Sir David Attenborough’s sonorous tones add a measure of gravitas to any nature documentary. In this video from BBC One’s Graham Norton Show, Sir Attenborough lends the power of his voice to narrate a video of a retifistic tortoise’s unsuccessful advances toward a shoe. (HT to Jerry Coyne for sharing this via his blog) Bonus: […]
Tag: tortoise
Right Bias in Tortoise Righting
If one were to overturn a tortoise, would it be more likely to right itself (i.e. get back on its feet) to the right or to the left? To find out, a joint research team from the Comparative Psychology Research Group, University of Padova, Italy and the B.R.A.I.N. Centre for Neuroscience, University of Trieste, Italy, […]
Viva Anna Wilkinson, tortoise cognitionist!
New Scientist reporter Jeff Hecht profiles Anna Wilkinson, whose discovery about contagious yawning in tortoises resulted in an Ig Nobel Prize for her and her colleagues. The report begins: “IT ALL stems from Moses,” says Anna Wilkinson. Moses is her pet red-footed tortoise and a bit of a celebrity in the science world. Why? First, […]
British tortoise-yawn-contagion researcher discusses prize
The BBC reports: Is yawning among tortoises contagious? A Nobel prize may be the most sought after gong in the scientific world, but a lecturer from the University of Lincoln has picked up the next best thing. Dr Anna Wilkinson has won an Ig Nobel prize, to honour achievements that first make people laugh and then […]