DailyDirt: Talking Animals Are Real

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Parrots are well-known as non-human animals that can speak our language with some degree of intelligence, but there are a few other examples of animals that can perform similar feats. So far, the vocalizations of these animals are a bit difficult to understand, but it's clear that there are some non-human species that want to imitate us. Before anyone else says it... I, for one, welcome our new _____ overlords.

• An Asian elephant named Koshik can say five Korean words -- "annyong" ("hello"), "anja" ("sit down"), "aniya" ("no"), "nuo" ("lie down") and "choah" ("good"). This 22-year-old male elephant was born in captivity, and this may be the first time researchers have heard an elephant use its trunk to modify its vocalizations. [url]
• Some dog owners have trained their dogs to speak short English words and phrases. In a few more (hundred) generations of human-directed breeding, maybe we'll have dogs that are fluent in human languages. [url]
• Hoover the seal was famous for being the first non-human mammal to speak recognizable English words. He lived at the New England Aquarium and spoke with a thick Bostonian accent.... [url]
• Beluga whales are sometimes referred to as "sea canaries" because they're so vocal, but now there's recorded evidence that at least one of these creatures can mimic human speech. A beluga whale in captivity didn't actually say anything recognizable, but it made sounds in an audible range of normal human speech -- which is much lower than usual whale noises. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: beluga whale, biology, dog, elephant, intelligence, parrot, seal, smart animals, talking animals, vocalization

DailyDirt: Making Smarter Animals

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Animals may (or may not) be getting smarter, but there sure is growing evidence that animals have more cognitive abilities than we might have expected. In some cases, we're actually breeding animals for intelligence. (Who wouldn't want to buy a genetically engineered parrot with the conversational capability of a 5 year old kid?) Perhaps we'll end up regretting our animal experiments someday when we're faced with super-intelligent birds or insects, but for now, it's interesting to see just how smart our animal pals can get.

• Breeding smarter fruit flies doesn't sound like a good plan to create a race of super intelligent insects. Still, a decent first step has been accomplished by directing the evolution of fruit flies to exhibit the ability to count to four... [url]
• Some baboons in a French laboratory have been observed to be able to tell the difference between real English words and fake words. This study probably says more about the rules of English spelling rather than evidence of baboons being linguistic geniuses. [url]
• For many mammals, the ratio of brain size to body size is a fairly predictable matter, but there are some outliers with larger than expected brains for a given body size. Curiously, the smaller mammals with larger than expected brains tend to survive extinction better and adapt more easily to environmental changes -- but correlation isn't the same as causation. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: animals, baboons, biology, biotech, brains, fruit flies, intelligence, smart animals, spelling

DailyDirt: Are Animals Getting Smarter?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

As people study animals in more depth, we're finding out that animals may be smarter than previously thought. There might be some confirmation bias in some of these studies, since no one really looks for animals that are dumber. But it's still fascinating to see complex animal behavior that suggests their cognitive abilities aren't so different from humans. Here are a few examples of some interesting animal observations.

• Chimpanzees have been found with cultural differences, in that some groups of chimps have different nut cracking techniques than others. Chimps growing up using stones to crack open nuts know how to use other tools, but they just prefer using stones. And female chimps that join new chimp tribes adopt the social etiquette of their new peers. [url]
• Brain Storm is the name of a mouse that has been trained to go through fairly complex obstacle courses. Brain Storm wasn't harmed or abused during his extensive training in mouse agility, but other pet mice have not been so lucky. [url]
• The numerical abilities of three American black bears have been studied -- and it looks like bears know how to estimate small quantities. Bears could have similar mathematical skills as some primates, or maybe these researchers were working with relatives of Yogi the Bear who is, by all accounts, smarter than the average bear. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: american black bear, animals, brain storm, chimpanzees, intelligence, mice, smart animals

DailyDirt: Geekier Than Monkeys Typing

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

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.

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

DailyDirt: Anthropomorphizing Animals

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Humans tend to think about other animals in human terms -- which is only natural since we don't really have other frames of reference other than our own experiences. So not surprisingly, it's always interesting when animals seem to enjoy the same activities that people do and seem to be able to solve problems better than we can. Here are just some fairly recent examples.

