Eco-friendly apes
Chimpanzees in the Congo have developed specialised "tool kits" to forage for army ants, according to a paper published in the American Journal of Primatology. This not only provides the first direct evidence of multiple tool use in this context, but suggests that chimpanzees have developed a sustainable way of harvesting food.
While the tool sets observed during this study were similar to other recorded tools, this research suggests that chimpanzees are selecting tools depending on the characteristics of the ant species they are foraging.
Chimpanzees that harvest ants by raking a nest open with their hands risk provoking a counterattack from the ants. This results not only in bites but may provoke the ants to migrate.
However, by using the perforation tools the chimps can entice the ants out and can allow the insertion of the second tool for dipping. This not only reduces the ant's aggressive behaviour but may also be a "sustainable harvesting" technique as the ants will stay in that location allowing the chimpanzees to revisit this source of food.
It also appears that chimpanzees practise recycling by recognising tool forms and re-using tools that have been discarded by other individuals during previous visits.
Sanz C, Schoning, C, Morgan.D, Chimpanzees Prey on Army Ants with Specialized Tools, American Journal of Primatology, 2009
Rock follies
Dr Nick Troop, principal lecturer in health psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, and an avid David Bowie fan, analysed the singer's 266 songs for links between language used and success in the charts, and then wrote what he considered to be the ideal song to guarantee commercial success and improve the health of the singer.
Although Dr Troop's interest in Bowie started as a hobby, he was motivated by previous studies proving that writing about trauma and life-goals have long-term benefits to health. He used the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), a program developed at the University of Texas, to investigate psychological constructs represented in text. It's a quantitative analysis of psychological processes reflected in the words Bowie uses rather than a qualitative interpretation of the meaning of his songs.
"I looked at the link between the language used and how long Bowie's albums had spent in the charts," said Dr Troop. "I found that the songs with positive emotion and social processes were more successful than the songs that talked about mortality."
Using this approach, Dr Troop then wrote the ideal Bowie song:
Team, Meet Girls; Girls, Meet Team
Buddy loves good loving: Calm and proud while peace wins
Warmth and conversation: Heaven's energy and an elegant charm . . .
Those of a strong disposition can catch the full version on YouTube.
Don't call us . . .
It's the news every teacher has been dreading. In his inaugural dissertation, Dr Marcus Specht, professor for Advanced Learning Technologies at the Open Universiteit Nederland claimed mobile phones can be the key to a new, personal way of learning, as mobile media enable learners to access information and learning support whenever they need. "The students of the future will demand the learning support that is appropriate for their situation or context. Nothing more. Nothing less. And they want it at the moment the need arises. Not sooner. Not later. Mobiles will be a key technology to provide that learning support," he says.
Catch of the day
After many years of persistent nagging from health gurus to get us all to eat more fish, it turns out that consuming it has no major role in the prevention of heart failure after all. The research, published in the the European Journal of Heart Failure and involving all men and women over the age of 55 living in a suburb of Rotterdam, found no difference in the risk of developing heart failure between those who did eat fish and those who didn't.
"Scientists and health authorities are increasingly persuaded that the intake of fish – even in small amounts – will protect against the risk of fatal myocardial infarction," said study investigator Dr Marianne Geleinjse from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. "However, there is no strong evidence that eating fish will protect against heart failure."
European Journal of Heart Failure
