Issue 60 - University of Surrey's Student Union

16 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY The Stag | 29 th May 2013 sciencetech@thestagsurrey.co.uk Sci/Tech Editor: Alex Smith | Copy Editor: Sophie Vickery
The Stag | 29 th May 2013 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 17
Experiments
gone wrong
By Siobhan Harris, Science & Tech Team
If there’s anything worse than
nurture intervening with
nature, then it’ll surprise me.
Nature is innate in all species
and although this is an on-going
debate, it is one not to be presumed
until explored or experienced.
What I am attempting to argue is
in support of nature. Not a specific
nature such as humans, primates
(chimpanzees, gorillas etc.), or
even insects such as spiders; but
for all nature big and small to put
it simply.
Therefore, I feel compelled to
justify my own reasons for human
and animal rights, with a look at
the controversial documentation
of Project Nim. Nim Chimpsky,
named after linguist Noam
Chomsky, was a chimpanzee
involved in a research project
led by behavioural psychologist,
Herbert S. Terrace, of University
of Colombia in 1973. Although
warned against the project by
researchers of Project Washoe, an
earlier experiment, he progressed
anyway, believing that he could
intervene with nature to a new,
potentially dangerous extent.
Dangerous indeed it was, for
taking Nim from his mother at
two weeks old, Herbert spent
little time with the baby chimp
before passing him on to a human
family. The irony of Nim being
named after Noam Chomsky is
that in fact, Chomsky’s thesis
argued against this proposal,
arguing instead that only humans
have language. Terrace set out to
challenge this on a larger scale,
ignoring critics and warnings, and
eventually losing funding for the
experiment.
As Roger Fouts declared: “98.7%
of the DNA in humans and chimps
is identical, some scientists (but
not Noam Chomsky) believed that
a chimp raised in a human family,
and using ASL (American Sign
Language), would shed light on the
way language is acquired and used
by humans.” Therefore, was not
Terrace putting his own human
rights against animal rights?
Terrace focused on Nim’s
ability to make different responses
to different sequences of signs and
to emit different sequences in
order to communicate different
meanings. Fouts then reported
on early results of Project Nim,
declaring that they were in no way
equal to those of Project Washoe.
Terrace, sceptical of Project
Washoe, attempted to discredit it.
After learning 125 signs at an
early age, clearly impressive for a
young chimp, Terrace proceeded
to push Nim further. A colleague
of Terrace and a trustworthy
friend of Nim’s, Laura-Ann
Petitto estimated that Nim’s true
vocabulary count was closer to
25 than 125. Other students at the
university involved in the project
disagreed with Petitto, and also
with Terrace.
Terrace and his colleagues
concluded that Nim wasn’t
showing any meaningful
sequential behaviour that
rivalled human grammar. Upon
reflection, and Petitto’s assertion,
was not Nim’s language strictly
pragmatic? In learning only what
was required according to his
needs, as Petitto has stated. This
is unlike a human child, which
can serve to generate or express
meanings, thoughts or ideas.
The ‘language’ Nim acquired
could not equally be taught
to a pigeon, according to the
psychological principles of
operant conditioning. When
Terrace ended the experiment,
Nim was transferred back to the
Institute for Primate Studies in
Oklahoma, who later sold him to
the Laboratory for Experimental
Medicine and Surgery in Primates,
a pharmaceutical animal testing
laboratory managed by NYU.
After efforts to free him, the
Black Beauty Ranch, operated by
The Fund for Animals in Texas,
purchased Nim.
Nim died in March 2000 at
the age of 26 from a heart attack.
Evolutionary psychologists that
agree with Chomsky argue that
the apparent impossibility of
teaching language to animals is
indicative that the ability to use
language is an innately human
development, not a primate one.
It is fundamental to remember
that this is an on-going dispute in
science; no subjective opinion can
be discredited without evidence.
