Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons'

[Kuya]

I don't think stupid liberal douchebags are the same kind of people behind intelligent design.

[Shuvo]

Ant get smarter and smarter as more of them are around.
10 army ants together will run in circles until they die.
A colony will use "advanced" tactics for catching prey, regulate temperatures, keep accurate time etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQERRbU23bU

That got your attention?
Now consider that there is a ant colony spanning 4 continents with 200 million anthills having tens of thousands of ants.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth...00/8127519.stm

I for one welcome our insect overlords.

That's incredible. I did some research before on swarm intelligence and it perfectly explained small scale stuff like how they used pheremones and random variation to collectively figure out an efficient path to food. But complex air conditioning systems 26 feet deep? Holy fuuuuck.

[zoobernut]

There should be a fucking law against stupid liberal douchebags interpreting real scientific research. It's assholes like this that gave us idiocy like "Intelligent Design".

Lol thank you. That made me laugh. Kuya is right. I don't think "liberal douchebags" are responsible for the idea of Intelligent Design.

[zoobernut]

Don't forget, those fuckers dropped the bomb.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Enola_Gay.jpg

This episode was on Comedy Central last night, I had never seen it before. Oh man it was funny. Made me think of this thread.

[Acturus]

That's incredible. I did some research before on swarm intelligence and it perfectly explained small scale stuff like how they used pheremones and random variation to collectively figure out an efficient path to food. But complex air conditioning systems 26 feet deep? Holy fuuuuck.

Aren't complex structures usually just groups of simple structures?

[Kuya]

Unless they are emergent, yea.

[Plow]

Aren't complex structures usually just groups of simple structures?

It's the level of interaction between the structures that makes this shit so crazy.

Like, ok, a compartment that composts. Then, sensibly, a vent shaft for the gasses. Then, of course, an intake shaft...

But for a hive to put them together in a way that they actually function as separated intake and exhaust implies a grasp of thermodynamics... even if it's as simple as "this works, that didn't."

Just the idea that they can work around the concept of hot gas(co2) going up and cool gas(air) going down, let alone suction... yeah.

It's not really so much about the structure as the concepts that make it function.

[Maguspk]

There's also the fact that a single ant adds less than 1% to the total design, it's the ability for the swarm to think collectively and act as a single entity. To produce something so grand that it all works. They can't just do it half-assed, there has to be some regulation on what each ant does, controlling how it works so that in the end the result is a working structure.

[Suburbanelite]

/inafterMonkor =/
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/user/...erjpg-620x.jpg
/inb4anyone else

Has anyone seen a documentary about regular dolphin massacres in this one city in Japan? I think it's called "The Cove." Saw a commercial for it a while back and I kinda wanted to watch it but put it on the back burner. Anyone know if it is worth watching?

YES. I just watched that the other day, and it was fucking great. Very poignant.

And this isn't a group of some PETA fags saying, "Oh, they're hurting the dolphins and taking them out of their natural environment..." This is a group of guys showing the rest of the world how Japanese whaling groups are fucking SLAUGHTERING these poor things. Massing them into this little cove and just tearing them up with spears and shit.

Then, they sell the dolphin meat (which is toxic, by the way), to the public. Except, since it doesn't pass quality standards (because of the mercury, lawl), they label it as whale meat. People don't even consider dolphins food over there.

The Japanese excuse? "Tradition." At least, that's what they claim at first. Later, it's revealed that they do it because it's kind of a subversive way of rebelling against the US's policing over their shit. They're basically a bunch of assholes.

[Yuri-G]

seriously, does anyone really believe the Japanese need to hunt 1,000 whales per year for research?

[Cyn]

[Kaylia]

There's also the fact that a single ant adds less than 1% to the total design, it's the ability for the swarm to think collectively and act as a single entity. To produce something so grand that it all works. They can't just do it half-assed, there has to be some regulation on what each ant does, controlling how it works so that in the end the result is a working structure.

I don't think any specific cells in my body is intelligent, yet, they all come from the same DNA. Ants arent very different in that sense, but I still have trouble talking about "collective intelligence" since all they do is reacts to their environment. I would rather talk about collective reaction than intelligence


[edit]
And before anyone say that's what we do, it's true, but our brain allow us to analyze the impact of a choice and predict multiple outcome, where the ants will simply react to the outcome of their actions.

[Ruiner]

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fwNvIM2W9Aw/0.jpg

[Khamsin]

Ant get smarter and smarter as more of them are around.
10 army ants together will run in circles until they die.
A colony will use "advanced" tactics for catching prey, regulate temperatures, keep accurate time etc.


That got your attention?
Now consider that there is a ant colony spanning 4 continents with 200 million anthills having tens of thousands of ants.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth...00/8127519.stm

I for one welcome our insect overlords.

"It is truly a wonder of the world"... that we dumped 10 tons of concrete into.

I wonder if anybody will come along to our planet someday and dump a bunch of concrete on us to study our city structures.

[Rocl]

god i want to eat a dolphin now

[Sylvrdragon]

I don't think stupid liberal douchebags are the same kind of people behind intelligent design.

Hmm, good point. In my hatred for people who misinterpret science to their own ends, I suppose I mixed up the bleeding heart liberals and the religious nuts. I hate them equally as much, but I suppose they DO fall under different categories.

[Moss]

"It is truly a wonder of the world"... that we dumped 10 tons of concrete into.

I wonder if anybody will come along to our planet someday and dump a bunch of concrete on us to study our city structures.

lol. The structure, once they finally unearthed it, was pretty impressive though.

[Demetrius*]

what season/episode# is that south park? I haven't been keeping up on it.

[Qalbert]

/inafterMonkor =/
http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/user/...erjpg-620x.jpg
/inb4anyone else

also FUCK YOU DORPHEEN, FUCK YOU WHARE!

>_>

[Demosthenes11]

the japanese are fucked up beasts