[dba-Tech] Are Chimps More Intelligent than Humans?

I know this is a tad OT, but tomorrow is Friday so maybe you'll forgive me.
At Kyoto University there's a Primate Research facility whose star student
is a chimp called Ayu (perhaps Ayun?), who can perform feats of cognition
that are impossible for humans -- not just you or me, but *any* human.

There are some preliminary training steps: first teach the chimp to
recognize the numbers 0-9 and also the alphabet, using little 3D shapes of
same. Then mix several of each category up and have the chimp sort them
into two piles. Finally, teach the chimp to sort the numbers from 0 to 9.
Once the chimp can do that (and all of them at Kyoto can), then we move on
to more challenging turf.

A touch screen displays the numbers 0-9 in random locations and in a larger
font than normal, say 48. The chimp unerringly touches them in order in
less than half a second. This is repeatable and Ayu never errs or even
hesitates. Maybe a few humans in the world could do that. Maybe.

Now for the impossible part: the numbers are again displayed in random
locations and then immediately hidden with shaded boxes, and the chimp
touches the numbers in order. Hidden how immediately? 600 milliseconds! And
the chimp's execution time remains at less than half a second! No human can
even see the numbers in that brief a display.

I got all this from a program on TV Ontario, which is the local equivalent
of Discovery Channel, but I just Googled "Kyoto University Chimpanzee" and
arrived immediately at the web site, where there's wealth of material and
videos about the chimp research going on there.

For those interested, see http://langint.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ai/.

-- 
Arthur