Monkeyology » science

My Two Moms – Three Parent Monkey

Chief Monkeyologist — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:20:17 +0000

For the first time a 4 monkeys has been born with DNA from 3 parents.

Babies born using the new technique would inherit most of their genetic material from their mother and father. But a tiny amount – mitochondrial DNA accounts for less than 1% of all the DNA in a human body – would come from the donor of the mDNA. This genetic material would be passed on to future generations.

Interesting stuff.

Chuckling Chimps

Chief Monkeyologist — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:54:31 +0000

We know humans and chimps are closely related. But now we know even our laughter is very closely related. Here’s a great article (with pictures of chuckling orangutans, despite the title) about laughter and monkeys.

Monkeybot

Chief Monkeyologist — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:13:21 +0000

Research released today shows that Macaques brains are extremely powerful. They were able to send brain signals through electrodes to a paralyzed wrist muscle. Impressive. The wrist was paralyzed using local anesthetic so that it was only temporary. Check the article for more details. They essentially made a monkeybot.

About Those Bonobos

Chief Monkeyologist — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:46:52 +0000

Bonobos are long known as the sex addicts of the animal kingdom. To them having sex is like shaking hands is to a politician. They shake every hand they can reach… if you know what I mean. Here’s an interesting study about the other side of these sex machines:

As hippies had Altamont, so bonobos have Salonga National Park, where scientists have witnessed the supposedly peace-loving primate hunting and eating monkey children.

Sex-Crazed Apes Feast on Killing, Too

A Familiar Butt

Chief Monkeyologist — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:49:29 +0000

National Geographic has a piece on Chimps identifying each other not by faces but by looking at each other’s butts. It’s a very interesting read.

Cyborg Monkeys

Chief Monkeyologist — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:53:20 +0000

The monkey borg are upon us:

Relying solely on brain signal manipulation, monkeys have learned to operate human-like robotic arms to feed themselves, U.S. researchers reported Wednesday.

I for one welcome our cyborg monkey overlords.

(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)

Update: Video!

Monkeybot

Chief Monkeyologist — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:02:41 +0000

The New York Times reports:

On Thursday, the 12-pound, 32-inch monkey made a 200-pound, 5-foot humanoid robot walk on a treadmill using only her brain activity.

She was in North Carolina, and the robot was in Japan.

It was the first time that brain signals had been used to make a robot walk, said Dr. Miguel A. L. Nicolelis, a neuroscientist at Duke University whose laboratory designed and carried out the experiment.

I for one welcome our Monkeybot overlords.

You can read more about this at the New York Times.