Showing posts with label Science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Science. Show all posts

Keluarga Ken Stabler menyumbangkan otak untuk penelitian di CTE

Friday, 10 July 2015

Ken Stabler
Ken Stabler

Pada tahun 2012, gelandang Ken lebih stabil memimpin sekelompok 74 penggugat dalam gugatan terhadap NFL untuk cedera yang diderita akibat gegar otak saat bermain. Meskipun litigasi gegar otak dekat yang menetap, penelitian terus mengenai hubungan antara sepak bola dan konsekuensi kesehatan jangka panjang.

Untuk itu, keluarga lebih stabil telah mengumumkan bahwa otak dan sumsum tulang belakang akan disumbangkan ke Boston University kronis Trauma Encephalopathy Center untuk mendukung penelitian untuk penyakit otak degeneratif pada atlet.

Keluarga telah meminta agar, sebagai pengganti bunga, donasi dilakukan dengan XOXO Stabler Foundation untuk mendukung penelitian kanker usus dan kepala trauma yang berhubungan dengan olahraga. Informasi tambahan akan tersedia di halaman Facebook Fan Stabler dan melalui XOXO Stabler Foundation.
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Tractor Beam

Sunday, 6 March 2011

Tractor Beam
Researchers Design a Tractor Beam Powered By Lasers

There's no escaping it: Though the tractor beam is a staple of sci-fi space-faring scenarios, it's also extremely counter-intuitive. How does one pull something in via an outward-shooting beam?

A few Chinese researchers think they've found the answer via a theoretical method that should generate a backward-pulling force from a forward-traveling stream of photons. ( Read Tractor Beam more... )

Scientists Work To Create Laser 'Tractor Beam'

The tractor beam -- a tool popularized in the realm of science fiction -- has been slowly making its way into the realm of reality, where beams of light are used to pull objects back toward the source of the light, BBC News reports.

In a paper published online, researchers from Hong Kong and China have analyzed and calculated the conditions required to create a tractor beam, or in reality, a laser-based “pull.”

Unlike the ones popularized in science fiction -- most notably Star Trek -- the approach would only work over very small distances. ( Read Tractor Beam more... )

How To Turn A Laser Into A Tractor Beam

Physicists work out how to generate a backward pulling force from a forward propagating beam

A photon has a small momentum which it can impart to anything it hits, as Arthur Compton and Peter Lebedev discovered at the beginning of the last century. We now know that photons can be used to push anything from electrons to solar sails.

Today, Jun Chen from Fudan University in China and a few pals demonstrate the counterintuitive result that photons can pull things too. In other words, they've worked out how to generate a backward pulling force from a forward propagating beam.

A photon has a small momentum which it can impart to anything it hits, as Arthur Compton and Peter Lebedev discovered at the beginning of the last century. We now know that photons can be used to push anything from electrons to solar sails.

Today, Jun Chen from Fudan University in China and a few pals demonstrate the counterintuitive result that photons can pull things too. In other words, they've worked out how to generate a backward pulling force from a forward propagating beam. ( Read Tractor Beam more... )

Researchers figure out how to make a tractor beam

Researchers at the Fudan University of China believe they have worked out the theory behind creating a tractor beam from a laser.

Such a thing is difficult to imagine outside of science fiction, and of course Star Wars and Star Trek, as it involves getting a pulling force generated from a “forward propagating beam”. ( Read Tractor Beam more... )

Trek-like tractor beam is possible

In Star Trek, the starship Enterprise often dragged objects towards it with its glowing tractor beam. Now there's a way to do this in real life – at least for very small particles.

When light falls on an opaque object, the surface reflects most of the photons back in the direction they came from. What's less obvious is that these bouncing photons push back on the object, causing it to move away from the light source. If the object is very small, this push can be significant. But this is the exact opposite of the suction-like behaviour of tractor beams in science fiction. ( Read Tractor Beam more... )

Courtesy : FOX News , Red Orbit , Technology Review , Geek & NewScienties
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Optical Illusions That Trigger Your Brain

Thursday, 12 August 2010

Can you see different things in one photo? If you can then you most probably have a good eye for details and that you are concentrated. If you have doubts about these photos you can leave a comment.Optical Illusions 01

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[Source : YouRock]
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Top 10 Uncracked Codes

