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Alex, The Brainy Parrot Who Knows About Zero
Roland Piquepaille writes "Alex is a 28-year-old grey parrot who lives in a lab at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., and can count, identify objects, shapes, colors and materials. And now, Alex has grasped the concept of zero, according to World Science. In fact, Alex can describe the absence of a numerical quantity on a tray containing colored cubes. When a color is missing, Alex consistently identified this 'zero quantity' by saying the label 'none.' You might think that this is just a parrot trick, but this research about 'bird intelligence' might also help autistic and other learning-disabled children 'who have trouble learning language and counting skills.' This overview contains other details, references and a picture of Alex counting his colored cubes."
zeroth post!
I bet you'd all go ga-ga if they got a parrot to realize the concept of complex numbers too! Let me know when a parrot comes up with the concept of sedenions, and then I'll be moderately impressed (-;
PS. Slashdot editors, please use your formidable editing powers (and what a rich history of fine editing you have!) to stop advertising Piquepaille's weblog.
PPS. For your general amusement, here's an amusing article from The Onion.
Alex The Brainy Parrot says:
Roland Piquepaaaaaaaille went from <none> to $500 in three minutes.
Instead of polly want a cracker, maybe we will start saying polly want to do a math problem?
What about that raven which understood the concept of 'nevermore'?
I hope you're not a member of PETA, unless it's the People for Eating Tastey Animals variety.
Modern science = Stupid parrot tricks
I always knew David Lettermen was onto something with stupid pet tricks, I'm surprised he never got a grant.
He's pining for the fjords
Scientists have reported today that Holand Piquepaille, perennial Slashdot whore and troll, has finally grasped the concept of $0.
"It's amazing", reported one scientist. "Although usually it takes human-level intelligence to grasp the concept of submitting news articles without any chance for a monetary return, we were able to teach the concept to Holand Piquepaille."
Unfortunately, the results are not yet conclusive, and it remains to be seen whether or not Holand Piquepaille will return all the money he duped out of people for looking at primidi.com. Scientists are hopeful, but note, "This is the first time that this concept has ever been documented in this particular species of whore, so we still need lots more evidence for the data to be conclusive."
Another researcher pointed out: "Holand has demonstrated the concept of $0, but we're not sure if he's grasped what he wanted him to, or if he's just hit on related themes like 'The amount of value my posts add to Slashdot'."
Scientists hope that further research will prove that Holand is destined to lead a life of future altruism. Keep your hopes up!
Le français vous intéresse?
A parrot that counts 0 blue blocks is all fine and dandy. But can he count --3 red balls? Or 5i yellow chips?
See, you're not so smart are you, eh, bird-brain?
Professor: Alex, tell me what color 4?
Alex: Blue, no Yelllllllllloooooooooooooooowww
In fact, Alex can describe the absence of a numerical quantity on a tray containing colored cubes. When a color is missing, Alex consistently identified this 'zero quantity' by saying the label 'none.'
Newsflash: Roland Piquepaille is dumber than a parrot!
Zero is not the absence of a numerical quantity. Zero is a numerical quantity. The absence of a numerical quantity is when you don't know how much there is of something.
It's like the difference between 0 and NULL in a database. This parrot is smarter than both Roland Piquepaille and MySQL developers.
But does the parrot run linu...uh, nevermind...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
I generally avoid relatives who bite while talking/playing. But, um, congratulations on their discovery of grammar!
Everything is easy when you don't understand the problem.
My relatives have a african grey parrot and they are in fact really smart. They even seem to answer your questions (and complete sentences or phrases). Only thing is that they bite real hard so you might want to keep a distance while talking/playing with them.
Yeah, my relatives are the same way.
Misa no botha with yousa.
Doesn't anyone realise these creatures are only an opposable thumb away from slaughtering us in our beds? Stop teaching them stuff!
You must think in Russian.
The majority of PHBs that I know consider themselves quite brainy - and they know zero as well.
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker.
Alex has mastered the art of being a "smart ass"
Daddy I want a Parrot that knows about zero!
"And I for one welcome our new feline masters...
You missspelled 'avian'."
You misspelled "misspelled"...
_____________________________
Dyslexics of the world untie!
Ever notice that Cobra Commander sounds an awful lot like Star scream?
> It'd be fascinating to see how they develop over the next two or three million years.
Yes. I'd like, too.
But can he count --3 red balls?
Parrot: "Let's jump off a skyscraper while I'm counting your balls."
See, you're not so smart are you, eh, bird-brain?
Parrot: "Smart enough to be able to shit on your head and not a damm thing you can do about it."
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
No big deal. My cat knows the concept of zero too. And she lets me know that every time her food dish has zero kibbles in it.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
You make it sound like you think it's wrong to eat people!
William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
You also misspelled 'overlords'
Now if he can just grasp the concept of NULL, he can do SQL.
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird -- Proverbs 1:17
You misspelt "misspelt"...
Go ahead, mod me troll. :P