Hardrock69
05-16-2005, 12:13 AM
By James Langton in New York
The Telegraph - UK
5-15-5
They will live in a specially-built house, monitored 24 hours a day by closed-circuit television cameras that will capture their most intimate moments. Unlike the contestants on Channel 4's Big Brother reality show, however, these inhabitants will not be selling their kiss and tell stories to the newspapers.
For these are not human "wannabe stars", but a group of super intelligent apes known as bonobos.
The animals, a species of chimpanzee, have been selected to take part in an experiment that could blur the boundaries between man and his closest cousin.
Researchers at the Great Ape Trust in Iowa hope that with the right stimulation, the group of eight bonobos, who already understand a limited human vocabulary, will develop skills that include language, art and music. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, the American primate expert leading the research, says that if successful, it will prove that many activities previously thought of as uniquely human "are not innate in us".
The arts and languages, she says, are skills that mankind has gradually mastered "from one generation to the next".
This week the second group of bonobos will arrive at their $10 million (£5.4 million) 18-room house on the outskirts of Des Moines that comes complete with flushing lavatories, an indoor waterfall and climbing walls.
Inside they have been given a kitchen in which to prepare meals and vending machines that dispense snacks. While researchers can watch the animals on video, the bonobos have also been given a camera that lets them see who is outside their front door. It will be up to the apes to decide who they let in.
Bonobos have been described by one researcher "as the closest you can get to being human without being human''. It is estimated that they share 98.4 per cent of their DNA with humans.
A recent report by biologists at an American university called for them to be reclassified as homo paniscus or "small man". In the jungles of Congo, where war has endangered the species, the chimps walk upright and have been observed making complex sounds, which have been interpreted as "conversations''.
They were discovered by Western scientists in 1933, but for locals they were already the stuff of ancient legends, among them that it was bonobos who first taught mankind what foods were safe to eat.
Because chimps' vocal tracts make it impossible for them to replicate human speech, the animals at Iowa will communicate by using touch-sensitive computer screens with 256 symbols.
Many linguistic experts insist that only the human brain is hard-wired for language, but Dr Savage-Rumbaugh claims that the most intelligent of the group, 25-year-old Kanzi, already has an accuracy in answering questions that rivals that of a three-year-old child.
The Iowa experiment, which could last for generations of bonobos, is an attempt to see how far they can develop behaviour once thought of as uniquely human. They will have access to musical instruments and art materials, with the hope that their burgeoning skills will be passed from one generation to the next.
Researchers say there is already clear evidence that the bonobos use a form of language to communicate with each other. The chimps are said to have become excited when shown a video of their new home, while the first to arrive took newcomers by the hand to show them around the complex.
The bonobos are already said to enjoy watching films on television, which are chosen for their scenes of human and ape interaction, including Tarzan, and Clint Eastwood's Every Which Way But Loose.
One early visitor to the complex is expected to be Peter Gabriel, the rock musician. He first observed the bonobos' flair for music at Georgia State University's Language Research Centre and wants to work with them again.
The former Genesis star says that after playing with the animals, he is convinced that they have musical talent.
"There is no question that they responded with great musicality," he said.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2
The Telegraph - UK
5-15-5
They will live in a specially-built house, monitored 24 hours a day by closed-circuit television cameras that will capture their most intimate moments. Unlike the contestants on Channel 4's Big Brother reality show, however, these inhabitants will not be selling their kiss and tell stories to the newspapers.
For these are not human "wannabe stars", but a group of super intelligent apes known as bonobos.
The animals, a species of chimpanzee, have been selected to take part in an experiment that could blur the boundaries between man and his closest cousin.
Researchers at the Great Ape Trust in Iowa hope that with the right stimulation, the group of eight bonobos, who already understand a limited human vocabulary, will develop skills that include language, art and music. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, the American primate expert leading the research, says that if successful, it will prove that many activities previously thought of as uniquely human "are not innate in us".
The arts and languages, she says, are skills that mankind has gradually mastered "from one generation to the next".
This week the second group of bonobos will arrive at their $10 million (£5.4 million) 18-room house on the outskirts of Des Moines that comes complete with flushing lavatories, an indoor waterfall and climbing walls.
Inside they have been given a kitchen in which to prepare meals and vending machines that dispense snacks. While researchers can watch the animals on video, the bonobos have also been given a camera that lets them see who is outside their front door. It will be up to the apes to decide who they let in.
Bonobos have been described by one researcher "as the closest you can get to being human without being human''. It is estimated that they share 98.4 per cent of their DNA with humans.
A recent report by biologists at an American university called for them to be reclassified as homo paniscus or "small man". In the jungles of Congo, where war has endangered the species, the chimps walk upright and have been observed making complex sounds, which have been interpreted as "conversations''.
They were discovered by Western scientists in 1933, but for locals they were already the stuff of ancient legends, among them that it was bonobos who first taught mankind what foods were safe to eat.
Because chimps' vocal tracts make it impossible for them to replicate human speech, the animals at Iowa will communicate by using touch-sensitive computer screens with 256 symbols.
Many linguistic experts insist that only the human brain is hard-wired for language, but Dr Savage-Rumbaugh claims that the most intelligent of the group, 25-year-old Kanzi, already has an accuracy in answering questions that rivals that of a three-year-old child.
The Iowa experiment, which could last for generations of bonobos, is an attempt to see how far they can develop behaviour once thought of as uniquely human. They will have access to musical instruments and art materials, with the hope that their burgeoning skills will be passed from one generation to the next.
Researchers say there is already clear evidence that the bonobos use a form of language to communicate with each other. The chimps are said to have become excited when shown a video of their new home, while the first to arrive took newcomers by the hand to show them around the complex.
The bonobos are already said to enjoy watching films on television, which are chosen for their scenes of human and ape interaction, including Tarzan, and Clint Eastwood's Every Which Way But Loose.
One early visitor to the complex is expected to be Peter Gabriel, the rock musician. He first observed the bonobos' flair for music at Georgia State University's Language Research Centre and wants to work with them again.
The former Genesis star says that after playing with the animals, he is convinced that they have musical talent.
"There is no question that they responded with great musicality," he said.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2