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","_key":"6a34540614420"},{"text":"offensive","_key":"f1904e3d3836","_type":"span","marks":["strong"]},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" to certain groups","_key":"b5241fbd01f1"}],"level":1,"_type":"block"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Providing new names that ","_key":"11dd536b8b890"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"describe","_key":"14c838bfcffa"},{"text":" the birds themselves","_key":"3e4661cec814","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b2db1e3954a1","listItem":"bullet"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"A mixed reception","_key":"0c290ce88ae00"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b14f5680b05c","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"While many people applaud this step toward erasing problematic or vague bird names, some want to maintain the status quo … particularly people with connections to the individuals for which the birds 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","publishDate":"2023-11-02","visibility":"true","slug":"/story/2023/11/a-bunch-of-birds-are-getting-a-name-change-heres-why","_rev":"31eprprQN7XHorqXJuKcqL","_id":"eb6c639b-7038-4ee3-b0d2-dfb9271807cf","category":"nature"},{"body":[{"style":"normal","_key":"fda21fe13073","markDefs":[{"href":"https://abcnews.go.com/Health/fear-fun-doctors-break-science-scared/story?id=104477345","_key":"6ee43f39e0fe","_type":"link"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"With Halloween in the rear-view, we thought it might be interesting to take a look at the seemingly strange human desire to seek out frightening situations. 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Experts say there are a couple of explanations.","_key":"2c4751c44a1d0","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"2a3778629e31","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"As behavioral sciences specialist Dr. Michele Bedard-Gilligan explained, the fear response “kicks off a reaction of stress hormones and neurotransmitters, namely adrenaline and dopamine, that then follows and goes down the body and sort of ","_key":"384cff4182810"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"kicks in that fight, flight, freeze reaction","_key":"f45b5c581015"},{"text":".”","_key":"5dd4d587fba3","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"1c46c31a615f"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Although this is a reaction fundamentally intended to help humans evade danger, it is also closely related to the happiness center in the brain and, when there is no immediate threat, can trigger some of the same reactions as more traditional forms of fun.","_key":"859c3c043cde0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"8c6068509af1"},{"_key":"74c234e49ed8","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Furthermore, Dr. Leah Croll, a neurologist, pointed out that there’s a “real social aspect of fear” that can create bonds between people and enhance the pleasure even further.","_key":"fbaf7363a6fd0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":["strong"],"text":"Is it for everyone?","_key":"a583a9dbcfa30","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"5da28b518bd6"},{"style":"normal","_key":"233dcf44baae","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Maybe you’re not one of those thrill-seekers and the thought of narrowly averting disaster doesn’t sound fun at all. 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After all, beautiful people make up a disproportionate segment of the entertainment industry and the most attractive person in a group of friends often gets the most attention during a night out.","_key":"2c7c75f193ca2","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block"},{"_key":"a0204af2fb5b","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"But experts say the benefits of good looks go much deeper than that.","_key":"d5c6f9d0791a0","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"style":"normal","_key":"dcd9430c3fae","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"The ‘Halo Effect’","_key":"8efe14ee48580"}],"_type":"block"},{"style":"normal","_key":"05a517b08f9a","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"According to multiple studies, people who possess stereotypically attractive features such as symmetrical faces and bodies considered conventionally fit are afforded far more leeway by those around them than they might otherwise receive.","_key":"83e9d564354a"}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"This is commonly known as “pretty privilege,” but ","_key":"0d403a9d2d3a0"},{"_key":"0d403a9d2d3a1","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"a deeper study of this phenomenon"},{"text":" has led to the discovery of a so-called “Halo Effect.”","_key":"0d403a9d2d3a2","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"42de0d14bf6b","markDefs":[]},{"children":[{"text":"People overwhelmingly believe that attractive individuals — based on nothing more than the way they look — are more trustworthy, healthier, successful, intelligent, and talented.","_key":"cfd3394cde0f0","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6a3e36944229","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":["strong"],"text":"Evolutionary roots","_key":"d853ebdb308f0","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b0677d963c6a"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Some scientists think that our innate bias toward beautiful people is hard-wired by human evolution. 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Plus, there’s a lot more going on inside those tiny critters than you probably realized.","_key":"aa06648a99260","_type":"span","marks":[]}]},{"markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://www.wired.com/story/how-insect-brains-melt-and-rewire-during-metamorphosis/","_key":"f63272eeccba"}],"children":[{"_key":"97d2f9c1f6e90","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"One way to gain a better understanding of what it takes to complete the life cycle of many bugs is by "},{"_type":"span","marks":["f63272eeccba"],"text":"focusing","_key":"97d2f9c1f6e91"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" on the ","_key":"97d2f9c1f6e92"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"complex and strangely elegant","_key":"97d2f9c1f6e93"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" process known as metamorphosis.","_key":"97d2f9c1f6e94"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"39aa1a7e6ace"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"The lacewing story","_key":"b5de5d56ee540"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"474968afa1a3"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"When you think of metamorphosis, you might immediately picture a cocoon in which a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. But similar fundamental changes occur in far more ways than just this one.","_key":"2a206e0830180"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"7a93b3120389"},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"More than ","_key":"78241d4439cb0","_type":"span"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"four-fifths of all animal species","_key":"78241d4439cb1"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" (including most insects) experience some form of metamorphosis during their life cycles. And the lacewing bug provides a clear example of how everything changes in the process.","_key":"78241d4439cb2"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"a3b64a398f29","markDefs":[]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"They develop inside a clump of eggs, which are designed to protect the larvae inside from being eaten by others in the same group who happen to emerge earlier. This dichotomy between the peaceful beauty of the eggs and the potentially deadly instincts of newly hatched larvae led biology professor James Truman to describe it as “like ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in one animal.”","_key":"3426f5f2c1ab0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"2f98659e0d23","markDefs":[]},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"ec5d30308874","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"It’s all in the mind","_key":"fb1a159d53af0"}]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Like butterflies, lacewings are among the flying insects that develop while in a cocoon and after metamorphosis is complete. And this ","_key":"da11dfc32bdc0"},{"_key":"da11dfc32bdc1","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"raises an interesting question"},{"_key":"da11dfc32bdc2","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" for scientists: How does the bug’s brain and nervous system switch from that of a crawling bug in the larval stage to an insect with a completely new set of body parts and needs?"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"bc493a67826f","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Truman has been a leader in the push to understand this subject and his team recently published a study that described how the brains of fruit flies essentially turn to mush during metamorphosis and reconfigure to form a brand new structure.","_key":"b3eef6f5d93d0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"1dd7537dfcc0"}],"visibility":"true"}]