A winter swimmer, wearing a Santa Claus hat to celebrate the upcoming Christmas, reacts as he plays on a frozen lake at a park in Shenyang, Liaoning province, December 22, 2014. The characters on the hat read: “Shenyang Winter Swimming”. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

An Indian villager braving strong winds and rain walk to a safer place, in village Podampeta, in Ganjam district about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the eastern Indian city Bhubaneswar, India, Saturday, October 12, 2013. Strong winds and heavy rains pounded India's eastern coastline Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of people took shelter from a massive, powerful Cyclone Phailin expected to reach land in a few hours. (Photo by Biswaranjan Rout/AP Photo)

An exile Tibetan monk gestures as he makes a point in a dialectics debate with another monk, sitting right, at the Kirti monastery in Dharmsala, India, Monday, January 18, 2016. The debate is an essential part of their training as Buddhist monks. (Photo by Ashwini Bhatia/AP Photo)

Heesco, Windsor. Born and raised in Mongolia and now living and working in Melbourne, Heesco is well known for his skill in rendering photo-realistic portraits. They speak to the viewer in a way that the subtext is enjoyable to decipher. Just what is the Blue Lady’s message? The sunglasses might mask the confronting gaze but her body language fills in the gaps. Heesco’s characters often wear traditional jewellery and clothing that remind us of his Mongolian cultural heritage. (Photo by Lou Chamberlin/The Guardian)

In this Tuesday, May 3, 2016 photo, Madeley Vasquez, 16, breast feeds her one-year-old son Joangel as she waits in line outside a supermarket to buy food in Caracas, Venezuela. Vasquez once ran down the block to avoid getting caught up in a knife fight that broke out when a woman was accused of cutting the line. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

Once upon a time a myth was born that insects, unlike animals, are just a machines that not capable of learning and survive only based on their instincts. That myth has become the widespread opinion. Of course, this opinion is indeed erroneous, like many other widespread opinions. Let us try to find out which part is a myth and which part is true.

Vanessa, thirty-five, had three children with an abusive husband. She “lost her mind, started doing heroin”, after losing the children, who were taken away and given to her mother. The drugs led to homelessness and prostitution. She grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but now spends her time in Hunts Point, “trying to survive everyday. Just doing whatever it takes”.

Shepherds from the north wear their traditional heavy woollen mantles as they stand ready to shear sheep with sycthe-like shears. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1952