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Until quite recent history, the writing of the Ancient Egyptians was a secret to man. Eventually, with the help of the Rosetta stone, Jean-François Champollion was able to solve the ancient mystery. Since that time, there have been many other attempts to decipher ancient languages, or to crack codes that have been made for fun or fortune. This is a list of the ten most famous ciphers and writing systems that are still unsolved.10. D’agapeyeff Cipher

75628 28591 62916 48164 91748 58464 74748 28483 81638 18174
74826 26475 83828 49175 74658 37575 75936 36565 81638 17585
75756 46282 92857 46382 75748 38165 81848 56485 64858 56382
72628 36281 81728 16463 75828 16483 63828 58163 63630 47481
91918 46385 84656 48565 62946 26285 91859 17491 72756 46575
71658 36264 74818 28462 82649 18193 65626 48484 91838 57491
81657 27483 83858 28364 62726 26562 83759 27263 82827 27283
82858 47582 81837 28462 82837 58164 75748 58162 92000


The D’Agapeyeff cipher is an as-yet unbroken cipher that appears in the first edition of Codes and Ciphers, an elementary book on cryptography published by the Russian-born English cartographer Alexander D’Agapeyeff in 1939. Offered as a “challenge cipher” at the end of the book, it was not included in later editions, and D’Agapeyeff is said to have admitted later to having forgotten how he had encrypted it. It has been argued that the failure of all attempts at decryption is due to D’Agapeyeff incorrectly encrypting the original text. However, it has been argued that the cipher may still be successfully attacked using computational methods such as genetic algorithms.

9. Kryptos

Kryptos

Kryptos is a sculpture by American artist James Sanborn located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia, in the United States. Since its dedication on November 3, 1990, there has been much speculation about the meaning of the encrypted messages it bears. It continues to provide a diversion for employees of the CIA and other cryptanalysts attempting to decrypt the messages. The ciphertext on one half of the main sculpture contains 869 characters in total, however Sanborn released information in April of 2006 stating that an intended letter on the main half of Kryptos was missing. This would bring the total number of characters to 870 on the main portion. The other half of the sculpture comprises a Vigenère encryption tableau, comprised of 869 characters, if spaces are counted. The first person to publicly announce solving the first three sections, in 1999, was James Gillogly, a computer scientist from southern California, who deciphered 768 of the characters. The portion that he couldn’t solve, the remaining 97 or 98 characters, is the same part which has stumped the government’s own cryptanalysts.

8. Shugborough Hall Enscription

Shugborough Hall Enscription

The Shepherd’s Monument at Shugborough Hall carries a relief (pictured above) that shows a woman watching three shepherds pointing to a tomb. On the tomb is depicted the Latin text “Et in arcadia ego” (“I am also in Arcadia” or “I am even in Arcadia”). The relief is based on a painting by the French artist Nicholas Poussin, known itself as Et in Arcadia ego, but the relief has a number of modifications — most noticeably that it is reversed horizontally. Another difference is a change in which letter of the tomb a shepherd is pointing at. In the painting the letter R in ARCADIA is being pointed to. The finger in the sculpture is broken, but was pointing to the N in IN. The sculpture also adds an extra sarcophagus to the scene, placed on top of the one with the Latin phrase. Below the image of the monument are the following letters:

D O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V. M

For adherents of the modern Grail-conspiracy legend, the inscription is alleged to hold a clue to the location of the Holy Grail. Following the claims in the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail that Poussin was a member of the Priory of Sion and that the painting contains a message about the location of the grail, it has been speculated that the inscription may encode secrets related to the Priory.

7. Chinese Gold Bar Cipher

Chinese Gold Bar Cipher

In 1933, seven gold bars were allegedly issued to a General Wang in Shanghai, China. These gold bars appear to represent metal certificates related to a bank deposit with a U.S. Bank. The gold bars themselves have pictures, Chinese writing, some form of script writing, and cryptograms in latin letters. Not surprisingly, there is a dispute concerning the validity of the claim for the deposit. It may help to resolve the dispute if someone can decipher the cryptograms on the bars. Nobody has yet put for the a theory as to their meaning. The Chinese writing has been translated, and discusses a transaction in excess of $300,000,000. It also refers to these gold bars which weigh a total of 1.8 kilograms. You can see the cryptograms here if you want to have a go at cracking the code.

