AndrewShouts.com: A weblog of rants and general commentary by Andrew Manderson » Nature

Score One More For Empathy For Animals

Andrew — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:17:23 +0000

My New Favorite Podcast: Radiolab

Andrew — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:58:28 +0000

Wow, who would have thought you could revolutionize the way you listen to radio? These guys are good.

Elephant Kicks Its Baby To Life

Andrew — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:57:38 +0000

(tip of the hat to Matt for sending me the link)

Chimpazee Final Farewell

Andrew — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:45:16 +0000

National Geographic’s Visions of Earth photo gallery is beautiful.

At the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center in Cameroon, Dorothy the chimpanzee died of natural causes at age 40. Here is a photo taken of her being wheeled to her burial site, while her friends, other residents of the rescue center, look on. I wish I could read their minds.

This Dog Doesn’t Need A God To Be Moral

Andrew — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:32:00 +0000

Jellyfish That Just Don’t Die…Literally

Andrew — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:55:10 +0000

I just discovered an old Discover Magazine report, dated to January 2009, about a type of Jellyfish that is like a salamander, in the sense that it regenerate bodyparts. The thing is, It can regenerate pretty much any part of its body. It can transform into a younger life stage, like if a butterfly were to transform into a caterpillar.

This (short) article really is worth a read.

Another Animal Post

Andrew — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:58:44 +0000

I think it’s time we stop worshipping ourselves, and look out to pretty much every other creature out there.

Koko’s favorite TV show was Mr. Rogers’ Neighbourhood. Check out the vid where they meet!

This Is Why I Have My Tattoo

Andrew — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:12:44 +0000

I know that I know nothing:

How Squid Change Colours

Andrew — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:55:55 +0000

Now this is how to communicate science!

CreatureCast Episode 1 from Casey Dunn on Vimeo.

I Am Above This…

Andrew — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:52:23 +0000

…but unfortunately, I have to talk about the weather for a moment: Wow! This weekend was so sunny and awesome! I spent it all at the beach watching the Atlantic beach volleyball championships. I tanned, I swam, I ran, I stayed offline. Now it’s Monday and it’s raining, so I cannot see how it could be more appropriate.

I’d like to harp once more on how little credit we give to animals, and their intelligence. A friend sent me a link on how birds from the same family as crows use tools when necessary (link contains some awesome footage). In this case, they mimicked Aesop’s fable of the crow dropping rocks in a pitcher to raise the water level so it can drink.

The video shows birds in a lab carefully inspecting test tubes with worms on the surface of water they cannot reach. Once rocks are introduced, they drop them in the water, to raise the level enough to eat the worm. What I found striking was the last video, where the birds could tell the difference between water and sawdust, and how they didn’t even bother dropping rocks on the sawdust.

near the end of the article, the authors also made a great point (emphasis added):

Although the study demonstrates the flexible nature of tool use in rooks, they are not believed to use tools in the wild.

“Wild tool use appears to be dependent on motivation,” Bird said. “Rooks do not use tools in the wild because they do not need to, not because they can’t. They have access to other food that can be acquired without using tools.”

As Bird noted, that fits nicely with Aesop’s maxim, demonstrated by the crow: “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

As per usual in these types of posts, I sign off with someone else’s thoughts, in this case, Einstein:

Our task must be to free ourselves…by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.