Technabob » gorilla

Scientists Tickle Gorillas on Quest for Origins of Laughter

Shane McGlaun — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:00:15 +0000

Scientists are searching for the reasons why humans laugh, and are studying all sort of animals to figure out if other species laugh as well. It’s easy to imagine that gorillas and other monkeys would laugh when tickled, since they are some of the animals closest to humans. One zookeeper says that his gorilla, Emmie, laughs when you tickle her and he says that gorillas tickle each other as well.

Rather than using their hands though, the gorillas tend to use their teeth apparently. I wouldn’t want to be tickled by a gorilla’s teeth. Apparently, when Emmie is in the mood to play she will make a sound that is a lot like human laughter when tickled. According to researchers, many animals will make specific sounds when tickled including rats and some birds.

The researchers are looking at videos online using YouTube and other sites to find what animals do when tickled. Would you tickle a gorilla or other great ape? Those animals can kill a human easily and some even been known to eat people. I’ll pass, thank you.

[via BBC News]

Gorilla Gets Nintendo Ds and Trades It for an Apple

Shane McGlaun — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:51:14 +0000

Sure, gorillas have opposable thumbs and can rip a man’s arm off and beat him with it, but they lack those leet gaming skilz. You could totally take this gorilla in a game of Donkey Kong. It’s not often you get to see a gorilla trying to play a Nintendo DS.

This fuzzy guy came by his DS when a kid visiting the San Francisco zoo accidentally dropped it inside the gorilla habitat. I hear all was fine until his little gorilla brother started staring at him and asking if it was his turn yet.

The gorilla tried all he could to figure the thing out turning it forward, backwards and holding it really close to his head. A trainer at the zoo was able to trade the DS for an apple and gave the console back to the boy who dropped it. It reportedly still worked though it was scratched and covered with gorilla slobber.

Advertise With This Gorilla Robot

Technabob — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:45:42 +0000

When I first heard there was a business called Gorilla Robot Factory, I assumed they’d be some sort of hipster design company, a recording studio, or maybe some Web 3.0 startup. I never figured that they’d actually make gorilla robots. My mistake.

And that’s all they do. But if you’ve got a need for an animatronic gorilla robot, they’ve got you covered. Need a hot pink gorilla? Done. How about blue? Sure. What about basic black? You bet your bananas.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The 6′-6″ tall faux fur gorillas are designed to draw attention to your business, but I think I’d like to get about 100 of them together, start my own gorilla robot army and take over the world. Of course, I’m not sure how much world domination you could achieve by swiveling from side-to-side and waving one hand.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

What are you waiting for? You can get your very own robot gorilla over at the Gorilla Robot Factory for $995 (USD).