The symbolic monkey? Token-mediated economic choices in tufted capuchins

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From paintings and photographs to coins and credit cards, we are constantly surrounded by symbolic artefacts. The mental representation of symbols – objects that arbitrarily represent other objects – ultimately affords the development of language, and certainly played a decisive role in the evolution of our hominid ancestors. Can other animal species also comprehend and use symbols?


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All News summaries for June 11, 2008

Sweet smell of success: Israelis enhance scent of flowers

2 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
Israeli scientists said Monday they have discovered a way to genetically enhance the scent of flowers, a development that could also be used to breed extra-tasty fruits and vegetables.

Metastatic movements in 3-D

8 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
Caswell et al.report in the Journal of Cell Biology how the altered behavior of integrins can prompt metastatic movement in tumor cells.

Recordings aim to capture calls of the wild West

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(AP) -- Rattlesnakes aren't to be trifled with, but if you're trying to collect the sound of every creature in the West that slithers, hops, flies or flops, distance isn't a luxury you can afford.

Venus flytraps caught in shrinking natural habitat

Oct 05, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(AP) -- Laura Gadd pauses at the edge of a pristine savanna, delicately lifting her feet to avoid trampling any venus flytraps hidden underfoot.

Food for thought -- regulating energy supply to the brain during fasting

Oct 05, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
If the current financial climate has taught us anything, it's that a system where over-borrowing goes unchecked eventually ends in disaster. It turns out this rule applies as much to our bodies as it does to economics. Instead ...
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