Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. For decades, self-awareness has been guarded as a very ...

Humans are well known for looking in the mirror and responding to their reflections. Interestingly, scientific research has revealed that it is a rare trait among animals, with only a few species ...

New research suggests beluga whales can recognize themselves in mirrors, a cognitive ability previously demonstrated in only ...

A robot showed basic signs of self-consciousness in an experiment that required the robot to hear its own voice and reason. Three Nao robots were programmed to understand the rules of a simple task.