Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Gorillas might be the smartest apes on the planet

Washington, May 13 (ANI): A new research, which involved a trial and error test, has suggested that gorillas maybe the smartest apes on the planet.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the research was done at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, US.

Four years ago, scientists there attached a touch-screen computer terminal to the side of the enclosure of a female gorilla named Rollie.

As the gorilla approached, it saw the numeral one displayed on the screen. When Rollie touched the symbol, a chime sounded and the machine dispensed a frozen blueberry.

It did not take long for the gorilla to work out that pressing the number had benefits.

After a while, the computer screen presented Rollie with two symbols, the numerals one and two. Through trial and error, Rollie learned to press them in the right order to receive a blueberry.

Last year, zoo primatologist Steve Ross reported that Rollie could sequence up to seven numbers at a time, and that chimpanzees at the facility were taking twice as long to learn the sequence.

"Gorillas rarely use tools and have rarely been cognitively studied as a result. So, we did not expect them to perform very well at this," Ross said.

Despite Rollie's success, Ross and his colleagues wondered whether the gorilla was just one very sharp ape, or if such intellect could be found in other gorillas.

The scientists started testing other gorillas at their facility.

The youngest of the group, a five-year-old named Azizi, is also proving to be a quick study.

So far, the male gorilla has only learned to sequence five numbers at a time, but has progressed as rapidly as Rollie.

In Japan, similar studies are being conducted with chimpanzees, mandrills, and gibbons. None have made it past the number five.

"This is the first study demonstrating gorilla intelligence like this," said Tetsuro Matsuzawa, director of the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University. "I am eager to see how further research with these gorillas progresses," he added. (ANI)

Gorillas might be the smartest apes on the planet

Washington, May 13 (ANI): A new research, which involved a trial and error test, has suggested that gorillas maybe the smartest apes on the planet.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the research was done at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, US.

Four years ago, scientists there attached a touch-screen computer terminal to the side of the enclosure of a female gorilla named Rollie.

As the gorilla approached, it saw the numeral one displayed on the screen. When Rollie touched the symbol, a chime sounded and the machine dispensed a frozen blueberry.

It did not take long for the gorilla to work out that pressing the number had benefits.

After a while, the computer screen presented Rollie with two symbols, the numerals one and two. Through trial and error, Rollie learned to press them in the right order to receive a blueberry.

Last year, zoo primatologist Steve Ross reported that Rollie could sequence up to seven numbers at a time, and that chimpanzees at the facility were taking twice as long to learn the sequence.

"Gorillas rarely use tools and have rarely been cognitively studied as a result. So, we did not expect them to perform very well at this," Ross said.

Despite Rollie's success, Ross and his colleagues wondered whether the gorilla was just one very sharp ape, or if such intellect could be found in other gorillas.

The scientists started testing other gorillas at their facility.

The youngest of the group, a five-year-old named Azizi, is also proving to be a quick study.

So far, the male gorilla has only learned to sequence five numbers at a time, but has progressed as rapidly as Rollie.

In Japan, similar studies are being conducted with chimpanzees, mandrills, and gibbons. None have made it past the number five.

"This is the first study demonstrating gorilla intelligence like this," said Tetsuro Matsuzawa, director of the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University. "I am eager to see how further research with these gorillas progresses," he added. (ANI)

Gorillas might be the smartest apes on the planet

Washington, May 13 (ANI): A new research, which involved a trial and error test, has suggested that gorillas maybe the smartest apes on the planet.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the research was done at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, US.

Four years ago, scientists there attached a touch-screen computer terminal to the side of the enclosure of a female gorilla named Rollie.

As the gorilla approached, it saw the numeral one displayed on the screen. When Rollie touched the symbol, a chime sounded and the machine dispensed a frozen blueberry.

It did not take long for the gorilla to work out that pressing the number had benefits.

After a while, the computer screen presented Rollie with two symbols, the numerals one and two. Through trial and error, Rollie learned to press them in the right order to receive a blueberry.

Last year, zoo primatologist Steve Ross reported that Rollie could sequence up to seven numbers at a time, and that chimpanzees at the facility were taking twice as long to learn the sequence.

"Gorillas rarely use tools and have rarely been cognitively studied as a result. So, we did not expect them to perform very well at this," Ross said.

Despite Rollie's success, Ross and his colleagues wondered whether the gorilla was just one very sharp ape, or if such intellect could be found in other gorillas.

The scientists started testing other gorillas at their facility.

