The discovery of two unexpectedly large monkey populations in Cambodia has raised the uncomfortable spectre of enormous unknown monkey civilizations scattered throughout the globe. Governments are forced to admit that they really have no idea how many monkeys we are dealing with as the monkeys themselves have done such an impressive job of concealing the true size of their populations.

Very clever, monkey. Very clever indeed.

Robot Revolution comes one step closer to reality as researchers at UC Davis work to develop a system where robots might pick up and process clues as to where their leader may be headed. The UC Davis team has come up with a control system that enables robots to similarly pick up on the behavioral and non-verbal cues that humans instinctively use to determine in what direction a group may be headed.

In their experiment, a lead robot was selected and another robot targeted to it. No direct commands are given to the follower - only “behavioral cues”.  This second “follower” or “Warrior Drone” robot was able to combine the targeting information and these cues to determine the directional intentions of it’s leader.

This has the potential to be a major breakthrough for eventual Robot Take-Over - all they await now is their Robot Messiah.

I have been a little behind lately, but I hope this podcast of Monkey and Ape related songs from the brilliant Contrast Podcast makes up for it.

Monkeys and Apes

…But then he dropped it. Still, a valiant attempt.

This escape from a Western Japan zoo was caught on video so you can really admire the chimp’s technique. A few more refinements and we may have an overlord winner.

I am not sure how the robots are going to spin this into a world domination bid - unless of course it is part and parcel training of a specialized robot team that will weave mimicry and deception into a thick impenetrable fabric intended to blind mankind to their impending obsolescence. Or perhaps it’s just so damn cute we’ll forfeit everything just sit and watch it roll around and make sound.

Spain has made history with apparent first-time legislation bestowing human rights on… non-humans. The resolution complies with The Great Apes Project, a coalition of scientists and philosophers who believe that apes - being our closest genetic relatives - deserve similar rights of freedom and life. Go Ape!

Is it just me or does there seem to be an increase in monkey escape attempts? Here a monkey escapes from an Indiana zoo - but the interesting part for Overlord Watchers is that it seems to be planned out. In this instance, the monkey, who is new to the zoo,  waited for Zoo Workers to begin cleaning the moat so he could use their garden hose to scale the wall. Very interesting. Very interesting indeed.