The documentary film which
explores Nim’s story, and footage
of it, attempts to consider these
ethical issues, the emotional
experiences of Nim’s trainers
and Nim the chimp himself. (See
‘Project Nim’ in film section for
more information.)
The ‘humanity’ within our ape cousins is visually recognisable and easy to empathise with.
Why my brother
resembles an ape
By Alex Smith, Science & Tech Editor
trail of thought that gives us that experience the U-shaped trends
inter-species empathy and even of ‘ups and downs’ of the mid-life
round shaped head, patches leads us to calling the great apes crisis that was once considered
A of fur, and the all-familiar ‘brother’. Enter science - and we’re human-exclusive. With data,
forward-leaning jaw; all tell-tale
features of a creature so closely
related; my brother. But this isn’t
a piece filled with petty squabbles
and the unresolved soap-opera of
our youth; this is a tribute to our
long-lost family – to creatures that
walk like you and talk like you, too.
left with irrefutable data and
emotive similarities that define
where we stand in the animal
kingdom; alongside the great apes.
A recent study at the AAP in the
Netherlands, a conservation group
for primates and exotic mammals,
showed that chimpanzees who
the orangutan becomes only as
strange as any passer-by in the
street.
Our great ape cousins are
so cognitively similar to us that
research bans are in place in 5
European countries, as well as
in New Zealand where apes were
A quick flick through the top found themselves emotionally even given basic rights. And the
videos on YouTube on any given
evening will reveal our obsession
with pugs who like hugs and
adorable yet nasally explosive
isolated and unable to adjust after
having been retired from animaltesting,
had a positive response to
human anti-depressants and were
Great Ape Project, an international
campaign group for the rights
of all apes, are campaigning to
get the United Nations to agree
pandas. However, every now able to integrate with the group. to a Declaration of the Rights of
and then you’ll stumble across a
video equally as noteworthy – a
particular one in mind is of an
infant great ape that’s just found
a mirror and discovered its own
identity.
It is a profound and remarkable
thing to look at videos of apes –
gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans
– and to see all the traits, virtues
Speaking to the BBC following
treatment of the apes, Dr Godelieve
Kranendonk commented: “It was
as if they were zombies in their
enclosures and now they are
happy, playing with each other.
They are chimps again - that was
really nice to see…”
And a paper published in
the Proceedings of the National
Great Apes (including us humans)
– granting the right to life and
liberty and the prohibition of
torture.
My brother reminds me of
apes. But apes also remind me
of my brother. So don’t think of
them as banana-crazed animals,
flinging feces around the place and
covered in unruly patches of fur.
and hallmarks of humanity. Academy of Sciences showed Instead treat them like your long
Without DNA testing and without
figures of x% similarity between
human and chimp, it’s a natural
that in a total sample of 508
great apes of 2 varieties and in 3
separate habitats, that they too
lost cousins; cautious to approach
you, but bonded by genes and a
common experience of life.
©Meneer Zjeroen
App Corner
Flipboard
(iOS / Android)
By Ankur Banerjee, Science & Tech Team
Hardly any
university students
buy newspapers or
magazines these days;
it’s an industry-wide
trend that has led to
drops in subscriber
numbers. The way that
most of my friends get
news is when someone
shares a link on
a social networking
website, or by browsing
through websites
themselves. Yet, as a
medium for scanning
through content,
websites tend to be poor because it’s hard to scan
through large quantities of information.
Flipboard is an app available on iOS and Android
(for free) that offers a solution to this problem.
The app allows you to create a personalised
magazine to include your favourite news and media
sources online, whether it be broadsheets, blogs,
fashion magazines, or YouTube channels. The user
experience is gorgeous, as you can flick through
items with rich, vivid images just like you would in
a magazine – and then easily save or share stories
online that you like on Facebook / Twitter. Lost
for ideas on what sources to add? Flipboard has
editorially-curated lists of best sources of news in a
range of categories to quickly take your pick from –
or you can add your own source. This app is perfect
for any news junkie.
