Tiny Brains, Big Timings: The Bumblebee Time-Processing Breakthrough

A deep dive into a QMUL study where Bombus terrestris bees learned to differentiate visual signals solely by duration, revealing timing as a fundamental neural property even in tiny brains. We walk through the dot-vs-dash training, how rewards and non-rewards were removed to test pure timing, and the surprising result that over 80% chose the previously rewarded signal without rewards. We also discuss a second finding on goal-directed learning from bees observing a ball-pushing task, and what these results imply for our understanding of intelligence and the design of efficient AI.

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