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China Using Troop of Trained Monkeys To Guard Air Base
samzenpus (5) writes "No, they don't have guns and they don't ride on top of drones. Instead the small troop of macaques have been trained to guard air bases from birds who often get caught in aircraft engines. Government sources say the monkeys have proven more effective than netting, scarecrows, firecrackers and soldiers with live ammunition in dealing with birds. From the article: 'The macaques are trained to respond to precise whistle commands from their handlers, according to the Chinese military, leaping into action, clambering up trees to destroy nests and scare away birds, according to an account on China's Air Force News Web site on Sunday. The particular air force base employing the monkeys was left unidentified, described simply as being in the Beijing military zone. Base commanders in the account said the monkeys have destroyed more than 180 nests, at a pace of six to eight nests per monkey per day.'"
they are 'evolutionarily challenged', that's all.
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
I, for one, welcome our new monkey overlords.
"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
Does this mean the Typing Shakespeare project is on hold?
Table-ized A.I.
I wonder if they have opportunities to teach these behaviors to wild monkeys who will someday destroy all the bird nests in China.
"they don't have guns and they don't ride on top of drones"
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
If they have one monkey doing this at 6 nests/monkey/day, they have been doing this for 30 days. With 10 monkeys they've been doing this for 3 days. The numbers don't add up...
I'm curious if this is the same troupe of monkeys that were recently laid off from Microsoft, after they completed Windows 8.
That half-buried Statue of Liberty in the corner back-lot is a bit unsettling for some reason.
Table-ized A.I.
I could point you at several companies that are using them for IT and end user support. They schedule a deskside visit to fix your hardware and you end up covered in monkey shit and banana peels.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
It is fairly obvious people are reverting to anonymous to say whatever they want and not burn karma.
To be fair, there are a lot of mod-bombers from both the religious nutters and the science fanbois.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
In related news, the network efficiency at Chinese airbases has increased by 80% after they replaced the MCSEs with a very small shell script.
We've had untrained monkeys in the US for President and Vice President for the last 13 years. And they've been used in Congress longer than that.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
Back in 1996 there was a warehouse in Cam Ranh Bay that had large amounts of goods continually disappearing at night. AP patrols with dogs didn't stop the theft, so the K9 guys attack-trained a half dozen monkeys (about 30 lbs each). They would keep the monkeys in a CONEX container and back it up to the entry door in the eveneing, and when they opened the CONEX the monkeys would race into the warehouse. The next morning they would back the empty CONEX to the door and bang on the back wall; the monkeys would then race into the CONEX to get food. From that point on, nothing disappeared from the warehouse at night.
"The mind works quicker than you think!"