The youngest of the group, a five-year-old named Azizi, is also proving to be a quick study.

So far, the male gorilla has only learned to sequence five numbers at a time, but has progressed as rapidly as Rollie.

In Japan, similar studies are being conducted with chimpanzees, mandrills, and gibbons. None have made it past the number five.

"This is the first study demonstrating gorilla intelligence like this," said Tetsuro Matsuzawa, director of the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University. "I am eager to see how further research with these gorillas progresses," he added. (ANI)

Gorillas might be the smartest apes on the planet

Washington, May 13 (ANI): A new research, which involved a trial and error test, has suggested that gorillas maybe the smartest apes on the planet.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the research was done at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, US.

Four years ago, scientists there attached a touch-screen computer terminal to the side of the enclosure of a female gorilla named Rollie.

As the gorilla approached, it saw the numeral one displayed on the screen. When Rollie touched the symbol, a chime sounded and the machine dispensed a frozen blueberry.

It did not take long for the gorilla to work out that pressing the number had benefits.

After a while, the computer screen presented Rollie with two symbols, the numerals one and two. Through trial and error, Rollie learned to press them in the right order to receive a blueberry.

Last year, zoo primatologist Steve Ross reported that Rollie could sequence up to seven numbers at a time, and that chimpanzees at the facility were taking twice as long to learn the sequence.

"Gorillas rarely use tools and have rarely been cognitively studied as a result. So, we did not expect them to perform very well at this," Ross said.

Despite Rollie's success, Ross and his colleagues wondered whether the gorilla was just one very sharp ape, or if such intellect could be found in other gorillas.

The scientists started testing other gorillas at their facility.

The youngest of the group, a five-year-old named Azizi, is also proving to be a quick study.

So far, the male gorilla has only learned to sequence five numbers at a time, but has progressed as rapidly as Rollie.

In Japan, similar studies are being conducted with chimpanzees, mandrills, and gibbons. None have made it past the number five.

"This is the first study demonstrating gorilla intelligence like this," said Tetsuro Matsuzawa, director of the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University. "I am eager to see how further research with these gorillas progresses," he added. (ANI)

Prehistoric fishing tackle found in Egypt

Abu Dhabi, May 13 (ANI): An Egyptian archaeological team has found prehistoric fishing gear, sewing equipment and jewellery all made from animal bones, as well as pottery and coins, near an oasis south of Cairo.

"An Egyptian archaeological mission working near El-Karn island on Lake Qarun in Fayoum has found a large amount of fishing tackle, sewing equipment and jewellery made from animal bone dating back to prehistoric time," Culture Minister Faruk Hosni told Khaleej Times Online.

"The mission also found caves used by prehistoric man," he said.

"The most important item is an awl made of animal bone and granite, which shows that prehistoric man devised many ways to sew leather," Khaled Saad, who headed the mission, was quoted as saying.

The team also found ancient pottery, coins, whale vertebrae and fossils of seals, sawfish as well as crocodile and turtle parts, Saad added.

"Medical equipment and weapons made of animal bone were also unearthed," he said.

The site was used by many civilizations, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass was quoted as saying.

"During excavation, the mission found antiquities from the Pharaonic, Greek, Roman and Islamic periods," Hawass said.

The team also found a rare block which dates back to 3150 BC depicting the mythical leader known as the Scorpion King, as well as colourful mosaic plates with engravings of the Fatimid caliph Al-Zafir. (ANI)

World's oldest teak trees dying in Kerala

Nilambur (Kerala), May 13: Two teak trees, believed to be the oldest in the world, are dying. The trees are located at the plantation, about 40 kilometres from Malappuram town in Kerala.

As per forest officials here, two out of the 117 plants are in the dying stage, they have died almost 90 percent. But the officials have still retained in the plantation and tourists are allowed to watch it.

These trees have started forming wrinkles and some of the them are already half-dead.

The plantation is named in honour of HV Conolly, the then Collector of Malabar during the British rule, who was instrumental in planting teak in the entire Nilambur area with the help of Shri Chanthu Menon, a forest officer under him.

The plot extends across 2.31 hectares beside the Chaliyar river at Aruvakode and a hanging bridge is one of the attractions among the tourists.

This plantation is about 163 years old. The planting was done between the year 1842 -1844.

The plot has also been acclaimed for having the oldest living teak tree (girth 420 cms and height 46.5 meters) and Shri Chanthu Menon, was laid to rest in this very teak garden, Conolly's plot, as a mark of honour.

