The understanding that even bees have feelings is changing our view of consciousness

Check your subscription status, update your details and more. The understanding that even bees have feelings is changing our view of consciousness From jays that seem to say "sorry" to insects that play, signs of emotional inner life across the animal kingdom are giving us new perspectives on what consciousness is, and how we might pin it down I recently discovered some scientific research that struck me to the core. I have spent many years exploring biology and the interconnectedness of life.

Yet here was something that cut through all the knowledge I thought I had acquired: scientists have found that if male fruit flies are deprived of sex with females, they turn to alcohol. I immediately headed to the kitchen – not for a drink, but to watch some fruit flies I had seen earlier around a slice of lime my daughter had failed to clear away. I took my hand lens, carefully snuck close to a _Drosophila_ and peered into its red, mosaicked eye.

We might be separated in evolutionary time by some 780 million years, I thought, but we share fundamental similarities. Natural selection has equipped us both with a brain that functions to improve our survival and that of our offspring. Is this why both flies and humans, on occasion, seek to douse flames of sexual rejection with alcohol?

Just because flies don’t write poetry about it doesn’t mean they don’t experience a rich inner life. **Read more** We will soon be able to talk with other species. My encounter with the fruit fly in the kitchen led me on a mission to understand the feelings experienced by other animals, including insects – to explore from a non-human point of view what it means to be conscious. Only a few decades ago, it was scientific taboo to suggest that even chimpanzees had personalities or feelings.

Now, evidence of complex inner worlds in a wide range of non-human animals is mounting. Even “simple” animals make a good case. Fish seem to know themselves.

Cuttlefish plan for the future. Topics:animal behaviour / animal cognition / Animal intelligence / Consciousness / Learning / Mind Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with _New Scientist_ events and special offers. #### Life ### There’s growing evidence the big five mass extinctions never happened Features #### Life ### The story of mirror life: From intriguing idea to unprecedented threat Features #### Life ### A sinister, deadly brain protein could reveal the origins of all life Features #### Life ### A whole new world of tiny beings challenges fundamental ideas of life Features Satellites show some of the strongest evidence the AMOC is weakening### What are microchimeric cells doing to our brain?### Your brain’s unexpected ability to regenerate and how to harness it### Vaccines could be about to revolutionise acne treatments### Major greenhouse gases rise again to record levels### The shock revelation that light bulbs are wrecking your metabolism### The collapse of the AMOC would be catastrophic.