land of odd
Chimpanzees have an extraordinary photographic memory that is far superior to ours, research suggests.
Young chimps outperformed university students in memory tests devised by Japanese scientists.
The tasks involved remembering the location of numbers on a screen, and correctly recalling the sequence.
The findings, published in Current Biology, suggest we may have under-estimated the intelligence of our closest living relatives.
Until now, it had always been assumed that chimps could not match humans in memory and other mental skills.
"There are still many people, including many biologists, who believe that humans are superior to chimpanzees in all cognitive functions," said lead researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University.
"No one can imagine that chimpanzees - young chimpanzees at the age of five - have a better performance in a memory task than humans.
"Here we show for the first time that young chimpanzees have an extraordinary working memory capability for numerical recollection - better than that of human adults tested in the same apparatus, following the same procedure."
Memory tests
Dr Matsuzawa and colleagues tested three pairs of mother and baby chimpanzees against university students in a memory task involving numbers.
The mothers and their five-year-old offspring had already been taught to "count" from one to nine.
During the experiment, each subject was presented with various numerals from one to nine on a touch screen monitor.
The numbers were then replaced with blank squares and the test subject had to remember which number appeared in which location, then touch the appropriate square.
They found that, in general, the young chimps performed better than their mothers and the adult humans.
The university students were slower than all of the three young chimpanzees in their response.
The researchers then varied the amount of time that the numbers appeared on-screen to compare the working memory of humans and chimps.land of odd
Chimps performed much better than university students in speed and accuracy when the numbers appeared only briefly on screen.
The shortest time duration, 210 milliseconds, did not leave enough time for the subjects to explore the screen by eye movement - something we do all the time when we read.
This is evidence, the researchers believe, that young chimps have a photographic memory which allows them to memorise a complex scene or pattern at a glance. This is sometimes present in human children but declines with age, they say.
"Young chimpanzees have a better memory than human adults," Dr Matsuzawa told BBC News.
"We are still underestimating the intellectual capability of chimpanzees, our evolutionary neighbours."
'Ground-breaking'
Dr Lisa Parr, who works with chimps at the Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University in Atlanta, US, described the research as "ground-breaking".
She said the importance of these primates for understanding the skills necessary for the evolution of modern humans was unparalleled.
"They are our closest living relatives and thus are in a unique position to inform us about our evolutionary heritage," said Dr Parr.
"These studies tell us that elaborate short-term memory skills may have had a much more salient function in early humans than is present in modern humans, perhaps due to our increasing reliance on language-based memory skills."
The research is published in Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.
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Land of Odd: Voters Bribed With Viagra
BANGKOK, Thailand - Vote-buying is an old practice in Thai politics.
But one candidate for December's Thai election has reportedly come up with a new tactic - handing out Viagra instead of cash.
The allegation, made today by a campaign worker against a rival party, comes as rules about handing out favours to voters have become stricter than ever.
Sayan Nopcha, a campaigner for the People's Power party in Pathum Thai province just north of Bangkok, said the drug used to treat sexual dysfunction in men was being distributed to elderly male voters.
Viagra is supposed to be used only on a doctor's advice, but is generally available over the counter in Thailand.
He would not identify the candidate who allegedly handed out the pills.
Under a tough new law, both the supplier and recipient of vote-buying can face criminal charges. Candidates can be disqualified and their party disbanded, as was the case with the old law, while voters who accept money or gifts can now face from one to 10 years in prison.
More than 4,200 candidates from 41 parties are competing for 480 seats in the lower house of parliament in the Dec. 23 polls - the first to be held after a bloodless military coup ousted elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September last year.
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Land of Odd: Beauty queen wins despite pepper spray sabotage
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Organisers of a beauty pageant in Puerto Rico are investigating a case of sabotage after a contestant's dress and make-up were covered with pepper spray.
Ingrid Marie Rivera beat 29 pageant rivals to become the 2008 Miss Universe contestant, despite breaking out twice in hives - a red swollen rash.
Ms Rivera remained composed onstage before the judges, but backstage she applied ice packs to her face and body.
Her clothing and make-up later tested positive for pepper spray.
"We thought at first it was an allergic reaction, or maybe nerves," said pageant spokesman Harold Rosario.
"But the second time, we knew it couldn't have been a coincidence."