Accused soldier's father says son 'broke'

SHERMAN, Texas -The Army sergeant accused of killing five fellow soldiers in Iraq was typically not a violent person, but counselors "broke" him before the gunfire erupted in a military stress center, his father said Tuesday. Wilburn Russell, 73, told reporters that his son, Sgt. John M. Russell, was treated poorly at the stress center and had e-mailed his wife calling two recent days the worst in his life.
"I hate what that boy did," said the elder Russell, speaking in front of the two-story suburban home his son is buying with his wife. "He thought it was justified. That's never a solution."
The 44-year-old soldier has been charged with murder and aggravated assault in the Baghdad slayings Monday, which his father said came just weeks before the end of his third tour of duty in Iraq.
His father said the younger Russell, an electronics technician, was at the stress center to transition out of active duty. He said his son was undergoing stressful mental tests that he didn't understand were merely tests, "so they broke him."
"His life was over as far as he was concerned. He lived for the military," the elder Russell said. "We're sorry for the families, too. It shouldn't have happened."
The soldier's son, John M. Russell II, said Tuesday that he has communicated with his father by e-mail regularly. In the last message he received from him, on April 25, his father sounded normal and planned to be back in Texas to visit in July.
"He's not a violent person," he said. "For this to happen, it had to be something going on that the Army's not telling us about."
Sgt. Russell grew up in rural Grayson County and graduated from high school in 1985. He entered the Army National Guard in 1988 and served until going on active duty in 1994.
He lives with his wife in Germany, where he's been for the better part of the past 10 to 15 years but comes home a couple times a year, his father said.
Russell's ex-wife filed for divorce in 1991 and obtained a temporary restraining order against him, alleging in the petition that he committed "acts of family violence."
The petition also cited an alleged incident in which he had a confrontation with Denise Russell's mother.
"During this time, respondent physically attacked my mother, age 58, hitting her on the shoulders and about the head," a petition affidavit stated.
There was no response Tuesday to a telephone call and a visit to Russell's ex-wife.
In 1993, a month after the divorce decree was issued, Russell was charged with misdemeanor assault but the matter was dropped, records show.
Jack McGowen, listed as Russell's attorney for the divorce as well as the threat case, said Tuesday he can't recall either matter.

Pope calls for Palestinian homeland

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -In a pilgrimage to Jesus' traditional birthplace, Pope Benedict XVI called Wednesday for the establishment of a Palestinian state and acknowledged Palestinian suffering during decades of Mideast turmoil.
The pontiff stood alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he delivered his strongest public support yet for Palestinian statehood.
"Mr. President, the Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbors, within internationally recognized borders," the pontiff said.
The Palestinians hoped that the pontiff's visit would highlight the harsh conditions they endure living under Israeli military rule. Benedict acknowledged their difficulties, though stopped short of naming Israel.
"I know how much you have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of the turmoil that has afflicted this land for decades," he said.
Earlier Wednesday, the pontiff's motorcade drove through a crossing in Israel's towering West Bank separation barrier to reach the cradle of Christianity. Israel says it built the barrier to keep out Palestinian attackers, while Palestinians denounce it as a land grab because it dips into areas they claim for a future independent state.
Later, he was to tour the Church of the Nativity, built over the traditional birth grotto and visit a Palestinian refugee camp.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says the pope's visit amounts to "a call to end injustice and end occupation."
Christians are a dwindling minority among Palestinians. Christians in Bethlehem say they hope the pope's visit will discourage further Christian emigration.

Shot Mumbai policeman testifies

An Indian court has heard dramatic new evidence against the alleged sole surviving gunman of the Mumbai attacks, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab.

Sanjay Govilkar, a police officer who was present during the battle to capture Mr Qasab, told the court how he and his colleague had been shot.

He and the other police officer were fired on by Mr Qasab before he was overpowered, Mr Govilkar said.

Mr Qasab is charged on 86 counts, including waging war against India.

He is also accused of murder and possessing explosives. Last week he pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces.

'He fired'

Mr Govilkar said his confrontation with Mr Qasab had taken place overnight on 26 November at a checkpoint in Mumbai.
"There were about 12 to 13 police officers [at the checkpoint] when a Skoda [car] approached it," he said.

"The vehicle did not stop and took a u-turn crashing into the divider... We rushed to the vehicle.

"As we came, Qasab got out of the car with his weapon. We tried to snatch the weapon and grab him. But he fired and Tukaram Omble [the other police officer] and I were injured."

