Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Degu Rodents Now Use Tools Like Little Fuzzy
Researchers in Japan’s Institute of Physical and Chemical Research have taught degus how to use rakes to obtain food. Degus are small rodents closely related to chinchillas. This is apparently the first instance in which rodents have been taught to use tools.
(Degus learn to use rakes video)
The degu is placed on one side of a fence and sunflower seeds are placed on the other side. When provided with a small rake, the small rodents pull the seeds through. Degus are also referred to as the Brush-Tailed rat, even though they are closer to guinea pigs and chincillas. They are social animals who are able to coordinate their digging activities in constructing large burrows.
Science fiction fans are irresistibly reminded of the wonderful 1962 novel Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper. Although written as a juvenile, this novel has a grown-up preoccupation with the basic question "What makes us human?"
In the story, a distant planet is colonized under a charter to a large corporation. However, one of the conditions of the charter is that the planet does not have any sapient, human-like intelligent life.
The corporate lawyers are not very happy when a sol stone miner named Jack Holloway finds an odd little creature in his house, and then sees him using tools.
(Little Fuzzy cover art)
Update 27-Mar-2008 Here's a good example of their tool-using abilities.
A land-prawn, which must have gotten in while the door was open, was crossing the living room. Little Fuzzy ran after and past it, pivoted and brought the corner of the chisel edge down on the prawn's neck, neatly beheading it... then slid the chisel under it and flopped it over on its back, slapping it twice with the flat and cracking the undershell.
In their extraordinary 1974 novel The Mote in God's Eye, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle write about a race of beings trapped in an isolated solar system. One subspecies, the Watchmakers (nicknamed the Brownies), are small, rodent-like animals with remarkable tool-using abilities. Without realizing the danger, human visitors to the Mote allow Brownies into their ship. Eventually, the brass are concerned.
"Gunner, have you ever heard of 'Brownies' aboard this ship?""Well, not officially, Captain. I will say some of the spacers lately seem lately to believe in the Little People..."
"Some of the men in my watch sections, Captain - they say that if ye leave some food - grain, cereals, mess left-overs, anything at all - in the corridors or under your bunk along with something that needs fixing, it gets fixed."
...Microscopes with smoother focusing operations than the best things ever made by Leica Optical. A handmade lamp in the biology section. Boots and shoes customized to individual feet... sidearms individualized...
End update.
Via Scientists teach rodents to use rake.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/27/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Biology ")
Black Fungus Blocks Radiation
'You were surrounded by Astrophage most of the time' - Andy Weir, 2021.
Lunar Biorepository Proposed For Cryo-Preservation Of Earth Species
'...there was no one alive who had ever seen them. But they existed in the Life Bank.' - John Varley, 1977.
Let's Make Slaver Sunflowers! Engineering Plants To Reflect Light
'The mirror-blossom was a terrible weapon.' - Larry Niven, 1965.
Machete-Wielding Philodendron Isn't Going To Take It Anymore
'The tree ended its wild larruping, stood like a dreaming giant liable to wake into frenzy at any moment.' - Eric Frank Russell, 1943.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
Rigid Metallic Clothing From Science Fiction To You
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
Is The Seattle Ultrasonics C-200 A Heinlein Vibroblade?
'It ain't a vibroblade. It's steel. Messy.'
Roborock Saros Z70 Is A Robot Vacuum With An Arm
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
Secret Kill Switch Found In Yutong Buses
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
Grok Scores Best In Psychological Tests
'Try to find out how he ticks...'
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...'
Congress Considers Automatic Emergency Braking, One Hundred Years Too Late
'The greatest problem of all was the elimination of the human element of braking together with its inevitable time lag.'
The Desert Ship Sailed In Imagination
'Across the ancient sea floor a dozen tall, blue-sailed Martian sand ships floated, like blue smoke.'
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
