Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101022/15570011550/dailydirt-animals-with-tools.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101022/15570011550/dailydirt-animals-with-tools.shtml

A captive cockatoo has been seen creating a tool spontaneously and improving upon its design. This behavior has not been observed in the wild (yet?), and it hasn't been replicated by other captive cockatoos. Still, it shows there's tool-building potential in these birds. [url]

Female chimps are usually the innovators in primate communities. The female chimps tend to leave their families when they mature... and the socializations and sharing create opportunities for starting new cultural trends -- like ant fishing with twigs or washing food before eating. [url]

Unfortunately, a mobile chat app for bonobos didn't get funded on Kickstarter. But this could still be a really cool zoo exhibit to get people communicating with apes. [url]

Forget sharks with lasers attached to their heads. The Ukrainian navy is training dolphins "to attack enemy combat swimmers using special knives or pistols fixed to their heads." Hmm. Arming dolphins doesn't seem necessary since they're already powerful enough to kill a person underwater... but maybe dolphins with guns will look more menacing to enemies. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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