Apparently, a troop of chimpanzees in the Netherlands didn't want strangers invading their air-space with drones. So when a TV crew buzzed the chimps with a drone for the second or third time, the apes were ready.
They literally, genuinely planned things out ahead of time. (Their handlers testified to this.) They marked the drone's track. They predicted where it was going to appear next. And then they used items in their enclosure as tools to bring down that pesky drone and study it as it lay on the ground.
I had to post about this. After all, how many science fiction tropes does this one episode embody?
1. Low technology vs. high technology/"primitive" vs. "advanced"
2. Confronting the unknown.
3. Intelligence across species.
and, of course-
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Am I missing any tropes?
Thanks for sharing this, Ted! For another trope I'd add omnipresent surveillance.
ReplyDeleteThanks, David! Omnipresent surveillance is a good one. You familiar with Vernor Vinge's "A Deepness in the Sky"? It has a truly frightening take on that.
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