Bomb threat
The pageant organisers said they hoped to catch whoever was responsible for the prank but have not involved the police.
The pageant also saw the theft of Ms Rivera's bag - which contained her dresses, make-up and credit cards - and the last day of the competition was postponed after a bomb threat.
Ms Rivera admitted that she had considered dropping out of the contest. "At one point I said, 'Am I a masochist?'"
"But I said: 'I am with God and this is my goal, regardless of the results.'"
Ms Rivera won Miss World Caribbean in 2005, and local media had predicted she would win the Puerto Rican pageant.
Her rivals complained she was too experienced and should be disqualified.
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Land of Odd - People Have More ‘Money Fantasies’ Than ‘Sex Fantasies’ And 40 Other Mind Blowing Money Facts
Do you think you know a lot about money? Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t. But let’s see if any of the following facts are in any way surprising to you:
- More of our fantasies are about money… than sex.
- If we could have any luxury in the world (and money didn’t matter) more of us would choose to spend money on a butler and a maid than anything else.
- 90% of Americans who own pets buy them Christmas gifts.
- Money is the leading cause of disagreements in marriages.
- 65% of Americans would live on a deserted island all by themselves for an entire year for $1,000,000.
- For $10,000,000 most of us would do almost ANYTHING! Including abandoning our family and friends and our church. A very high percentage of us would, for that same amount of money, change our race or sex. And, 1 in every 14, would even murder someone for ten million bucks.
What’s really strange about this is, the statistics remain the same whether it’s ten million dollars all the way down to three million. For three million bucks, most of us would do the same horrible things we would do for ten million. But, guess what? Few of us would do these things for a “measly” two million.
- 92% of us would rather be rich than find the love of our lives.
- Here’s a weighty one: Money (or the lack thereof) is the biggest stress inducer in the lives of Americans. We worry more about money than our marriages, our health, or even who’s going to win the Superbowl Game or come out on top in the latest Survivor TV show.
- If you get your money out of a Hitachi ATM machine in Japan, it will be laundered. The way they do it is, they briefly press the bills between rollers at high enough temperatures to kill most bacteria.
- Women have very fixed ideas on how much they are willing to spend on a bra. 38.3% of women won’t spend $30 for a bra. 28.4% won’t spend $50. 10% would pay as much as $75. And, only 3.5% would shell out $100. But, you know what? Almost 20% of women say they would pay almost anything for a bra. This is because they consider (and I guess so do a few men) that the contents of what those bras are encasing is of extremely high-value.
- Nearly half of the people who sell their houses with furniture included will take all the light bulbs out of all the lamps when they vacate the premises.
- Most people won’t bend over to pick up money lying on the sidewalk unless it’s at least a dollar.
- Most Americans think pennies are a pain in the ass and the U.S. Mint should stop making them.
- There is about 405 billion dollars in circulation. Only 32 million of that amount is counterfeit. That means, the percentage of counterfeit money in America is .0079%. And, $20 bills are more often counterfeited than $100 bills.
- Do people care if their bills are crisp? Indeed, they do. Fresh, crisp, clean bills are considered much more valuable than those which are old, wrinkled and dirty.
I once sent a ‘dollar bill thank you’ letter to a guy who sent a sincere letter back to me bitching the free $1 bill I sent him was wrinkled instead of crisp as I had described in the letter.
- Let’s flip a coin and try to guess whether it will come up heads or tails. Three times as many people guess ‘heads’ than ‘tails’.
- Here’s one I personally think really sucks: One out of every four Americans believe their best chance of getting rich is by playing the lottery.
- How about this one for a shocking fact: 5% of lottery ticket buyers buy 51% of all tickets sold. (Trust me, none of these people belong to the “Einsteins of America Society”.)
- A staggering 74% of us are influenced by how much we can win in a lottery as opposed to the odds of us winning.
- That’s a good thing for the Government because the odds of winning a lottery jackpot are about 10 million to 1.
- A person who drives 10 miles to buy a lottery ticket is 3 times more likely to be killed in a car accident while driving to buy the ticket… than… he is to win the jackpot.
- Sunday newspaper coupon inserts are the second-most read section of the paper, after the front page.
- Few people know it but, you can buy single-disease insurance.
- Only 6% of people in America regularly buy clothes tailor made just for them.