Goodbye from the Science & Tech editor
I’d be lying if I said that being the Science
& Tech editor this year hasn’t
been an utter pleasure. Not only have
the team been outstanding, and Sophie
Vickery as a fabulous copy editor, but
we’ve covered such a great range of stories;
from the death of Neil Armstrong to
Felix Baumgartner’s jump from the edge
of space. Science has come a long way
in a year – to the point where we are
©Flipchart
At a home
at the end of
Google Earth,
orphan finds
his lost mother
By Fahmid Chowdhury, Science & Tech Team
To us, Google Earth/Maps is
an application which helps us
find our way around a new town,
search bus timetables or just take
a look at an old neighbourhood
we grew up in. However, to a man
named Saroo, it was the key to
finding his beloved mother.
It all began at the age of 5
when Saroo fell asleep whilst
working on the train as a cleaner
with his brother. He laid down to
take a nap but woke up 14 hours
later to realise that not only was
his brother gone, but Saroo had
also gone to Calcutta – very far
away from his home.
As he was now lost, he
wandered around the streets
of Calcutta, begging for basic
necessities. All the while he had
people approaching him looking
suspicious, offering him things
that seemed too good to be
true with malicious intentions.
After some time, though, he was
adopted by an orphanage and
one day a couple from Australia
decided to adopt him.
Under their care, he grew
up as a healthy man who got
an education and various
opportunities. However, as
he became older the desire
to establish contact with his
previous family became greater.
He could only remember vivid
images about his home town
in his head, but nothing more.
With this, he scoured through
an approximate radius of where
he was found (Calcutta) based
on how long he was on the train.
From here he painstakingly
sifted through satellite images on
Google until he saw the familiar
looking town of Khandwa, based
on the similarity of certain places
like the waterfall he used to play
by with the image in his head. He
then made his way to the town…
When he reached there, he
found his way around to his
old neighbourhood based on
his memories and soon found
people to show his childhood
photograph. One person
recognised him and brought him
to his mum. Upon seeing her son,
she went, hugged him tightly
and cried. Some looked on with
scepticism, wondering if she was
lying and had other intentions.
However, this was soon
eradicated as she explained that
there was a scar on him from a
childhood injury. Saroo got his
wish - a happy reunion, one sure
to inspire us all to never give up.
almost wearing computers in-front of
our eyes (courtesy of Google).
I hope you have found this section as
entertaining as I. Have a delightful summer
and let’s look forward to next year’s
issues under the reign of Siobhan Harris,
who will be taking over as the next Science
& Tech editor. Thanks for reading,
and I hope you follow the paper next
year as I take on the role of Editor. Ciao.
Technology
round-up
By Fahmid Chowdhury, Science & Tech Team
NASA signs off ambitious
sampling mission
Norwegian company is
A researching into and
creating a sort of underwater
power plant. Basically, the
company wants to use the vast
pressures 800m underwater to
pass water through turbines to
generate electricity. Seems like
an innovative solution to our
impending energy crisis!
Underwater electricity
generation
Bryan Heitkotter is one of
the very few people to have
turned his gaming life into a
reality. He entered the Gran
Turismo 5 GT Academy online,
beat 53,000 online gamers
and then was sponsored to go
racing in real life! Wow.
TRUCK can which can be
assembled by hand
The world’s first flat-pack
truck has been created
which can be assembled,
as the creators say, in 11.5
hours by 3 people. It’s been
designed whilst considering
people in Africa to improve
the availability of transport.
It is powered by a 2.2-litre
diesel engine with manual
transmission and will be rather
cheap although no prices have
been confirmed.
Google Glass – a privacy concern
U
.S. politicians are seeking
assurance from Google
that there will be no invasion
of privacy with regards to
the use of their Google Glass
product. The worries seem to
regard the fact that the user
could take images, videos and
other data about whatever they
see. This could be an intrusion
to people’s privacy and lives in
some cases.