Shorts: Talking apes and dancing robots

Catching up on the RSS feeds, here are some posts that stuck out:

• Can apes really talk? - Slate. Short video on (non-human) primate language research. The ending gets to the big question: defining language and the difference between recognizing symbols and producing new ideas with them.


• Does music help us learn language? - Cognitive Daily. On whether finding word boundaries with nonsense words is made easier by setting the words to music. Original article here.


• Neurotic. Robots that pogo to punk music.


• The inherent problem of scientific theories - Think Gene. Chiefly that we can never eliminate all possible alternative explanations. And a reply at Evolving Thoughts.


• A neurological approach to skepticism - NeuroLogica. A the inner-workings of human memory and how it applies to skepticism.


• A religious history of American neuroscience - The Immanent Frame. At the boundaries of religion, technology, and science and some historical notes on psychophones and other religious fads.