First they demonstrated that (at least) a certain species of birds can plan for the future, and then that South American spider monkeys hug for a greeting. Both were sort of assumed to be uniquely human traits.

Today, news came that chimps use spears to hunt food (insert here a humorous picture of a chimp throwing Britney Spears on a bushbaby). Now, all those pointy things were really supposed to be what made us human, and thus different from the non-human.

So, what next? Robots that cry with you?

Really, what in the end is left of our claims of uniqueness other than the fact that we may well be the only species that has this passionate need to see ourselves as unique, and not just another part of a larger biological system?

An Indiana University study has concluded that “When groups of individuals are exposed to brands in the shopping environment, their memory for other brands within the same product category is impaired”. More information at EurekAlert.

According to a research reported in ScienceDaily, students who believe that their intelligence can be developed do better in maths. Apparently, they simply believe “more in the power of effort, and [have] more constructive reactions to setbacks in school.”

According to a study of more than 1100 families, 89% of parents with overweight young (5-6 year-old) children cannot see that their kids are overweight. Apparently, there is a tendency in parents (and especially mothers) to judge overweight by whether or not the child is teased for his or her weight, rather than by the actual weight of the child.

Update (31 January 2007): As if to prove my point, Emma Faust Tillman passed away after I wrote this post last week. She held the title of the world’s oldest person for less than a week.

There has recently been what I feel is a relatively high rate of “world’s oldest” people dying.

I know that old people in general tend to die with a higher probability than do younger ones, and that those who reach a grand old age of over 110 are even more probable of kicking the bucket, as I believe the scientific term in use is, but it would seem that this past half a year or so has been especially harsh for the “oldest” people. Let’s take a look.

On August 27 2006, María Capovilla who was the world’s oldest person at that point, passed on at the age of 116. She had been the world’s oldest person for two whole years, which is more or less the average of how long you get to keep the title (see Wikipedia). There are of course counter-examples to this: Shigechiyo Izumi for example held the title for nine whole years and some between 1976 and 1986.

After María Capovilla, the title of the world’s oldest person fell to Elizabeth Bolden, but the 116-year-old was unfortunately only able to hold the title for three and a half months, as she left this world on the 11th of December, 2006.

After this, the honour was given to Emiliano Mercado del Toro, who however died only a little over a month later on January 24th, 2007. The title has now moved to Emma Tillman, who is only 114.

It should furthermore also be noted that while del Toro was still the world’s oldest person, the world’s oldest woman at that point, Julie Winnefred Bertrand, also died on January 19th, 2007.

In summary, the “oldest” people to have died recently are:
María Capovilla (August 27, 2006)
Elizabeth Bolden (December 11, 2006)
Julie Winnefred Bertrand (January 19, 2007)
Emiliano Mercado del Toro (January 24, 2007)
Update: Emma Tillman (January 29, 2007)

Considering that, as I mentioned before, one usually gets to keep these titles for a couple of years, I feel that this is quite a number of casualties. Or then it is just a statistical thing. Or my brain interprets it wrong, making it a quirk of perception.

In any case, add to this also the many famous individuals who have died in the past couple of months — James Brown, Robert Altman, Saddam Hussein, Augusto Pinochet, Gerald Ford, Joseph Barbara, to name a few — and you must clearly agree that these clearly constitute the first signs of Doomsday. I, therefore, urge you all to hide your chickens and slaughter your oxen before your government gets you.

An investigation into drug use in Dublin has tested bank notes in the Dublin area and found that every bill tested contained traces of Cocaine. While it is not surprising that a large number of money has been in contact with drugs — earlier studies have indicated that around 65% of US dollars and some 60% of euros in Germany also have traces of Cocaine in them — the 100% result is nevertheless rather high.

See Dublin City University newsroom for the full article.