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NEWS > SCIENCE > SCIENTISTS DISCOVER PIGEONS PROBABLY COUNTING HUMANS IN PREPARATION FOR WAR
SCIENTISTS DISCOVER PIGEONS PROBABLY COUNTING HUMANS IN PREPARATION FOR WAR
December 31 2011
Dudenin, New Zealand – There is no doubt that human beings are the most intelligent and sophisticated creatures to ever live on planet Earth. That is not arrogance, that is just fact. While there are certainly other highly intelligent animals – dolphins, elephants, pigs – none have reached our degree of complexity, none even starting on that route.
While something can certainly be said about our measures of intelligence, the metrics we use, the simple fact of the matter is that no other species, outside humans, has ever been able to actively manipulate its environment or even itself in order to live better and longer lives. That is the best evidence of human intelligence, our ability to adapt our surroundings to suit us rather than adapting to fit the environment.
However, just because other species are less intelligent than us it doesn’t mean that they are completely stupid, and now scientists in New Zealand have found a remarkably sophisticated degree of intelligence in an unexpected place, finding that pigeons are capable of complex counting, something they may well be doing with humans as advanced intelligence scouts prepping for a future invasion.
“I thought it was amazing that monkeys could do this so we should be even more impressed that pigeons can too,” said Elizabeth Brannon of Duke University who started research into bird counting, which was taken on by researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand.
That work, coupled with research into other species of birds that show complex problem solving and even the ability to fashion tools, has led to the fear that something may well be afoot in the bird kingdom.
“People should remember that birds are ancient, descended from dinosaurs. They and their ancestors have been on this planet for much, much longer than humans and it is possible that they have grown to resent our presence and could be working to regain control once again,” said Scrape TV Science analyst Dr. Howard Poe. “There doesn’t appear to be one bird, one species of bird, that can cause a serious problem for humans but they do appear to all have specialities and combined, that could cause major issues, especially since they are everywhere and as a whole, outnumber humans pretty dramatically.”
Other indicators are things like massive increase in size in particular areas, such as San Francisco, where crows are nearly twice the size they were a century ago.
“It could well be that pigeons are acting like spies, working out our numbers and distribution, and sending that back to a central intelligence which would be working on battle plan. Just because we don’t understand bird intelligence, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have it,” continued Poe. “I doubt that we will ever find a kind of brain bird, a fully sophisticated animal that controls all the others, which may make things more dangerous. There are bird cells all over the world, they hover over us all the time, and they could strike at any minute. It’s a serious concern.”
We are likely fine through the winter months, however, because birds still don’t like the cold.
Anna Phillips, Science Correspondent
NEWS > SCIENCE > SCIENTISTS DISCOVER PIGEONS PROBABLY COUNTING HUMANS IN PREPARATION FOR WAR
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