Monday, July 11, 2005
Bird Brain, Part 2
Following earlier indications, researchers have found that Alex, a 28-year-old African Grey parrot, seems to have discovered the concept of zero. As is pointed out ad nauseum in the press, this is something that humans did not properly do until about 3,000 years ago, or 300 in Europe*.
While it's not entirely clear that Alex actually made the kind of intellectual leap he seems to have done, it is clear he's smarter than the average sparrow.
*We're still not sure about certain parts of America, where they still seem to think the Earth is flat.
While it's not entirely clear that Alex actually made the kind of intellectual leap he seems to have done, it is clear he's smarter than the average sparrow.
*We're still not sure about certain parts of America, where they still seem to think the Earth is flat.
