counting with birds, animals & plants

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According to a study recently published which details how wild robins in New Zealand become noticeably bothered when they've been "cheated" out of a set number of promised worms. In a standard test used to determine an animal's ability to measure values, researchers placed a small box with two layers in the woods. Making sure that robins were watching them, they placed a pair of small worms into the box's second layer. By the way, Bayesian probability is the process of using probability to try to predict the likelihood of a certain event occurring in future. Kea, a type of parrot from New Zealand, have been surprising scientists with their smart predictions.

Researchers set them a series of intelligence tests based around probabilities and social cues.

They found that kea can perform better than monkeys, showing abilities only previously seen in great apes such as humans and chimpanzees.

Ayumu the chimpanzee has made headlines around the world for his ability to beat humans on memory tests, in both speed and accuracy. Does Ayumu's ability force us to reconsider our assumptions about human superiority to other primates?

birds can count

They then slid the first layer on top - this layer only containing one small worm. From the bird's perspective, the box should contain two worms, but they will only have access to the layer with one.

"The robins clearly recognize that there is only one worm when they saw two go into the box," explained New York Times scientist writer Jim Gordan, who was not involved in the study.

"That's when they search intensely with a lot of pecking." According to the study, in nearly every instance where this experiment was done in the field, the robins started furiously pecking around the box when the math didn't add up.

This searching didn't occur for nearly as long or as vigorously as when the birds found the exact number they were expecting.

I of VI: " Bayesian probability anyone?"

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 II of VI: Ayumu the chimp is a champ in number memory

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III of VI: wild New Zealand robins

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IV of VI: Can Chickens count?

The University of Würzburg gives insight into the digestion of a venus flytrap.

What is awesome about Neuroscientist Greg Gage is that: he takes sophisticated equipment used to study the brain out of graduate-level labs and brings them to middle- and high-school classrooms.

Prepare to be amazed as he hooks up the Mimosa pudica, a plant whose leaves close when touched, and the Venus flytrap to an EKG to show us how plants use electrical signals to convey information, prompt movement and even count.

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V of VI: some plants can count too

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VI of VI: plant - counting & communication

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