Secrets of Our Living Planet - The Emerald Band

I may not be able to blog this week, since I'm going to be spending some quality time with my family, so I'm leaving you dear readers with a fascinating documentary.

We've seen in multiple cases before the intricacies of various animals. What's different about today's documentary is that it showcases the interesting and intricate relationships between various organisms to explain why there is so much biological diversity in the Earth's rain forests, why so many of these organisms are so weird, and why these relationships and processes matter.

Part of the key has to do with the runaway result of an evolutionary arms races of specialization and ingenious manipulation between plants and pests, predators and prey, parasites and hosts. And underneath it all is the process of natural selection, that blind watchmaker that can produce incredible adaptations out of physical, chemical and biological necessity.

See you next week!

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Jane Goodall on Chimpanzees and Human Emotions

Jane Goodall's story of scientific discovery is an amazing one, but even more amazing are the stories that she shares with the world, the way she tells these stories, and the optimism with which she confronts pressing global issues such as conservation, poverty, education, deforestation, etc.

If you want a basic introduction to the wonders and mysteries of our closest evolutionary cousins, you could probably not do better than to listen to Jane Goodall recount some fascinating incidents that have shed so much light into our understanding of these adorable creatures.

But she also carries a powerful ethical message about the need for more humane, sustainable practices, and for the moral obligation we have to those around us and to future generations at whose expense we get to lead lavish and profligate lifestyles. And because rhetoric can inspire but not necessarily guide, she also offers some very practical examples of programs, big and small, already in place and from which we could learn how to make the world a better place for everyone.

I could listen to her speak all day long :)

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Frans de Waal - Moral Behavior in Animals

As you probably know, one of the most popular arguments for the existence of God is known as the moral argument. There are variations on the theme, but one of the general ideas is that the human moral sense cannot be successfully explained by mindless naturalistic principles, partly because human morality seems to be an altogether unique phenomenon in the biological world, without any antecedents in our ancestors or parallels in our living cousins. Even some prominent biologists believe this!

But is it really true that there are no antecedents or parallels of a moral sense in other animals, or is that really just a straw man created by creationists and theologians to rationalize their beliefs? Well, whenever someone makes claims that can be easily verified empirically, we can simply turn to the evidence and see how such claims stand up to experimental scrutiny, and as world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal shows in the following TEDTalk presentation, there are all kinds of examples of moral behavior in the animal world, often including two crucial components of morality: fairness and empathy.

And yes, since de Waal is a primatologist, you can expect to see plenty of examples of monkey moral behavior, and since we're dealing with monkeys, of course there will be some hilarity :)

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We're All Monkeys

We are monkeys... that's right... you and me and the guy who narrates this entertaining and thought provoking little rant... and Nietzsche was also a monkey... a very smart monkey.

Technically, though, we're apes, as this hilarious rant from The Guardian hammers into our heads. The problem, though, is that, right or wrong, the word ape just doesn't roll off the tongue with the same poetic flair. Just try substituting the word ape for the word monkey in the following expressions to see what I mean: 'monkey see, monkey do', 'monkey business', 'monkey love', 'stop monkeying around', and 'that was more fun than a barrel of monkeys'.

And perhaps we should not disclose the existence of this blog to Mr. Robbins lest he develops an aneurysm :)

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Robert Sapolsky - Are Humans Just Another Primate?

Every time scientists have tried to come up with a set of defining characteristics of what it means to be human, subsequent observation has revealed that there are other species who share those features previously thought to be unique to us...

We are faced with a puzzle: on the one hand, given our shared evolutionary history, we should expect to be quite similar to our evolutionary cousins; on the other hand, given our close genetic relatedness to chimps and bonobos, we should be more similar to them than we actually are. So what gives?

In the following absolutely fascinating presentation, Robert Sapolsky deploys a brief intro into many now classic scientific experiments. Armed with this evidence, he organizes the ways in which we are similar to other species, and how sometimes we take those similarities to hitherto unknown extremes. In the end, he posits his thoughts about some abilities and quirks that may not have any counterpart in the animal kingdom. Agree or disagree, this talk is certainly worth watching.

If you can't get enough Sapolsky, watch him talk about the weird world of toxoplasmosis, or listen to him explain how hormones can affect our minds.

And if you're outside the US and can't watch Hulu, you can also find the talk in the FORA.tv site.
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Isabel Behncke - Evolution's Gift of Play, from Bonobos to Humans

When you compare the regular chimpanzee and the bonobo, one of the most striking differences is the presence of sometimes incredible violence in the former and the complete absence of it in the latter (at least as far as we have been able to observe over the past 50 years). Both species are wicked smart, and are fascinating in their own ways, but when it comes to getting along with others and being gregarious, there's probably no species on the planet, including humans, who can come even close to bonobos.

This lack of violence is probably not all that surprising once we consider that bonobo societies are matriarchal -feminists are probably wetting themselves as we speak :) -and that social bonding and even conflict resolution are achieved through daily orgiastic feasts. When was the last time you heard of someone wanting to get into a fight after getting laid? Exactly...

In the following TEDTalk presentation, cutie primatologist Isabel Behncke argues (and has the footage to prove) that much of what underlies all of bonobo's friendliness has to do with the fact that they have a life-long commitment to play. And if play is the basis for social bonding and conflict resolution, and it's working out well for bonobos, why not for us too?

I wouldn't mind playing with her :)

And if you want to learn more about bonobo awesomeness, check them out here and here, or just type 'bonobo' in the search bar above.
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Super Monkey Collider Loses Funding

Though the longitudinal study on whether multiple stab wounds may be harmful to monkeys is not yet complete, The Onion reports that the economic crisis is forcing politicians to cut funding in other areas of curiosity-based research, such as CERN's Large Monkey Collider.

At least the scientists did manage to discover cheesium before the funding was cut :)
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Anderson Cooper gets pwned by Bonobo

If you've been keeping up with this blog for a while, you probably already know just how intelligent bonobos can be. You might be surprised to find, however, that despite his journalistic professionalism, Anderson Cooper is not exactly what you might call a social butterfly.

But even if you combine those two facts, you might still be surprised to see just how a bonobo recently pwned Cooper and took him way out of his comfort zone :)

Don't forget to check out the monkey tag for more goodies.
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