Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Our cousins, the chimpanzee apes, are not very good at chess but still they're very intelligent. They can invent things.

People should get a subscription to read the New York Times online. It's not very expensive. They have a lot of good stuff, including numerous science articles. I think you can read about 10 articles a month for free but I prefer to have unlimited access to everything going back to 1851 (168 years ago).

Wikipedia - Everything you always wanted to know about the New York Times

I also like BBC News which has the advantage of being completely free.

By the way, did anyone notice President Trump is a stupid fucking asshole?

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I suggest click the link to see the video.

New York Times - Chimps Show a Thirst for Learning

Wild chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest in Uganda have learned to use leaves combined with moss to make a drinking utensil.

By Sindya N. Bhanoo

October 6, 2014

Wild chimpanzees in Uganda have been caught on tape developing a new drinking utensil: a mixture of moss and folded leaves that they place in their mouths and then dip into water.

Although it has long been understood that chimpanzees learn by observing one another, scientists say this is the first time humans have witnessed the origins of such behavior. A new study in the journal PLOS Biology describes the phenomenon and how the researchers watched it spreading from chimp to chimp.

Previously, the chimps used only leaves to make the tool. It is not clear whether the new mixture is an improvement, but an author of the study, Thibaud Gruber, a primatologist at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, said, “One day the alpha male decided to add some moss, and from that moment it took off.”

The dominant female in the group watched the alpha male, and then tried making the same tool for herself.

“Every chimpanzee learned this by observing another,” Dr. Gruber said.

The chimpanzees, who live in Budongo Forest, have been observed continuously for about 20 years. “For all of us working in the field, we knew for a long time that social learning was happening,” Dr. Gruber said. “But we didn’t have this kind of evidence where a new behavior developed before our eyes.”

A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 6, 2014, on Page D2 of the New York edition with the headline: Animal Behavior: Chimps Show a Thirst for Learning.

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