DailyDirt: Geekier Than Monkeys Typing

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wed, Mar 14th 2012 5:00pm — Joyce Hung

According to the "Infinite Monkey Theorem," a monkey hitting keys randomly on a keyboard for an infinite amount of time will eventually type out the complete works of Shakespeare. There have even been efforts to put that theorem to the test by creating virtual typing monkeys that managed to recreate at least one of Shakespeare's works. But those monkeys were digital – here are a few examples of some real, geeky animals.

Cows in the UK outfitted with "smart collars" can notify farmers when they're sick or in heat. The collars use the same kind of 3D sensor that is found in Wii video game controllers to detect movement. [url]
A monkey in China with two sensor chips implanted in its brain can control a robot hand with its thoughts. The sensors monitor 200 neurons in the monkey's motor cortex, and its brain signals are translated into real-time robotic finger movements. [url]
Alex, an African grey parrot, had mathematical abilities that were at least as good as those of chimpanzees. He had been trained to count objects, and could add two numbers up to a total sum of eight, or add two sets of objects up to a total sum of six. [url]
To discover more interesting biological curiosities, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: animals, biology, cows, intelligence, monkeys, parrots, smart animals

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Anonymous Coward, 15 Mar 2012 @ 12:16am

hopefully they saved some of Alex's DNA...
Maybe they can clone Alex the parrot someday... and continue to work with his copy to see if Alex2 can use a calculator or ipad.

This dailydirt also reminds me of the Max Headroom parrot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmDjkPfbfH0
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weneedhelp (profile), 15 Mar 2012 @ 10:00am

"Alex, an African grey parrot, had mathematical abilities that were at least as good as those of chimpanzees." - and far superior to AC's that post on Techdirt.

Z I N G ! ! !
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B Kennedy, 15 Mar 2012 @ 6:06pm

Monkey and infinite time
"According to the 'Infinite Monkey Theorem,' a monkey hitting keys randomly on a keyboard for an infinite amount of time will eventually type out the complete works of Shakespeare."

Interesting. And I believe it with the infinite amount of time. I found the link below off Google that explains how this was tested. Not quite the same as one monkey with infinite time or even a million monkeys for a million years. It is quite a dumbed down version -- but interesting. I still think the million monkeys for a million years is not a big enough event population to do even one short Shakespeare play. Maybe we have a statistician among us that can give the odds.

http://www.parascientifica.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=8673
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B Kennedy, 15 Mar 2012 @ 6:32pm

Monkey and infinite time
And here we go ...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20111659-264/virtual-monkeys-recreate-shakespeare-methinks- not/
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Mar 2012 @ 1:32am

too much free time ?
why are any of these things considered due to 'too much free time'? cows fitten with solid state gyro's, (as are Wii's), also in aircraft, and many many other applications, (digital cameras, turn/bank and aircraft navigation, in GPS units and mobile phones, almost everywhere).

Chimps are NOT known for their intelligence, compared to parrots or dogs chimps are quite stupid.

Controlling things with 'just a thought' was invented here in Australia, years ago, and has significant implications for the disabled (in humans)..

what is the result of 'too much spare time' is the flood of pointless articles and silly statements that pollute Techdirt..
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Mar 2012 @ 1:36am

Re: Monkey and infinite time
one monkey for infinite time, is the same as an infinite number of monkeys for an infinite time, and the result would be not just shakespere, but EVERY possible work from every author that has been or will ever be written.

and an infinite number of those works also..
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Mar 2012 @ 1:44am

But those monkeys were digital � here are a few examples of some real, geeky animals.

those monkeys were also FINITE !!!, therefore as a percentage of an INFINITE value, it would be ZERO 0%.

otherwise it would be called the FINITE monkey theorem !!!.

or "very big number" theorem....
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