Mar 27, 2021 01:16 AM
(This post was last modified: Mar 27, 2021 05:20 AM by C C.)
(LSD hobbies) Just how intelligent are dolphins?
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-...e-dolphins
EXCERPTS: . . . Jokes aside, there are a lot of reasons to give dolphins credit. The small cetaceans have highly developed language abilities and can learn complicated tricks while acting on TV shows. Dolphins have served the U.S. and Russian navies and some believe they can even sense cancer tumors, though the science has yet to back up this myth.
“They have culture, they use tools, they have complex societies,” says Neuroscientist Lori Marino [...] “These animals are very much like us because of their social complexities, their behavior, their level of self-awareness.”
What leads some to believe they are the second smartest creatures? Simply put, it’s about relative brain size. Sperm whales may have the biggest brain sizes of any creature living on the planet, weighing up to 20 pounds according to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. But sperm whales are also massive animals that require more computing power for basic tasks like movement.
[...] “Their brains are oversized,” Marino says. But she adds that researchers are now trying to get away from the idea of ranking different animals based on brain size. Octopi, for example, may not be as high in the encephalization quotient as some of their competitors, but the cephalopods have excelled at a great number of problem-solving tasks researchers have thrown at them.
[...] The first scientific attempts to assess dolphin intelligence in a serious way came in the 1950s and 1960s with John Lilly, a scientist that studied bottlenose dolphin vocalization. Lilly’s early work laid the groundwork for studying dolphin brains and intelligence.
The trouble is, the questionable ethics of some of his experiments often overshadows that work and led to a drought on serious research on dolphin smarts that lasted for years, Marino says. Lilly is also a counterculture figure, involved with psychedelic drug experiments ... These experiments spilled over into his research on marine mammals, and he began administering LSD to dolphins in an effort to communicate with them.
Eventually, researchers began to study dolphin intelligence again. Research by Marino published in 2001 showed that dolphins recognize themselves in the mirror. [...] Only a few other species like chimpanzees have been shown to exhibit this type of self-awareness.
“Other studies have shown that dolphins can be taught to understand basic symbols created by humans, and even full sentences such as “bring the ball to the hoop.”
“They understand the syntax,” Marino says. “They understand that ‘bring the hoop to the ball’ is different from ‘bring the ball to the hoop.’”
The trouble with many of these tests is that they occur in captive settings. [...] As a result, Marino has begun to get away from working with captive dolphins. While understanding their behavior is much more complex in the wild, researchers have still observed a great deal of intelligent behavior in the cetaceans... (MORE - details)
(Firearm games) Weird reasoning? Choosing mass shootings to promote background checks & gun control... because, you know, these guys have such a solid reputation for being documented felons. [sarcasm]
"Most mass shooters in the U.S. acquired the weapons they used legally because there was nothing in their backgrounds to disqualify them, according to James Alan Fox, a criminologist with Northeastern University who has studied mass shootings for decades."
- - -
Accused Boulder shooter passed background check before buying gun
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/boulder-s...1c28152feb
EXCERPTS: John Mark Eagleton, owner of Eagles Nest Armory in the Denver suburb of Arvada, said in a statement that [...] the suspect in the shooting, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, passed a background check conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation before purchasing the firearm.
[...] “Regarding the firearm in question, a background check of the purchaser was conducted as required by Colorado law and approval for the sale was provided by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. We have and will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement as their investigation continues.”
Alissa was convicted in 2018 of misdemeanor assault after he knocked a fellow high school student to the floor, climbed on top of him and punched him in the head several times, according to police documents. He was sentenced to probation and community service.
Colorado has a universal background check law covering almost all gun sales, but misdemeanor convictions generally do not prevent people from purchasing weapons. If Alissa had been convicted of a felony, his gun purchase would’ve been prohibited under federal law... (MORE)
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-...e-dolphins
EXCERPTS: . . . Jokes aside, there are a lot of reasons to give dolphins credit. The small cetaceans have highly developed language abilities and can learn complicated tricks while acting on TV shows. Dolphins have served the U.S. and Russian navies and some believe they can even sense cancer tumors, though the science has yet to back up this myth.
“They have culture, they use tools, they have complex societies,” says Neuroscientist Lori Marino [...] “These animals are very much like us because of their social complexities, their behavior, their level of self-awareness.”
What leads some to believe they are the second smartest creatures? Simply put, it’s about relative brain size. Sperm whales may have the biggest brain sizes of any creature living on the planet, weighing up to 20 pounds according to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. But sperm whales are also massive animals that require more computing power for basic tasks like movement.
[...] “Their brains are oversized,” Marino says. But she adds that researchers are now trying to get away from the idea of ranking different animals based on brain size. Octopi, for example, may not be as high in the encephalization quotient as some of their competitors, but the cephalopods have excelled at a great number of problem-solving tasks researchers have thrown at them.
[...] The first scientific attempts to assess dolphin intelligence in a serious way came in the 1950s and 1960s with John Lilly, a scientist that studied bottlenose dolphin vocalization. Lilly’s early work laid the groundwork for studying dolphin brains and intelligence.
The trouble is, the questionable ethics of some of his experiments often overshadows that work and led to a drought on serious research on dolphin smarts that lasted for years, Marino says. Lilly is also a counterculture figure, involved with psychedelic drug experiments ... These experiments spilled over into his research on marine mammals, and he began administering LSD to dolphins in an effort to communicate with them.
Eventually, researchers began to study dolphin intelligence again. Research by Marino published in 2001 showed that dolphins recognize themselves in the mirror. [...] Only a few other species like chimpanzees have been shown to exhibit this type of self-awareness.
“Other studies have shown that dolphins can be taught to understand basic symbols created by humans, and even full sentences such as “bring the ball to the hoop.”
“They understand the syntax,” Marino says. “They understand that ‘bring the hoop to the ball’ is different from ‘bring the ball to the hoop.’”
The trouble with many of these tests is that they occur in captive settings. [...] As a result, Marino has begun to get away from working with captive dolphins. While understanding their behavior is much more complex in the wild, researchers have still observed a great deal of intelligent behavior in the cetaceans... (MORE - details)
(Firearm games) Weird reasoning? Choosing mass shootings to promote background checks & gun control... because, you know, these guys have such a solid reputation for being documented felons. [sarcasm]
"Most mass shooters in the U.S. acquired the weapons they used legally because there was nothing in their backgrounds to disqualify them, according to James Alan Fox, a criminologist with Northeastern University who has studied mass shootings for decades."
- - -
Accused Boulder shooter passed background check before buying gun
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/boulder-s...1c28152feb
EXCERPTS: John Mark Eagleton, owner of Eagles Nest Armory in the Denver suburb of Arvada, said in a statement that [...] the suspect in the shooting, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, passed a background check conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation before purchasing the firearm.
[...] “Regarding the firearm in question, a background check of the purchaser was conducted as required by Colorado law and approval for the sale was provided by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. We have and will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement as their investigation continues.”
Alissa was convicted in 2018 of misdemeanor assault after he knocked a fellow high school student to the floor, climbed on top of him and punched him in the head several times, according to police documents. He was sentenced to probation and community service.
Colorado has a universal background check law covering almost all gun sales, but misdemeanor convictions generally do not prevent people from purchasing weapons. If Alissa had been convicted of a felony, his gun purchase would’ve been prohibited under federal law... (MORE)