials also being essential.
The qualification of specialized response teams with expertise in volcanology, seismology and disaster management can result in swift and coordinated action during these emergencies.
Thanks to theconversation.com for presenting this synopsis.
This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR, transmitting on what would have been my Mother’s 114th birthday, and reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.