James' World 2

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What distinguishes the human brain from that of all other animals — including even our closest primate relatives? Yale researchers identified species-specific — particularly human-specific — features in an analysis of cell types in the prefrontal cortex of four primate species. They reported their findings on August 25, 2022, in the journal Science.

What they found that makes us human may also make us susceptible to neuropsychiatric diseases.

For the study, the scientists looked specifically at the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). This is a brain region that is unique to primates and essential for higher-order cognition. Using a single-cell RNA-sequencing technique, the researchers profiled expression levels of genes in hundreds of thousands of cells collected from the dlPFC of adult humans, chimpanzees, macaque, and marmoset monkeys.

“Today, we view the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as the core component of human identity, but still we don’t know what makes this unique in humans and distinguishes us from other primate species,” said Nenad Sestan. He is the lead senior author of the paper, the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Neuroscience at Yale, professor of comparative medicine, of genetics, and of psychiatry.  “Now we have more clues.”

To answer this, the scientists first asked whether there are there any cell types uniquely present in humans or other analyzed non-human primate species. After grouping cells with similar expression profiles, they revealed 109 shared primate cell types. They also discovered five that were not common to all species. These included a type of microglia, or brain-specific immune cell, that was present only in humans and a second type shared by only humans and chimpanzees.

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Yale researchers have identified human-specific features in the prefrontal cortex.

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Leaders, picture this: An employee has been working long hours on a report. Do you usually wait to see its final quality before you recognize their effort?

If you answered yes to either of these, you may need to rethink your strategy.

In a commencement speech at Stanford, Sundar Pichai said four words that encapsulated years of research on the psychology of human motivation: “Reward efforts, not outcomes.”

What he’s tapping into here is creating sources of intrinsic motivation. This means motivating people to do something because they truly enjoy it, love the challenge, or find it interesting. As opposed to seeking a reward (or avoiding a punishment). 

In other words, make results kind of irrelevant.

This might sound counterintuitive. After all, what’s in it for you? What you really want is that good test score or that excellent report, right?

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President Eisenhower signed the law establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on July 29, 1958. At the time, the United States had put about 30 kg of small satellites into orbit. Less than 11 years later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon.

President Obama signed a NASA Authorization Act on October 11, 2010. Among its provisions, the law called on NASA to create the Space Launch System rocket and have it ready for launch in 2016. It seemed reasonable. At the time, NASA had been launching rockets, including very large ones, for half a century. And in some sense, this new SLS rocket was already built.

The most challenging aspect of almost any launch vehicle is its engines. No problem—the SLS rocket would use engines left over from the space shuttle program. Its side-mounted boosters would be slightly larger versions of those that powered the shuttle for three decades. The newest part of the vehicle would be its large core stage, housing liquid hydrogen, and oxygen fuel tanks to feed the rocket’s four main engines. But even this component was derivative. The core stage’s 8.4-meter diameter was identical to the space shuttle’s external tank, which carried the same propellants for the shuttle’s main engines.

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NASA’s Space Launch System Rocket at LC-39B, preparing to lift off at 8:33 am ET on August 29th, 2022.

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Dear Prudence,

I’m 49, and my husband, Quinn, is 42. I love the way I look and the way I’ve aged, so I don’t say the following to be self-deprecating: Quinn is breathtakingly gorgeous and has only grown more handsome with age. Women and men are drawn to him, and I can’t fault them for taste. Most people are respectful about it, but there have been a number of people over the years who’ve either believed I wasn’t good-looking enough for Quinn or that he would cheat on me (possibly with them). Those experiences bothered us both, but we love and trust each other, and it’s easy to move on from them. Seventeen years and three kids in, I don’t think about the so-called discrepancy between our looks unless someone calls my attention to it.

Recently, Anna, a good friend whom I met through our daughters’ school, texted me screenshots of a conversation between her and Bridget and Rita, two other good friends. Bridget and Rita spoke very graphically about what they’d like to do to Quinn and said some really unkind things about me. She said she thought I should know what was being said behind my back. I was shocked and haven’t replied to her.

I’m really sad that my friendship with Bridget and Rita wasn’t genuine. Our daughters are friends, and we facilitate Skype play dates each week, so I’m not sure what to say to them or whether our kids should play together anymore. I’m also angry about how they talked about Quinn like a slab of meat. And a small part of me that I hate most of all feels shame about the things Bridget and Rita said about me, which is what’s kept me from showing Quinn the messages. I like myself a lot, and it feels so stupid that I’ve let two mean girls affect that and make me feel embarrassed to confide in my husband. This has shaken me, and I want to start moving forward. What should I do?

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Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by fizkes/iStock/Getty Images Plus. 

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