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2011/08/02 Central News Agency, Taipei, August 1st
Humans have developed penicillin, space shuttles, computers, even artificial hearts, and many other marvels. How much further can human intelligence advance? According to British media reports, if some scientists are correct, the answer is: this is as far as it goes.
The Daily Mail reported that scientists have pointed out human brainpower has already peaked and it is essentially impossible to become any smarter.
Scientists claim that to become more intelligent, the brain would require vast amounts of additional energy and oxygen, but the human body simply cannot provide it.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge analyzed the structure of the human brain and determined the energy consumed by brain cells.
Professor of Neurobiology Simon Laughlin said: "We have demonstrated that the brain requires energy to function, and this energy demand is sufficient to limit our brain's performance and decision-making patterns."
He said: "Because the brain must constantly connect information from different sources to explore new relationships, extensive reasoning consumes an enormous amount of energy."
He added: "This energy expenditure means the brain can only process a limited amount of information." (Translator: Wang Fumin, Central News Agency) 1000801
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 110802/ 5/ 2w4a4. html
Human Brain Development Peaks, No Smarter
Humans have developed penicillin, space shuttles, computers, even artificial hearts, and many other marvels. How much further can human intelligence advance? According to British media reports, if some scientists are correct, the answer is: this is as far as it goes.
The Daily Mail reported that scientists have pointed out human brainpower has already peaked and it is essentially impossible to become any smarter.
Scientists claim that to become more intelligent, the brain would require vast amounts of additional energy and oxygen, but the human body simply cannot provide it.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge analyzed the structure of the human brain and determined the energy consumed by brain cells.
Professor of Neurobiology Simon Laughlin said: "We have demonstrated that the brain requires energy to function, and this energy demand is sufficient to limit our brain's performance and decision-making patterns."
He said: "Because the brain must constantly connect information from different sources to explore new relationships, extensive reasoning consumes an enormous amount of energy."
He added: "This energy expenditure means the brain can only process a limited amount of information." (Translator: Wang Fumin, Central News Agency) 1000801
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 110802/ 5/ 2w4a4. html