thekidshouldseethis:

Our Story in 1 Minute:

A tapestry of footage tracing the cosmic and biological origins of our species, set to original music. 

So so, so many related videos to dive further into these quick clips from MelodySheep. From the archives: the Big Bang, the moon, atoms, evolution, dinosaurs, nature, animals, culture, architecture, technology and space.

via @mamagotcha.

If you missed this mind-blowing video over the weekend, do check it out, and check out the related videos above. It grabs you by the brain and the heart at the same time, and just reminds you how awesome the story of us really is.

Thumpingly Awesome Footage of World’s Most Endangered Gorillas

Cross River gorillas hold the unfortunate distinction as the most endangered African ape. There are less than 250 of them left. In this rare sighting from a motion-activated camera in Cameroon, a group of 8 strolls by under a thick jungle canopy.

It includes an amazing example of silverback male chest-thumping (much different than you see it in the movies)! He charges past the camera around halfway through, asserting his dominance to the group, and to us (unbeknownst to him, of course). But sadly, one of them also appears to be missing a hand. This could be a result of gorilla combat, or it could be a reminder of the damage that we humans have inflicted on this great ape species.

Will this be one of the last times we capture footage of these gorillas? Or a call to action to save a species?

Previously: Gorillas in your midst: A tourist and gorillas connect as fellow primates. Terrified, about to pee their pants out of fear fellow primates, that is. Enthralling cross-species interaction!

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Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com

Gorillas In Your Midst

I pulled this video from PsiVid’s Top 5 Animal Videos of the Year because, well, it’s amazing. That’s all there is to say about it.

It starts out like any other amateur nature video, showing tourists walking among some Ugandan gorillas in Bwindi National Park. But what happens at 2:30 blew my mind … I won’t spoil it, but it was one of the greatest primate-human interactions I’ve ever seen on film. Pure curiosity, and pure amazement.

(also, I would have peed my pants if I were that guy) 

Researchers find poop-throwing by chimps is a sign of intelligence In proof that even politicians share a common ancestor with chimpanzees, Emory University reports that throwing feces is a sign of smarts in captive chimps. Surprisingly, they found that chimps that both threw more and were more likely to hit their targets showed heightened development in the motor cortex, and more connections between it and the Broca’s area, which they say is an important part of speech in humans. The better chimp throwers, in other words, had more highly developed left brain hemispheres, which is also, non-coincidently, where speech processing occurs in people. Such findings led the term to suggest that the ability to throw is, or was, a precursor to speech development in human beings. So being able to throw things well is a sign of higher-order brain development? Then why did Dan Marino score a 16 on the Wonderlich Test? (via PhysOrg)
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Researchers find poop-throwing by chimps is a sign of intelligence

In proof that even politicians share a common ancestor with chimpanzees, Emory University reports that throwing feces is a sign of smarts in captive chimps.

Surprisingly, they found that chimps that both threw more and were more likely to hit their targets showed heightened development in the motor cortex, and more connections between it and the Broca’s area, which they say is an important part of speech in humans. The better chimp throwers, in other words, had more highly developed left brain hemispheres, which is also, non-coincidently, where speech processing occurs in people.

Such findings led the term to suggest that the ability to throw is, or was, a precursor to speech development in human beings.

So being able to throw things well is a sign of higher-order brain development? Then why did Dan Marino score a 16 on the Wonderlich Test?

(via PhysOrg)

Source: physorg.com

Wired has a great series of articles up looking at the current state of chimpanzee and great ape medical research in the Western world.  What’s the history? What is the future (if any) now that we have learned more about the cognition and psychology of these near-hominids? How will pending legislation affect research methods and where will we house chimps after their days in research? Check them out: The Real Chimp Sounds Behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes Hepatitis C: The Last Chimpanzee Research Battleground Leading U.S. Primate Lab Accused of Illegal Chimp Breeding A Second Life for Retired Lab Chimps (via Wired Science)
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Wired has a great series of articles up looking at the current state of chimpanzee and great ape medical research in the Western world. 

What’s the history? What is the future (if any) now that we have learned more about the cognition and psychology of these near-hominids? How will pending legislation affect research methods and where will we house chimps after their days in research?

Check them out:

The Real Chimp Sounds Behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Hepatitis C: The Last Chimpanzee Research Battleground

Leading U.S. Primate Lab Accused of Illegal Chimp Breeding

A Second Life for Retired Lab Chimps

(via Wired Science)

Source: Wired