6. Chaocipher

Chaocipher

John F. Byrne invented Chaocipher in 1918 and tried unsuccessfully for almost 40 years to interest the U.S. government in his cipher system. He offered a reward to anyone who could break his cipher but the reward was never claimed. In 1989, John Byrne, son of John F. Byrne, demonstrated Chaocipher to two Cryptologia editors to determine if it had any commercial value. After making some improvements and providing additional information they jointly issue a new challenge to would-be solvers. In his autobiography, Silent Years, John F. Byrne, a lifelong friend of James Joyce, devoted the last chapter to Chaocipher which he had invented in 1918. Byrne described his attempts starting in 1920 to interest the State, War, and Navy Departments in his indecipherable cipher and his frustration with the disinterest shown by William F. Friedman and other cryptanalytic experts after he had demonstrated his machine.

5. The Dorabella Cipher

The Dorabella Cipher

Probably Elgar’s most popular work is his ‘Enigma’ Variations which, apart from its undoubted musical merit, still tantalises the musical detectives with the hidden ‘secrets’ which Elgar cleverly wove into the fabric of the score. But Elgar, who was fascinated by codes, ciphers, riddles and other forms of puzzles, has left us another mystery – the ‘Dorabella’ cipher (pictured above). One hundred and ten years ago – to be precise, on the 14 July 1897 – Elgar sent a letter to a young friend, Miss Dora Penny, the 22 year-old daughter of the Rev. Alfred Penny, Rector of St Peter’s, Wolverhampton. The unusual feature of the letter was that it was in a cipher which, a century later, still presents a challenge. There have been a couple of attempts at solving it but neither of these seem entirely satisfactory.

4. Beale Ciphers

Beale Ciphers

In 1885, a small pamphlet was published in Virginia containing a story and three encrypted messages. According to the pamphlet, around 1820 a man named Beale buried two wagons-full of treasure at a secret location in Bedford County, Virginia. He then left a small locked box with a local innkeeper, and left town, never to be seen again. The pamphlet went on to state that the innkeeper, after having not heard from Beale for many years, opened the box and discovered encrypted messages. Never able to read them, he eventually passed them along to a young friend shortly before the innkeeper’s death in 1863. According to the pamphlet, the friend spent the next 20 years trying to decrypt the messages, solving only one which detailed the tons of gold, silver and jewels that were buried, along with a general location. The still unsolved messages supposedly give exact directions, and a list of who the treasure belongs to. There have been many exhaustive searches for the treasure, and much effort spent on decoding the other messages, without (confirmed) success. There are many claimed solutions, usually bannered in combination with a book that someone is trying to sell, but no one has ever been able to produce a duplicatable decryption method.

3. Linear A

Linear A

Linear A is one of two linear scripts used in ancient Crete (a third script is Cretan Hieroglyphs). They were discovered and named by Arthur Evans. Linear B was deciphered in 1952 by Michael Ventris and was used to write Mycenaean Greek. Linear A is far from being totally deciphered but it is partially understood and it may be read through Linear B values. Though the two scripts share many of the same symbols, using the syllables associated with Linear B in Linear A writings produces words that are unrelated to any known language. This language has been dubbed Minoan or Eteocretan, and corresponds to a period in Cretan history prior to a series of invasions by Mycenean Greeks around 1450 BC. It is believed that there may be some connection between Linear A and The Phaistos Disk.

2. Voynich Manuscript

Voynich Manuscript

At least 400 years old, this is a 232-page illuminated manuscript entirely written in a secret script. It is filled with copious drawings of unidentified plants, herbal recipes of some sort, astrological diagrams, and many small human figures in strange plumbing-like contraptions. The script is unlike anything else in existence, but is written in a confident style, seemingly by someone who was very comfortable with it. In 2004 there were some compelling arguments which described a technique that would seemingly prove that the manuscript was a hoax, but to date, none of the described techniques have been able to replicate a single section of the Manuscript, so speculations continue. Over its recorded existence, the Voynich manuscript has been the object of intense study by many professional and amateur cryptographers, including some top American and British codebreakers of World War II fame (all of whom failed to decipher a single word). This string of failures has turned the Voynich manuscript into a famous subject of historical cryptology.

