Birds, brains, and tentacles

I was pleased to read that the Cambridge Comparative Cognition Lab has received funding and avoided being closed.

This video makes for highly recommended watching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVwMSLe-Rx4&feature=youtu.be

No great conclusions from me on this, other than that I bloody love jays and am very happy. There's a family of four or so who seem to live around us (though maybe they've fragmented a bit now the younger ones are older), and it always feels like a treat to see them.

Animal intelligence continues to be one of my major sources of fascination. I got a massive octopus tattooed on my arm, in large part thanks to Peter Godfrey-Smith's Other Minds. I also highly, highly recommend The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman. I've got another of her books on my somewhat pendulous reading list. And, obviously, there's always Ways of Being for a broader look at non-human intelligence.

This Guardian article also has a good survey of a lot of the elements that go into both.

(Yes, I know octopuses have arms, not tentacles, but that would be a much less arresting title, wouldn't it?)