Mr Omble later died from his injuries.

Mr Govilkar - who was injured on the right side of his waist - said that he had helped police to overpower the suspect with batons despite his injuries.

Both he and his colleague were rushed to hospital after Mr Qasab's arrest, he said.

During cross-examination, he denied claims that he had been "instructed beforehand" on the nature of his evidence.

Smiling in court

The judge in the case on Tuesday afternoon again warned Mr Qasab to refrain from smiling in court.

He was reprimanded after lunch during the evidence of the third witness, Hemant Bavdhankar, who was narrating how Tukaram Omble was shot.

Special judge ML Tahiliyani was evidently annoyed with the defendant's behaviour and reacted sharply, says the BBC's Prachi Pinglay, who was in court.

"I have noticed he [Qasab] always laughs when Omble's name is mentioned and the incident is talked about," the judge said.

More than 170 people died in the attacks, including nine gunmen.

Two Indians, Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, are also on trial accused of being members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group and of scouting for the attacks.

They too have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit the same offences as Mr Qasab.

In an earlier hearing, Mr Qasab retracted a confession, saying it had been coerced.

It will be up to the judge to weigh the evidence at the trial and decide whether the confession should be taken into account.

India has accused Pakistan-based fighters from Lashkar-e-Taiba of carrying out the attacks, which took place from 26-28 November.

Pakistan has admitted they were partly planned on its soil and the two countries have suffered seriously strained relations.

The case continues.

Film-makers attacked in Pakistan

A film-maker from Greater Manchester fled Pakistan after his crew were attacked and shot at near the Afghanistan border.

David Whitney was in the middle of shooting Kandahar Break, a film about Taleban-rule in Afghanistan, when the team was attacked just outside Quetta.

The 31-year-old believes they came under Taleban fire. His crew were flown out of the country within 24 hours.

"Fortunately we all survived, but it was terrifying," Mr Whitney said.
The Horwich-born director landed in Manchester the day after the attack, relieved but disappointed he could not carry on filming.

"Four members of our crew were shot but they escaped without serious injury," he said.

"We were flown straight out of Quetta, landed in Islamabad and then onto Manchester.

"I was really disappointed though, we were at a crucial point in the filming."

With three-quarters of the production finished, Mr Whitney managed to get financial backing and ended up shooting the rest of it in Tunisia.

Having just finished filming, he has just returned to Manchester and the film is now in the post-production stage. He hopes to release it in July.

Based in Afghanistan in 1999, it follows the journey of four British mine experts working for the Taleban and what happens when one of them disobeys the strict regime.

Mr Whitney added: "It has consumed two years of my life, we all wanted to complete it, at one point after the guys got shot we were pretty broken, that almost finished us.

"But we managed it."

UK, US plea over Sri Lanka crisis

The US and UK have urged Sri Lanka's government and Tamil Tiger rebels to stop fighting "immediately" and allow an evacuation of trapped civilians.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her UK counterpart David Miliband also expressed alarm at the large number of reported civilian casualties.

The top UN aid official said the situation in the conflict zone in north-eastern Sri Lanka was "awful".

The rebels earlier accused the army of killing 49 people in a hospital.

The Tamil Tigers said the makeshift hospital in Mullivaikal in the rebel-held enclave was hit on Tuesday morning.

The Sri Lankan government denied the army had caused civilian casualties or used heavy weapons in civilian areas, but said it had pierced rebel defences.


See a map of the conflict region

As it advanced south, the army also said that all voices speaking from the Tiger-held zone amounted to misinformation.

The claims are impossible to verify as reporters are banned from the area.

More than 400 people were killed and over 1,000 injured over the weekend in what the UN has described as a "bloodbath".

The UN estimates that about 50,000 civilians are trapped by the conflict, in a three-sq-km strip of land. Most of this area has been designated by the government as a safe zone which will not be attacked by air or by heavy weapons.

'Political solution'

Mrs Clinton and Mr Miliband issued a joint statement on Sri Lanka, following their talks in Washington.

The statement urged all sides in Sri Lanka to "end hostilities immediately and allow for the safe evacuation of the tens of thousands of civilians trapped within the safe zone".

It also said London and Washington were alarmed "at the large number of reported civilian casualties over the past several days in the designated 'safe zone'".

The two top diplomats called for "a political solution that reconciles all Sri Lankans, and establishes a meaningful role for Tamil and other minorities in national political life".

Their appeal was the latest in a series of calls by the international community to try to end the fighting on the Indian Ocean island.

