Browsing All posts tagged under »primates«

Orangutan uses wet towel to cool down

August 27, 2011

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One resident at Tama Zoological Park in Tokyo has been impressing visitors with its hygiene skills. The orangutan uses a wet towel to clean itself, carefully wringing out the water before having a wash to stay cool. I don’t know the history behind this ape, but my hunch is that it may well have been a […]

Project Nim – Review

August 26, 2011

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They did things differently in the 70’s. So much so that no one batted an eye-lid when a professor from Columbia University wrenched an infant chimpanzee from his mother, to give to his former lover to raise as a human child in New York City, as a language experiment. Meet Nim. Nim Chimpsky was considered […]

Learning to cook may have helped man’s evolution

August 24, 2011

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Bad manners are one of my pet hates and that also includes table manners. It drives me potty when people chew food with their mouth open. Not only is it unsightly but it sounds bloody awful. Thankfully through the art of cooking, food is softened up which means it takes us less time to chew […]

Can childhood stress lead to behavioural problems?

August 21, 2011

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Yesterday I was deployed to Birmingham to report on how West Midlands Police faced gun fire from a masked-gang of 30 youths during an organised attack in the area of Aston earlier this month. The chief constable I interviewed, told me he believed this group, which had four handguns, had every intention of injuring or […]

The Primatarium in Kings Cross

August 15, 2011

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Earlier this month I was intrigued to learn there was a Primatarium in Kings Cross during the end of the 1970s. It took over the site of where Scala nightclub in Kings Cross currently stands, but there’s very little information about what it offered the public. I imagined it was place where people would pay […]

Prequel to Planet of the Apes is a visual effects masterpiece

August 12, 2011

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I have been chopping at the bit ever since I heard Rise of The Planet of the Apes was out this summer. Its release this week in the UK couldn’t have been more timely following the rioting and looting in various cities up and down the country. Although the film centres around the untamed side […]

Children looting and rioting….I blame the parents!

August 9, 2011

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This is a phrase I’ve grown up with. My parents used it freely when they saw children misbehave and their mums or dads failed to discipline them. If you can’t teach young people values and instil respect for authority and seniority, what hope is there for the next generation? Where on earth do these parents think […]

Humanising animals could lead to the creation of monsters

August 1, 2011

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In ten days time the much anticipated summer blockbuster Rise of the Planet of the Apes will open in cinemas across the UK. The film looks at how the genetic modification of one chimpanzee creates a new-breed of ape that eventually leads to a great ape uprising against the human race. This may sound like […]

One in ten monkeys experimented on was not medically justified

July 27, 2011

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Since news at work spread about my interests in our hairier cousins, any stories remotely connected to non-human primates are immediately thrown my way. And today was no exception. I was sent down to a press conference this morning at the Wellcome Trust where a panel of experts, who took part in an independent review […]

Chimpanzees trained to use machetes

July 22, 2011

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I have to give it to 20th Century Fox, its publicity department is working overtime ahead of the summer blockbuster Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Yet another video has made it onto the net, this time showing a chimp welding a machete. I came across it after a note from one of my readers Christian, who alerted […]