Ape Genius on NOVA last night
This was way cool -- and a bit scary, especially watching a chimp make a primitive spear with which to hunt bush babies. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/apegenius/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_3_novabrapegenius_2008-02-20 One bonobo, Kanzi, understands *3000* English words according to his researchers. The lack of ability to understand attention-pointing was intriguing, as dogs _do_ get this concept (even my cats have learned this, although it took a very long time (months) for Bashir to comprehend). And the related 'triangulation teaching mode' seems to be unique to us humans, at least for now. Inability to delay gratification using actual desired objects (candy) contrasted with ability to use symbols representing those objects (numbers on cards) to successfully wait for the treats. More on those spear-makers: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2008-04/chimps-with-spears/roach-text.html The Fongoli chimps of Senegal will break off a branch, sharpen it with their teeth, and use it to hunt bush babies. That's just one of the recent discoveries that underscore the ape-human connection. ...Unlike their better-known rain forest kin, savanna-woodland chimps spend most of their day on the ground. There is no canopy here. The trees are low and grow sparsely. It's an environment very much like the open, scratchy terrain where early humans evolved... Debbi who expects Ronn or Vill to make cream pie with my first statement ;) Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Ape Genius on NOVA last night
I wrote: snip More on those spear-makers: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2008-04/chimps-with-spears/roach-text.html [from a reporter's visit with researcher Jill Pruetz] Shades of a short story, title and author not recalled, of granting legal status to a cigarette-smoking chimp (who had learned to delay gratification, IIRC): ...New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have all passed legislation limiting experimentation on great apes, and the Balearic Islands in Spain passed a resolution in 2007 granting them basic legal rights. In 2006 an Austrian animal rights organization submitted an application to a district court in Mödling to appoint a legal guardian for a chimp named Hiasl. The strategy was to establish legal person status for the hairy defendant... Chimp behavior snippets: ...I had not known that chimpanzee yawns are contagiousboth among each other and to humans. I had known that chimps laugh, but I did not know that they get upset if someone laughs at them.* I knew that captive chimps spit, but I hadn't known that they, like us, seem to consider spitting the most extreme expression of disgustone reserved, interestingly, for humans. I knew that a captive ape might care for a kitten if you gave one to it, but had not heard of a wild chimpanzee taking one in, as Tia did with a genet kitten. The list goes on. Chimps get up to get snacks in the middle of the night. They lie on their backs and do the airplane with their children. They kiss. Shake hands. Pick their scabs before they're ready...As a colleague of Pruetz's once said to her, A chimp takes a crap in the forest, and someone publishes a paper about it. (No exaggeration. One paper has a section on chimpanzees' use of leaf napkins: This hygienic technology is directed to their bodily fluids (blood, semen, feces, urine, snot). ... Their use ranges from delicate dabbing to vigorous wiping... *Cats also recognize the difference between laughing with (as when they're playing with you and being silly) and being made fun of (as when they completely muff a usually-gracefully-executed move), and when your laughter has nothing whatsoever to do with them (as at the TV or a book). Debbi More Fodder For The Humorists Maru ;) Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Ape Genius on NOVA last night
The story you're loking for is Robert Heinlein's Jerry Was a Man Never judge a book by its movie. http://idiotgrrl.livejournal.com/ Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:26:35 -0800 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Ape Genius on NOVA last night To: brin-l@mccmedia.com I wrote: snip More on those spear-makers: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2008-04/chimps-with-spears/roach-text.html [from a reporter's visit with researcher Jill Pruetz] Shades of a short story, title and author not recalled, of granting legal status to a cigarette-smoking chimp (who had learned to delay gratification, IIRC): ...New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have all passed legislation limiting experimentation on great apes, and the Balearic Islands in Spain passed a resolution in 2007 granting them basic legal rights. In 2006 an Austrian animal rights organization submitted an application to a district court in Mödling to appoint a legal guardian for a chimp named Hiasl. The strategy was to establish legal person status for the hairy defendant... Chimp behavior snippets: ...I had not known that chimpanzee yawns are contagious—both among each other and to humans. I had known that chimps laugh, but I did not know that they get upset if someone laughs at them.* I knew that captive chimps spit, but I hadn't known that they, like us, seem to consider spitting the most extreme expression of disgust—one reserved, interestingly, for humans. I knew that a captive ape might care for a kitten if you gave one to it, but had not heard of a wild chimpanzee taking one in, as Tia did with a genet kitten. The list goes on. Chimps get up to get snacks in the middle of the night. They lie on their backs and do the airplane with their children. They kiss. Shake hands. Pick their scabs before they're ready...As a colleague of Pruetz's once said to her, A chimp takes a crap in the forest, and someone publishes a paper about it. (No exaggeration. One paper has a section on chimpanzees' use of leaf napkins: This hygienic technology is directed to their bodily fluids (blood, semen, feces, urine, snot). ... Their use ranges from delicate dabbing to vigorous wiping... *Cats also recognize the difference between laughing with (as when they're playing with you and being silly) and being made fun of (as when they completely muff a usually-gracefully-executed move), and when your laughter has nothing whatsoever to do with them (as at the TV or a book). Debbi More Fodder For The Humorists Maru ;) Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Ape Genius on NOVA last night
Pat Mathews [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The story you're loking for is Robert Heinlein's Jerry Was a Man Never judge a book by its movie. Ah, thanks - I read it so long ago that I'd forgotten just about all but the premise. Debbi Breed To Come Maru =^.^= Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