1. The Phaistos Disk

The Phaistos Disk

The disc of Phaistos is the most important example of hieroglyphic inscription from Crete and was discovered in 1903 in a small room near the depositories of the “archive chamber”, in the north – east apartments of the palace, together with a Linear A tablet and pottery dated to the beginning of the Neo-palatial period (1700- 1600 B.C.). Both surfaces of this clay disc are covered with hieroglyphs arranged in a spiral zone, impressed on the clay when it was damp. The signs make up groups divided from each other by vertical lines, and each of these groups should represent a word. Forty five different types of signs have been distinguished, of which a few can be identified with the hieroglyphs in use in the Proto- palatial period. Some hieroglyphic sequences recur like refrains, suggesting a religious hymn, and Pernier regards the content of the text as ritual. Others have suggested that the text is a list of soldiers, and lately it has suggested to be a document in the Hittic language in which a king discusses the erection of the Palace of Phaistos.

Notable Omissions: Zodiak Killer ciphers (some remain unsolved, but they could be of questionable authenticity).

[Source: Nuffny]
READ MORE - Top 10 Uncracked Codes

10 Easy Arithmetic Tricks

Arithmetic TricksMath can be terrifying for many people. This list will hopefully improve your general knowledge of mathematical tricks and your speed when you need to do math in your head.

1. The 11 Times Trick

We all know the trick when multiplying by ten – add 0 to the end of the number, but did you know there is an equally easy trick for multiplying a two digit number by 11? This is it:

Take the original number and imagine a space between the two digits (in this example we will use 52 :

5_2

Now add the two numbers together and put them in the middle:

5_(5+2)_2

That is it – you have the answer: 572.

If the numbers in the middle add up to a 2 digit number, just insert the second number and add 1 to the first:

9_(9+9)_9

(9+1)_8_9

10_8_9

1089 – It works every time.

2. Quick Square

If you need to square a 2 digit number ending in 5, you can do so very easily with this trick. Mulitply the first digit by itself + 1, and put 25 on the end. That is all!

252 = (2x(2+1)) & 25

2 x 3 = 6

625

3. Multiply by 5

Most people memorize the 5 times tables very easily, but when you get in to larger numbers it gets more complex – or does it? This trick is super easy.

Take any number, then divide it by 2 (in other words, halve the number). If the result is whole, add a 0 at the end. If it is not, ignore the remainder and add a 5 at the end. It works everytime:

2682 x 5 = (2682 / 2) & 5 or 0

2682 / 2 = 1341 (whole number so add 0)

13410

Let’s try another:

5887 x 5

2943.5 (fractional number (ignore remainder, add 5)

29435

Arithmetic Tricks

4. Multiply by 9

This one is simple – to multiple any number between 1 and 9 by 9 hold both hands in front of your face – drop the finger that corresponds to the number you are multiplying (for example 9×3 – drop your third finger) – count the fingers before the dropped finger (in the case of 9×3 it is 2) then count the numbers after (in this case 7) – the answer is 27.

5. Multiply by 4

This is a very simple trick which may appear obvious to some, but to others it is not. The trick is to simply multiply by two, then multiply by two again:

58 x 4 = (58 x 2) + (58 x 2) = (116) + (116) = 232

6. Calculate a Tip

If you need to leave a 15% tip, here is the easy way to do it. Work out 10% (divide the number by 10) – then add that number to half its value and you have your answer:

15% of $25 = (10% of 25) + ((10% of 25) / 2)

$2.50 + $1.25 = $3.75

7. Tough Multiplication

If you have a large number to multiply and one of the numbers is even, you can easily subdivide to get to the answer:

32 x 125, is the same as:
16 x 250 is the same as:
8 x 500 is the same as:
4 x 1000 = 4,000

Abacus

8. Dividing by 5

Dividing a large number by five is actually very simple. All you do is multiply by 2 and move the decimal point:

195 / 5

Step1: 195 * 2 = 390
Step2: Move the decimal: 39.0 or just 39

2978 / 5

step 1: 2978 * 2 = 5956
Step2: 595.6

9. Subtracting from 1,000

To subtract a large number from 1,000 you can use this basic rule: subtract all but the last number from 9, then subtract the last number from 10:

