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posted by
cmn32480
on Thursday October 29 2015, @01:57PM
from the in-soviet-russia-mars-monkey's-you dept.
from the in-soviet-russia-mars-monkey's-you dept.
Russian scientists are currently training macaques to solve puzzles and use a joystick for a planned 2017 trip to Mars:
Each day a team, led by Inessa Kozlovskaya, trains the monkeys to control a joystick and hit a target highlighted by a cursor.
When they complete the task successfully they are rewarded with a sip of juice.
Once they have mastered this task the macaques will be trained to solve simple mathematical tasks and puzzles.
At the end of their training the creatures should be capable of completing a daily schedule of tasks on their own.
[...] Macaques typically have a lifespan of around 25 years, so it is hoped there is enough time to train them properly and for them to survive the six-month trip to Mars, added the team.
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by Nuke on Thursday October 29 2015, @07:50PM
I think you seriously underate the intelligence and emotions of higher animals. I don't believe that monkeys and apes are all that far behind humans, in fact there is probably some overlap between the great apes and humans in these respects. Humans don't like to hear or believe this, as they did (or still do) not like Darwin's theory, and it does not help that there is no easy form of communication between humans and other species.
I have a dog who is not even in the same league as monkeys, but even he exibits considerable concern when taken in a car, depending whether the car turns in the direction that leads to the vet, or not.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Tramii on Thursday October 29 2015, @08:34PM
I have a dog who is not even in the same league as monkeys, but even he exibits considerable concern when taken in a car, depending whether the car turns in the direction that leads to the vet, or not.
That just means that you are a lousy dog trainer. I've trained my dog to ride comfortably in the back of my car on any trip. Doesn't matter if it's to the vet or to the dog park. Did he start out that way? Certainly not. But after repeating the process over and over again (and with positive reinforcement), he now can go on a 6 hour roadtrip and not bat an eye.
Sure, capturing random monkeys from the wild and then immediately shooting them up into space would be pretty stressful. But they aren't doing that. Your example fails to demonstrate how sending trained monkeys into space would be cruel or psychologically damaging.