• Orangutans at a Milwaukee zoo get to play with iPads and even have access to the internet. Pretty soon the zookeepers will have to install internet filtering software so that these orangutans don't try to gamble away their bananas via online casinos. [url]
• The "Monty Hall Dilemma" is a probability problem that most people don't solve correctly by instinct, but some birds seem to? Given "three doors" with mixed grain as a prize, pigeons seem to learn how to optimize their door-choosing strategy better than people. [url]
• People like sledding on snow-covered hills with inner tubes and lunch trays. Crows like to sled down snow-covered rooftops using jar lids. Sledding is just fun, but you'd think that animals that can fly wouldn't be so entertained by sliding along the ground.... [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.

Filed Under: animals, crows, intelligence, monty hall problem, orangutans, pigeons, smart animals

DailyDirt: Birds Do The Darndest Things

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

It's fascinating to watch birds, not just because birds can fly, but also because some birds are incredibly intelligent and can perform some pretty cool tricks. If you can step away from playing with Angry Birds for a bit, watch a few of these much calmer bird videos.

• A flock of starlings is called a murmuration -- and when a large group of these birds swarms around, there's a really cool "phase transition" effect. Thankfully, these are birds and not killer bee formations.... [url]
• Crows can use a vending machine and create tools without much training. Don't make crows angry, because crows could plot their revenge -- and also teach their kids to get back at us. [url]
• Earthflight is a series of videos featuring birds from all over the world. The bird's eye view of South America looks like they put a GoPro helmet on a condor. [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.

Filed Under: birds, crows, earthflight, intelligence, murmuration, smart animals, starlings
Companies: gopro

DailyDirt: Animals Are Getting Smarter...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The more we study animals, the more we find out about their impressive cognitive abilities. And as we learn more about how other animal brains work, we might learn more about how our own minds think. Or perhaps someone will just figure out how to train parrots to pass CAPTCHA tests. In any case, here are a few interesting examples of animal intelligence.

• Chimps are the only other species, besides humans, that regularly throws things. It's presumably a pre-cursor to speech and communication. Chimps in captivity even throw things without any training, as the researchers say, "I've never in my life seen a chimp be given a banana for throwing shit at someone." [url]
• Until someone actually invents a dog collar that can translate dog barks into English, we'll have to study dog behavior and guess at how dogs think. Animal behaviorist John Bradshaw discusses his behavior guidebook for dogs and tips for training dogs. [url]
• Researchers have observed ravens in the wild using pointing gestures. "It's over there!" quoth the Raven. [url]
• To discover more interesting articles on the mind, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

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

Filed Under: animals, chimps, cognitive abilities, dogs, gestures, intelligence, ravens, smart animals

DailyDirt: Evolution Made Some Smart Stuff Other Than Us

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

We've pointed out some smart birds recently, but we shouldn't leave out the other smart critters out there. They might be smart enough to be offended, after all. So here are a few more examples of animals that might be able to look at themselves in the mirror and recognize they're still alone.

• Here's a list of 9 other species that exhibit some form of intelligence that we've actually observed. It'd be a more impressive list if there were a way to really quantify and rank the varying degrees of intelligence, but then humans might not look so good on such a scale... [url]
• I think someone snuck in their pet dog into this photo gallery of smart animals (all with human-granted names). Apsalah the orangutan seems a bit over-represented, too. [url]
• A few types of parasitic fungus can turn ants into zombie-slaves. Maybe it's not intelligence, but these fungi are often cited as an example of intelligent design (though doesn't explain why an intelligent designer would ever create such a roundabout process). [url]
• To discover more biological phenomena, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

As always, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: animals, evolution, fungus, intelligence, smart animals

DailyDirt: Natural, All-Organic Intelligence... For The Birds

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Computers might be able to beat people at games like chess and Jeopardy! -- but maybe while we're watching out for Skynet, we should also be looking out for other animals getting smarter. Artificial intelligence might never actually produce self-conscious thoughts, but we already have at least one example of animals that do (us?). In any case, here are some birds that show some potential, too.

• Alex the parrot was often described to be as smart as a 5-year-old kid. Time to clone some parrots and create an army of birds. How many birds as smart as a 5yo could you take in a fight? [url]
• Maybe your 401K would do better under the management of a parrot -- a parrot named Strawberry outperformed 8 out of 10 human investors. Random stock picks would probably also do better than most humans, though. [url]
• Some crows can actually make tools -- bending wires to form hooks in order to retrieve food. Who says a brain the size of a walnut isn't impressive? [url]
• To discover more fascinating wildlife, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

As always, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: crow, intelligence, parrot, smart animals, tool