1000
-648

step1: subtract 6 from 9 = 3
step2: subtract 4 from 9 = 5
step3: subtract 8 from 10 = 2

answer: 352

10. Assorted Multiplication Rules

Multiply by 5: Multiply by 10 and divide by 2.
Multiply by 6: Sometimes multiplying by 3 and then 2 is easy.
Multiply by 9: Multiply by 10 and subtract the original number.
Multiply by 12: Multiply by 10 and add twice the original number.
Multiply by 13: Multiply by 3 and add 10 times original number.
Multiply by 14: Multiply by 7 and then multiply by 2
Multiply by 15: Multiply by 10 and add 5 times the original number, as above.
Multiply by 16: You can double four times, if you want to. Or you can multiply by 8 and then by 2.
Multiply by 17: Multiply by 7 and add 10 times original number.
Multiply by 18: Multiply by 20 and subtract twice the original number (which is obvious from the first step).
Multiply by 19: Multiply by 20 and subtract the original number.
Multiply by 24: Multiply by 8 and then multiply by 3.
Multiply by 27: Multiply by 30 and subtract 3 times the original number (which is obvious from the first step).
Multiply by 45: Multiply by 50 and subtract 5 times the original number (which is obvious from the first step).
Multiply by 90: Multiply by 9 (as above) and put a zero on the right.
Multiply by 98: Multiply by 100 and subtract twice the original number.
Multiply by 99: Multiply by 100 and subtract the original number.

Bonus: Percentages

Yanni in comment 23 gave an excellent tip for working out percentages, so I have taken the liberty of duplicating it here:

Find 7 % of 300. Sound Difficult?

Percents: First of all you need to understand the word “Percent.” The first part is PER , as in 10 tricks per listverse page. PER = FOR EACH. The second part of the word is CENT, as in 100. Like Century = 100 years. 100 CENTS in 1 dollar… etc. Ok… so PERCENT = For Each 100.

So, it follows that 7 PERCENT of 100, is 7. (7 for each hundred, of only 1 hundred).
8 % of 100 = 8. 35.73% of 100 = 35.73
But how is that useful??

Back to the 7% of 300 question. 7% of the first hundred is 7. 7% of 2nd hundred is also 7, and yep, 7% of the 3rd hundred is also 7. So 7+7+7 = 21.

If 8 % of 100 is 8, it follows that 8% of 50 is half of 8 , or 4.

Break down every number that’s asked into questions of 100, if the number is less then 100, then move the decimal point accordingly.

EXAMPLES:
8%200 = ? 8 + 8 = 16.
8%250 = ? 8 + 8 + 4 = 20.
8%25 = 2.0 (Moving the decimal back).
15%300 = 15+15+15 =45.
15%350 = 15+15+15+7.5 = 52.5

Also it’s usefull to know that you can always flip percents, like 3% of 100 is the same as 100% of 3.

35% of 8 is the same as 8% of 35.

[Source : Listverse]
READ MORE - 10 Easy Arithmetic Tricks

10 Amazing Animal Facts

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

The animal kingdom has long been a mysterious one for humans and every day we learn something new about it. This is a list of ten little known facts about animals.

10. Crocodiles Eat Stones

Crocodiles Eat Stones
The stomach of a crocodile is a rocky place to be, for more than one reason. To begin with, a croc’s digestive system encounters everything from turtles, fish and birds to giraffes, buffaloes, lions and even (when defending territory) other crocodiles. In addition to that bellyful-o’-ecosystem, rocks show up too. The reptiles swallow large stones that stay permanently in their bellies. It’s been suggested these are used for ballast in diving.


9. Whale Milk is 50% Fat

Whale Milk is 50% Fat

Nursing a newborn is no “small” feat for the whale, whose calf emerges, after 10 to 12 months in the womb, about a third the mother’s length (that’s a 30-foot baby for the Blue whale). The mother squirts milk into the newborn’s mouth using muscles around the mammary gland while the baby holds tight to a nipple (yes, whales have them). At nearly 50 percent fat, whale milk has around 10 times the fat content of human milk, which helps calves achieve some serious growth spurtseas much as 200 pounds per day.


