Not sure why Rahima is quoting Baashi and then directing her comments at me!

Chimps astound with memory skills The animated baboon King Louis in Jungle Book wanted to be like a human, but the traffic isn’t all one way amongst the primates. Chimpanzees have something useful for us to covet – an astounding short term memory. A presentation at the ongoing American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston this afternoon will discuss the latest findings in primate brain power. It will feature the chimp Ai at Kyoto University that has something akin to a photographic memory and will also discuss findings about how chimps can suffer from anxiety attacks, depression and post-traumatic stress, just like humans. Prof Tetsuro Matsuzawa in Kyoto’s primate research institute is studying the chimp Ai and her son Ayumu and the remarkable feats of memory they can achieve. He developed a system where the chimp touches a button on a screen and the numbers one through 10 flash up in random order in various squares on a grid. The challenge is to touch each square in ascending order, but as soon as you touch number one all others are hidden from view, presenting a incredibly difficult test of working memory. This would be a challenge for any of us, having to produce the correct order. How remarkable then that Ai can do the same thing, recognising the numbers and touching them in their proper order. A video documents Ai’s skills and similar skills in her son Ayumu. Ai, which means love in Japanese, views the grid for no more than half a second and then begins, touching the squares in the right order from one through 10. Prof Matsuzawa has tested Ayunu with all the numbers up to 19 on the grid and she can still accomplish this with no more than a half second’s glance to memorise the positions. “No human can do this at this speed, at this accuracy,” he said in advance of the talk. “No one can deny that chimps can be better than humans in this task.” Prof Martin Brune of University Hospital Bochum, Germany will discuss chimp psychopathology during the session. Recent research has shown the complexity of chimp social structures and language capabilities, but has also revealed conditions such as anxiety attacks, depression and post-traumatic stress. He will suggest that it may be time to treat these conditions in chimps kept in captivity in the same way they are in human primates, with psychoactive drugs. Dr Victoria Wobber of Harvard University will make comparisons between human and chimp cognition in problem solving, decision making and risk taking. “We have found a number of new areas where they (chimps) make decisions that parallel those made by humans,” she said. AMAZING!

^^ War horta is deji and stop flailing about with impotent rage, saaxib. I really can't see what my comment above have to do with this aggressive reply of yours. I get it, you are a "mucaarid". Wax kale ma haysa? Ignore Mintid's previous advice and spit out all the secrets that you know about this government if you dare. Until then, I shall support the Kulmiye government. Not becuase it's led my adeero Siilaanyo (for he does not need my support just yet) but because it's led by an elected government. Don't be a sore loser and accept that fact, saaxib. p.s. The people in that meeting repeated the same cantarbaqash that you believe in and that's why I thought you would endorse that kind of democracy. I was wrong.

As Jb says..err...ehem. Morning all.

^^ in 1984? Start thinking (with anything that you have working).

^^ Why would a military court sentence rapists and murderers, you hopeless oaf?

Democracy in action that even the Guru would have been proud of.

^^ All that is good and well. It is even probably being done as we speak. However, here on SOL, we merely discuss the issues of the day in Somalia. With the Somali government requesting the lifting of the embargo, it is natural that people are going to ask questions and air suspicions. Also note that most of the questions are being asked by everyday people, the Imam did not speak yet. The style, delivery and angry tone of these questions is what is wrong here, not the questions themselves.

^^ They have a point though, Stoic. One can be positive and optimistic about the chances of Somalia getting back on its feet but, at the same time, one must not forget the reasons that made Somalia what it is for the past twenty odd years; mistrust amongst clans. The PL crew suspect that this government is only paying lip service to the federal arrangement and therefore have concluded that when the embargo is lifted, the government is going to mainly equip and arm a (mainly) southern based army. Uncomfortable as it is, it nonetheless is the RIGHT time to ask such questions and ensure that the government follows the federal formula. To say "forget about the past and let’s move on" is not enough. It is something that did not work with even us in SL nor will it work with anyone within Somalia. Only when confidence in the system and trust in the federal arrangement is cultivated will people begin to move on. It also doesn't help when every genuine question is met with the tired old reply of "spoilers, qabiilists, etc". I personally don't think Hassan Sheikh dare play the clan card in today's circumstances but I am not from Puntland and Hassan Sheikh must really convince PL (and others) that their worries are unwarranted.

Heh. Alpha has no class. Even when he "dumps" he does it on the wrong day.

^^ But you just said that the armies in every area come from that area, why are you asking PL & Khaatumo to bring their soldiers to Xamar then? At any rate, if this is the case there really is nothing for PL to complain about (unless, of course, the central government does not recognise PL soldiers and include them in the lifting fo the embargo).

^^ Last night's game was a waste of time. Bored the hell out of me. Then again, it's been a long time since I watched an interesting football game. All is good here, how about you?

First in, AGIAN! Morning all.

An impressive report on a sad but recurring issue. Why can't all reporters employ this "hands off" approach to the news?

My above post was not a boast, it was in reply to Juxa's "retire" comment. Alpha, it's one thousand not 12. Wax fahan.

I have posted 1,2067 times on this thread. Anyone post more than me? (hover your mouse over the topic and to find out).

^^ 2005, mate. How many times did we knock you out of the CL, again?

Now shut up and sit back down.

^^ Are you sure about that? I'm not sure what a thinking Xalimo will think you were thinking when you thought of proposing to her.

^^ I have never heard an Arab using that expression, I only learnt it from Somalis (o waliba uunka ones).

Good practical advice that she can use. Any advice about the cheating husband would have been wasted on her.

^^ If Oba laid eyes on you or me, I strongly believe he'll stop talking to us saaxib. He'll think I'm a xabashi and you, err, well.... Ayoub, I was planning to put it there but then I thought I'd use it to alert the regulars of the absence of our Ormo-loving Xaaji.

^^ VD? Wasn't that short for "Venereal Disease"? War call it V Day, if you must.