How do they come up with this stuff.......... (787 hits)
Category: Science & EnvironmentalRating: 1 on 3 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Andy Barr <zanz38.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2002-08-09 06:58:49 EDT
This is fantastic, god knows how they came up with the idea or how they intend to use it for the better good, but you gotta love it!!
Something To Crow About
A crow has amazed scientists by bending a straight wire into a hook and using it to extract food from a container.
The bird called Betty performed the feat nine times in a laboratory at Oxford University.
Researchers believe it is the first time an animal has fashioned a tool for a specific task using materials not found in the wild. They said not even chimpanzees, our closest cousins, have this ability.
Although chimps use sticks as crude tools, in experiments they have not shown any human-like understanding of deliberate tool-making or basic physical laws.
Snatched away
Betty is one of two captive New Caledonian Crows being studied by Oxford University's Behavioural Ecology Research Group. In their South Pacific home, the species are known to make tools out of twigs and leaves to winkle out grubs.
But Betty took crow tool-making to a new level by having the initiative to bend a piece of wire and use it to scoop out food from a vertical plastic tube in a tray.
Scientists first spotted her ability by accident after an experiment to see whether the birds would select a hooked wire rather than a straight wire as a tool.
'Somewhat surprised'
Betty's lab-mate, an older male crow called Abel, snatched away the hook, leaving her with only the straight wire and no way of retrieving the food.
Professor Alex Kacelnik, who heads the research group, said: "The male of the pair took the hook away and the female was left with a straight wire. First she tried to get the food with the straight wire, and couldn't reach it.
"So she pushed the tip of the wire in a crack in the tray and bent it to form a hook. She then used this to get the food. We were somewhat surprised."
The reseacrh team now plans to see whether other New Caledonian Crows captured from the wild have similar abilities.
User Reviews
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2005-10-30 09:08:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-10-29 08:02:03 (#)
Ranking: 2
this is my debit card PIN
______________________
ARGHH I ARE SOO GOING TO H4XXOR JOO.
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-10-29 08:02:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
this is my debit card PIN
Submitted by toucan (user info) at 2002-08-09 08:55:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I want crows with frickin' lazers on their heads...