8. Birds Recognize Landmarks

Birds Recognize Landmarks

Can you imagine a road trip vacation without missed exits, stubborn drivers or map-folding disasters? Of course noteyou’re not a bird. Pigeons can fly thousands of miles to find the same roosting spot with no navigational difficulties. Some species of birds, like the Arctic tern, make a 25,000 mile round-trip journey every year. Many species use built-in ferromagnets to detect their orientation with respect to the Earth’s magnetic field. A November 2006 study published in Animal Behaviour suggests that pigeons also use familiar landmarks on the ground below to help find their way home


7. Beavers have Longer Days in Winter

Beavers have Longer Days in Winter

Beavers become near shut-ins during winter, living off of previously stored food or the deposits of fat in their distinctive tails. They conserve energy by avoiding the cold outdoors, opting instead to remain in dark lodgings inside their pile of wood and mud. As a result these rodents, which normally emerge at sunset and turn in at sunrise, have no light cues to entrain their sleep cycle. The beaver’s biological sense of time shifts, and she develops a “free running circadian rhythm” of 29-hour days.

6. Mole-Rats are not Blind

Mole-Rats are not Blind

With their puny eyes and underground lifestyle, African mole-rats have long been considered the Mr. Magoos of rodents, detecting little light and, it has been suggested, using their eyes more for sensing changes in air currents than for actual vision. But findings of the past few years have shown that African mole-rats have a keen, if limited, sense of sight. And they don’t like what they see, according to a report in the November 2006 Animal Behaviour. Light may suggest that a predator has broken into a tunnel, which could explain why subterranean diggers developed sight in the first place.


5. Baby Chicks are Altruistic

Baby Chicks are Altruistic

It’s a mistake to think of evolution as producing selfish animals concerned only with their own survival. Altruism abounds in cases where a helping hand will encourage the survival of genetic material similar to one’s own. Baby chicks practice this “kin selection” by making a special chirp while feeding. This call announces the food find to nearby chicks, who are probably close relations and so share many of the chick’s genes. The key to natural selection isn’t survival of the fittest animal. It’s survival of the fittest genetic material, and so brotherly behavior that favors close relations will thrive.


4. Many Fish Swap Sex Organs

Many Fish Swap Sex Organs

With so many land creatures to wonder at, it’s easy to forget that some of the weirdest activities take place deep in the ocean. The strange practice of hermaphroditism is more common among species of fish than within any other group of vertebrates. Some fish change sex in response to hormonal cycle or environmental changes. Others simultaneously possess both male and female sex organs.


3. Giraffes have Unique Blood Flow

Giraffes have Unique Blood Flow

The stately giraffe, whose head sits some 16 feet up atop an unlikely pedestal, adapted his long neck to compete for foliage with other grazers. While the advantage of reach is obvious, some difficulties arise at such a height. The heart must pump twice as hard as a cow’s to get blood up to the brain, and a complex blood vessel system is needed to ensure that blood doesn’t rush to the head when bent over. Six feet below the heart, the skin of the legs must then be extremely tight to prevent blood from pooling at the hooves.

2. Elephants are Smart

Elephants are Smart

Elephants have the largest brain, nearly 11 pounds on average of any mammal that ever walked the earth. Do they use that gray matter to the fullest? Intelligence is hard to quantify in humans or animals, but the encephalization quotient (EQ), a ratio of an animal’s observed brain size to the expected brain size given the animal’s mass, correlates well with an ability to navigate novel challenges and obstacles. The average elephant EQ is 1.88. (Humans range from 7.33 to 7.69, chimpanzees average 2.45, pigs 0.27.) Intelligence and memory are thought to go hand in hand, suggesting that elephant memories, while not infallible, are quite good.


1. Parrots Understand



Parrot speech is commonly regarded as the brainless squawking of a feathered voice recorder. But studies over the past 30 years continually show that parrots engage in much more than mere mimicry. Our avian friends can solve certain linguistic processing tasks as deftly as 4-6 year-old children. Parrots appear to grasp concepts like “same” and “different”, “bigger” and “smaller”, “none” and numbers. Perhaps most interestingly, they can combine labels and phrases in novel ways. A January 2007 study in Language Sciences suggests using patterns of parrot speech learning to develop artificial speech skills in robots.


[Source : Listverse]
READ MORE - 10 Amazing Animal Facts

 
 
 
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