- Here’s one that’s really important: 63% of us decide NOT to buy a product advertised on the Internet… because… we think the shipping and handling charges add too much to the order.
- Eight times as many Americans would rather use an ATM than deal with a real live teller.
- This one’s going to blow your mind: 83% of Americans still pay with checks instead of credit cards!
- Almost 30% of us say we would need 3 million smackaroos to feel rich. This ties in with the fact most of us would do anything for as little as $3 million… but… not nearly as many of us would do those identical things for a measly $2 million. (Hey, here’s your chance to take advantage of that situation. If you only want to pay $2 million to have something done, ask me if I’ll do it. The chances are, believe it or not, I WILL DO IT.)
- Here’s another fact which is really, really important: 80% of Americans say giving personal information (especially their credit card information) over the Internet scares the living shit out of them.
- Two-thirds of Americans say they wouldn’t let their spouse spend the night and have sex with another person for a million dollars. Many of these people are liars. There’s a big difference being asked if they would do it for a million dollars… as opposed to… handing them a paper sack containing the million fungolas and simply saying, “Here, you can have this if you’ll let me sleep with your sweetie tonight.”
- The average wedding in America costs a staggering $20,000.00.
- More than one-third of American women consider money more important than good sex to the success of a marriage.
- According to Employee Benefits Research Institute 96% of all people who have jobs right now won’t be eligible for their full Social Security benefits when they reach age 65.
- When it comes to houses, more than anything else, people want a state-of-the-art kitchen.
- When people shop for a car, what they want more than anything else is reliability for the best possible price.
- One of the best ways to raise money for a charity is to have a free dinner for a lot of people and have an empty envelope tucked under their plate… for the express purpose… of making whatever size donation they want.
- People tip more on sunny days than they do on dreary days.
- More than 80,000,000 people call the I.R.S. Information Hotline phone number every year. One-third of those calls go unanswered. And, according to the Treasury Department itself, 47% of the answers the ‘get-through’ callers receive are incorrect.
- Almost two out of three people have modified their financial behavior because of their fears.
- Almost three times as many people who live in the South worry about losing their jobs as compared to people who live in the Midwest.
- Which would you rather do: Shop till you drop… or… have great sex?
For men, this is a no-brainer.
However, more women would actually rather have an unlimited shopping spree than spend a weekend with a fabulous lover. In fact, the #1 favorite fantasy of women is to have a blank check to shop at their favorite store.
The favorite fantasy of men (at least in my opinion) is what we would like to DO to the sales girl… rather than… what we would like to buy from her.
[Via Weird Facts]
We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly.
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Land of Odd: Success Magazine Has Been A Total Failure For Over 100 Years
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Surely no publication has struggled to follow its own advice more than Success, the small-business magazine that has failed repeatedly since it was founded in 1891.
In 2006, after ceasing publication for five years, it was purchased by a group whose publisher, Joseph Guerriero, told the magazine Publishing Executive, “We feel very, very bullish about the long-term success of Success.”
But after printing only five issues, Mr. Guerriero’s bosses cried uncle, and sold the magazine to VideoPlus, a direct-marketing company based in Dallas that is equally confident it will succeed where others, for more than 100 years, have failed.
Darren Hardy, the business magazine’s new publisher, said it would have personal-development focus, echoing its founder, Orison Swett Marden, a progenitor of the self-help movement. (Mr. Marden died in 1924; the magazine closed during the Depression and was resurrected by new owners in 1954.)
In contrast to a Forbes profile on Richard Branson of the Virgin Group that would examine his newest acquisitions, a Success article would “take a look at how Richard Branson sets goals and motivates employees, what’s his morning ritual and what he does to keep himself healthy, fit and vital,” Mr. Hardy said.
VideoPlus produces training materials for the direct-sales industry and publishes several magazines, including Success From Home and Empowering Women. All consist of sponsored content, the print equivalent of infomercials, but editorial content of Success, which has yet to name an editor, will be independent, Mr. Hardy said.
About the prospect of Success’s latest owners faring better than others, Samir Husni, the head of the University of Mississippi’s journalism department, said, “The Chinese have a saying that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result every time is the definition of insanity.”
[Via -If at First You Don’t ... You Know the Rest]
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Land of Odd: Law firm converts old jail to office space
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Visitors to Mike Woods' law practice are greeted with a sight not often found in legal offices: a jail cell.
