Pigs are observed using tools for the first time as researcher records one digging in the ground with a stick
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/...stick.html
SUMMARY: Endangered species [Visayan warty pig] used sticks to dog out nests for piglets. Ecologist observed the behavior repeatedly over three years. Pigs even tried using kitchen spatulas researchers gave them.
Implanted memories teach birds a song
https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/...-song.html
VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/205292139/7d6254e962
EXCERPT: . . . The study published in Science outlines how scientists activated a circuit of neurons through optogenetics – a relatively new tool that uses light to monitor and control brain activity. The researchers used zebra finches because they share many of the human stages of vocal development: Early in life the birds hear their fathers sing, eventually memorizing the notes. They learn to replicate the behavior after practicing tens of thousands of times.
By controlling the interaction between two regions of the brain, Dr. Roberts’ team encoded memories in zebra finches that had no tutoring experience from their fathers. The birds used these memories to learn syllables of their song, with the duration of each note corresponding to the amount of time the light kept the neurons active. The shorter the light exposure, the shorter the note.
“We’re not teaching the bird everything it needs to know – just the duration of syllables in its song,” Dr. Roberts said. “The two brain regions we tested in this study represent just one piece of the puzzle.”
Nevertheless, the discovery is notable because it opens new avenues of research to identify more brain circuits that influence other aspects of vocalization, such as pitch and the order of each sound. “If we figure out those other pathways, we could hypothetically teach a bird to sing its song without any interaction from its father,” Dr. Roberts said. “But we’re a long way from being able to do that.” (MORE - details)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/...stick.html
SUMMARY: Endangered species [Visayan warty pig] used sticks to dog out nests for piglets. Ecologist observed the behavior repeatedly over three years. Pigs even tried using kitchen spatulas researchers gave them.
Implanted memories teach birds a song
https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/...-song.html
VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/205292139/7d6254e962
EXCERPT: . . . The study published in Science outlines how scientists activated a circuit of neurons through optogenetics – a relatively new tool that uses light to monitor and control brain activity. The researchers used zebra finches because they share many of the human stages of vocal development: Early in life the birds hear their fathers sing, eventually memorizing the notes. They learn to replicate the behavior after practicing tens of thousands of times.
By controlling the interaction between two regions of the brain, Dr. Roberts’ team encoded memories in zebra finches that had no tutoring experience from their fathers. The birds used these memories to learn syllables of their song, with the duration of each note corresponding to the amount of time the light kept the neurons active. The shorter the light exposure, the shorter the note.
“We’re not teaching the bird everything it needs to know – just the duration of syllables in its song,” Dr. Roberts said. “The two brain regions we tested in this study represent just one piece of the puzzle.”
Nevertheless, the discovery is notable because it opens new avenues of research to identify more brain circuits that influence other aspects of vocalization, such as pitch and the order of each sound. “If we figure out those other pathways, we could hypothetically teach a bird to sing its song without any interaction from its father,” Dr. Roberts said. “But we’re a long way from being able to do that.” (MORE - details)