Aid shipment abandoned

Earlier on Tuesday, UN humanitarian co-ordinator John Holmes said intransigence by both the Sri Lankan government and the rebels had created an "absolutely awful situation".

"The LTTE [Tamil Tigers] are clearly still holding onto that population against their will, using them as human shields," he said at a news conference in Geneva.

"The government have said they are not using heavy weapons. But the evidence suggests that they are continuing to do so, at least to some extent."

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday abandoned an attempt to deliver aid by sea to the enclave and evacuate many sick and injured civilians.

An ICRC spokeswoman said the fighting was too fierce and another attempt would be made on Wednesday. The last evacuation was on Saturday.

The Tamil Tigers have fought for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority since 1983.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the war.

India election starts final phase

India has entered the final phase of its marathon election, with 107 million voters eligible to cast ballots.

Voting is in 86 constituencies across nine states and territories, including Tamil Nadu in the south and most parts of the city of Calcutta.

The main fight is between the ruling Congress party-led alliance and parties led by the BJP, although there is a host of regional opposition.

Results are announced on Saturday and an outright majority is unlikely.

A series of exit polls is expected after polling closes at 1700 local time (1130 GMT).

Calcutta violence

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says that the final phase could well prove decisive as the swing state of Tamil Nadu, with nearly 40 parliamentary seats, has heavily influenced federal politics in the past few elections.

Voters in the states of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are also casting ballots on Wednesday, the final day of voting.

Polls are also being held in the federally-administered territories of Chandigarh and Pondicherry.

The BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta says there have been election clashes in seven places in and around the city, with one person reported dead and 17 injured. There were similar clashes there in last week's voting phase.

All 39 constituencies in the southern state of Tamil Nadu are voting.

Tamil Nadu - where voters tend to hand big victories to one or other of the state's two main parties - is expected to play a crucial role in the formation of the government in the coalition talks that are almost certain to follow the election.

The last five governments have been formed with the winners in Tamil Nadu.

Former state chief minister, J Jayalalitha, head of the AIADMK party and one of India's most colourful and controversial politicians, has cast her vote in the state capital Madras (Chennai) and complained of election irregularities.

She said some election machines were not working properly and in some places paramilitaries were nowhere to be seen.

In Jammu and Kashmir, some separatist groups have called for a boycott of the elections and there has been a two-day strike in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley.

A former separatist and head of a faction of the regional People's Conference party, Sajjad Lone, has broken ranks to stand for election from Baramullah.

The BBC's Altaf Hussain in Srinagar says turnout in the region is so far very low.

A large number of police and paramilitary troops have been deployed in the capital, Srinagar, to prevent anti-election demonstrations, our correspondent says.

Among the other candidates facing the electorate on Wednesday are Varun Gandhi and Mohammad Azharrudin.

Mr Gandhi, who has been accused of making a controversial anti-Muslim speech, is standing for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh.

Ex-cricketer Azharruddin stands for Congress in Moradabad in the same state.

The first round of the general election on 16 April was marred by Maoist attacks in eastern and central India which killed at least 17 people. Later rounds were less violent.

About two million security personnel are being deployed for the five-phase vote.

The new parliament has to be constituted by 2 June.

Afghan suicide bomb 'kills seven'

A suicide car bomb explosion near a US military base in eastern Afghanistan has killed seven civilians and wounded several others, the US military says.

The attack took place near the eastern town of Khost. Most of the casualties were believed to be local labourers working at the base, Camp Salerno.

There are no reports of casualties among coalition forces.

Khost was struck by several suicide blasts on Tuesday which left up to nine Afghans dead.

Simultaneous attacks

The provincial police chief in Khost, Abdul Qayoum Baqizoi, confirmed that Wednesday's attack was a car bomb.

US military official, Specialist April Campbell, quoted by the AFP news agency from the main US base at Bagram, north of the capital Kabul, said: "Twenty-one local nationals were wounded and seven were killed."

Local officials said the toll of dead and injured could rise.

A man claiming to be a local member of the Taleban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast comes a day after nine people were killed in simultaneous attacks on government buildings in Khost.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the militants, Zabihullah Mujahid, said: "Thirty of our fighters armed with suicide cars, suicide jackets and guns have entered the city."

Officials have not been able to confirm the number of militants involved.

Khost has witnessed frequent clashes between coalition forces and the Taleban.

In recent months militants have carried out attacks targeting several locations simultaneously, a sign of their increasing sophistication, analysts say.