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Permalink Reply by Adriana on April 10, 2012 at 1:05pm

Such great pictures!

Although some of these atheists were not leaping for joy. the sea lion, for example, was leaping to avoid the jaws of a great white shark :-) (or actually :-(, if you, like me, root for the sea lion).

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Permalink Reply by Michel on April 10, 2012 at 2:21pm

The bird pictures are fantastic. They are incredibly difficult to get.

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Permalink Reply by doone on April 13, 2012 at 6:36pm

FABULOUS

Apr. 13, 2012

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Permalink Reply by Alan Rose on April 15, 2012 at 12:48am

Fantastic pictures! Thanks for sharing.

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Permalink Reply by Marianne on April 15, 2012 at 5:56pm

fascinating

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Permalink Reply by doone on April 22, 2012 at 2:11pm

5 Things You Should Know About Margaret, The Baby Giraffe

Margaret has many interests, including chasing butterflies and hanging out with peacocks. The life of a baby giraffe is very full! posted about an hour ago

Scott Lamb 
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Meet Margaret

This is Margaret. She was born in March at the Bronx Zoo. Isn't she cute?

Here are 5 things to know about her:

Source: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS

1.

She hasn't officially been named yet, but the Bronx Zoo names all their female giraffes Margaret and all their male giraffes James, in memory of Mr. and Mrs. James Carter, benefactors for whom the Carter Giraffe Building is named.

2. This week, she frolicked with a peacock:

Source: youtube.com  /  via: stuffistolefromtheinternet.com

She was almost 6 feet tall at birth.

4. Last week, she chased a butterfly:

Source: youtube.com  /  via: huffingtonpost.com

5.

Margaret was already nearly 6 feet tall at birth, and weighed more than 100 pounds.

Margaret just likes to have fun!

Source: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS

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Permalink Reply by Adriana on April 22, 2012 at 2:14pm

I will go to the Bronx Zoo to see this beauty!

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Permalink Reply by doone on April 24, 2012 at 6:36am

Happy Polar Bear Does A Headstand

Quite possibly the cutest polar bear video of all time, courtesy of the One World One Ocean campaign. posted about a week ago

1world1ocean 
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This amazing polar bear video is made possible by the One World One Ocean campaign as part of their first IMAX film presentation To The Arctic 3D, premiering in theatres April 20.

Source: youtube.com  /  via: oneworldoneocean.org

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Permalink Reply by doone on May 2, 2012 at 2:45pm

True Happiness

May. 2, 2012

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Permalink Reply by doone on May 21, 2012 at 9:04am

THE INNER LIVES OF ANIMALS

by Namit Arora

It is often said that humans are the only animals to use symbols. So many other claims of human uniqueness have fallen away—thoughts, emotions, intelligence, tool use, sense offairness—what's so special about symbols, you ask? I share your skepticism, dear reader, and in the next few paragraphs I'll tell you why.

Let's begin by clarifying what "symbol" means here. One way to do this is to contrast symbols with signs. A sign, such as a red light, a grimace, a growl, or a thunderstorm, signifies something direct and tangible, making us think or act in response to the thing signified. Issuing and responding to signs is commonplace in Animalia. A symbol, on the other hand, is "something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention". A symbol allows us to think about the thing or idea symbolized outside its immediate context, such as the word "water" for the liquid, "7" for a certain quantity, and "flag" for a community. What is symbolized doesn't even have to be real, such as God, and herein lies the power of symbols—they are the building blocks of abstract and reflective thought. Evidence of material symbols used by humans dates back at least 60-100K years, when burial objects and decorated beads start to appear in archaeological finds. Linguistic symbols were almost certainly in use long before then.

According to Susanne Langer, symbols serve "to liberate thought from the immediate stimuli of a physically present world; and that liberation marks the essential difference between human and nonhuman mentality ... Words, pictures, and memory images are symbols that may be combined and varied in a thousand ways." It is only through symbolic thought that we imagine the past or the future—mental time-travel, including episodic memory, requires the use of symbols. Indeed, language is really a system of symbolic communication, combining words (which are symbols) and syntax. If non-human animals lack symbols, what and how do they really think?

Continue reading "The Inner Lives of Animals"

Posted by Namit Arora at 12:35 AM | Permalink |

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Permalink Reply by doone on July 9, 2012 at 4:54pm

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