The office for Woods and Woods is located in the old Vanderburgh County Jail - an 1890 downtown building honoured Tuesday with a historical marker from the Indiana Historical Bureau.
The old jail was modelled after a German castle and in 1903 was the site of a race riot in which 12 people were killed and many more injured.
The jail sat empty from 1967 until 1994, Woods said, and was full of weeds and trash before being renovated. Woods and Woods moved its offices into the building in 2004 and continues to lease the second-floor space from the county.
"Through the years, the old jail has received minor repairs and updates, a few new coats of paint, and thousands of visitors, but it hasn't lost its intrigue," Woods said.
"Preserving this history is important because it allows community members to reflect on the past, to learn from and appreciate those who came before us."
The building still has bars over the windows, which provides an interesting atmosphere for the firm's 30 employees.
"They are always joking they can't get away, or saying we're slave drivers," Woods said.
Visitors can see one of the original cramped jail cells, complete with four metal bunk beds, a sink and a toilet.
The office's employee break room is adjacent to a door leading to a tunnel that connects the old jail with the old county courthouse. Woods said the tunnel was used to transport prisoners between the two facilities.
"Both these buildings were once on the verge of being destroyed," he said. "Now, they are saved." by land of odd
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Land Of Odd: Stupid Mistakes
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Discovering what others have done makes it easier to accept the mistakes we've made. We're all human!
When Adolf Hitler saw a pile of bricks near the church of St. Matthew in Munich, Germany, he said, "that pile of stones will have to be removed." Someone misunderstood him, thinking he was referring to the whole church. The church was demolished...
When Thomas Edison was twelve years old, he had a job selling newspapers on a commuter train. He had set up a printing press to make his own newspapers, and thereby increase his profits. He also set up a chemistry lab, to indulge his already well-developed scientific curiosity. One day, as the train went around a particularly tight turn, some of Edison's phosphorus fell on the floor and started a small fire. As the train came into the station, and the conductor discovered the problem, Tom tried to run away. The conductor pulled him back up into the train by his ears. "I felt something snap inside my head," Edison said. From that time until his death, he was hard of hearing.
Firdinand Raimund was bitten on the finger by a dog. He was so worried about what might happen that he shot himself to death.
The 7,000-ton cargo ship, Fort Stikine, sailed into crowded Bombay Harbor, India. It was loaded with a mixed freight ranging from fish to cotton to explosives. A sailor noticed smoke coming out of a ventilator that serviced one of the ship's cargo holds, but since it was close to lunch time, he did not mention the problem. The fire in the hold was discovered after lunch, but by then it was raging out of control. Authorities suggested sinking the ship, but because the harbor was crowded and shallow, it would have to sail out to sea to be scuttled. No problem, but first the captain wanted to phone the ship's insurance company to see if they thought it a good idea. While he was on the phone, the ship blew up into a million pieces, sinking 27 nearby ships, raining junk all over downtown Bombay and killing well over 1,000 people.
I’m from Amsterdam though and English is not my native language so if you spot any stupid mistakes, forgive me.
A few years ago, when I was walking down the street, I passed a police control. They were stopping seemingly random cars to check them out for defects, outstanding tickets, etc. Since I was on foot, I had of course nothing to worry about so I passed them casually and continued my way around the corner of the street. There, after a couple hundred meters, I came across a car that was standing beside of the road. The hood was open and a man was half visible beneath it.
Being the nice guy I am, I walked up to him and said “hey man, if there’s something wrong with your car, don’t go that way. There’s a police control.” For a few seconds nothing happened. Then the man raises his head from beneath the hood and stares right at me and while I notice the police radio in his hand he says “Yes, I know .”
A Japanese priest set a kimono on fire in Tokyo because it carried bad luck. The flames spread until over 10,000 buildings were destroyed and 100,000 people died. (Year: 1657)
A medical curiosity was David Kennison, who was born in 1736 and participated in the Boston Tea Party. At the age of seventy-six, serving in the War of 1812, he lost a hand to a gunshot wound. Later, a tree fell on him, and fractured his skull. Some years later, while training soldiers in the use of a cannon, something went wrong and an explosion shattered his legs. He recovered. Yet later, a horse damaged his face. He died peacefully in 1851 at the age of 115.
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