DAILY MISCELLANY

SCIENCE QUESTION How does the brain work?

The brain is far more complex than even the biggest supercomputers and there is still a lot we don’t know about it. An average brain weighs 1.4kg and contains about 100 billion nerve cells – about the same number as there are stars in the Milky Way.

Each nerve cell has between 1,000 and 10,000 connections with other nerve cells, which are mediated by special chemicals. The number and pattern of connections in use at any one time depends on what we are doing.

After the age of 20, our brains lose about 1g in weight per year as nerve cells die and are not replaced. Luckily, some nerve cells duplicate tasks – so we don’t lose function at once.

WORD OF THE DAY

scion [sahy-uh n]

1. A descendant, particularly of a notable family 2. A young shoot, twig or sprig, especially one cut from a plant for grafting or planting (This second, botanical term is the original Middle English meaning, appearing from c.1300 [from Old French]. From c.1580 the word began also to be used figuratively to mean “descendant”, which is now the more common usage)

“Nelson Rockefeller, the scion of the banking dynasty and Governor of New York – who lived, like Donald Trump, in great splendour on Fifth Avenue – was their figurehead.” (BBC News, 29 February 2016)

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