The broad intelligence of elephants has been fairly well documented — with some elephants passing the “red smudge” (mirror self-recognition) test indicating self-awareness — but how extensive the pachyderms’ problem solving skills are, compared to apes, has been a matter of debate; despite their high intelligence, elephants have “failed to exhibit insightful problem solving in previous cognitive studies.” But a recent experiment involving three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington D.C. has revealed at least one elephant successfully solving a problem to obtain food and experiencing that moment of intellectual breakthrough known as the ‘Aha!’ or ‘Eureka! moment.
Tag: experiments
Iron 'Seeding' of Ocean May Promote Toxic Plankton
In the constant interplay between Humans and Nature, everything is a trade-off. As our scientists begin to consider an intervention approach to climate change and conducting large-scale experiments, this trade-off … [Read full article]
Want to Eat Less? Just Imagine Eating More
Imagine a big slice of your favorite pie. Imagine eating all of it. Your mouth automatically begins salivating, your taste buds begin firing up. Now, imagine eating more pie until … [Read full article]
Are Octopuses Psychic? No, but They Are Darned Clever [VIDEO]
When it comes to highly intelligent sea creatures, dolphins, whales tend to get most of the cerebral credit. But the “lowly” octopus—a popular dish in many Mediterranean cuisines—may be one of the most intelligent creatures in the sea, and is the only invertebrate (animals lacking bones) that has been conclusively shown to use tools…Possessing both a short and longer-term memory capacity, octopuses exhibit a wide range of fascinating behaviors, many of which have led some scientists to describe them as “highly intelligent”.
NASA to Irradiate Monkeys. Horrible Animal Experiments or a Sign of Progress?
[social_buttons] When I first read the news that NASA was going to start experimenting on monkeys with radiation to study the effects of deep space travel, my heart sunk. As … [Read full article]