scientists make orangutans giggle

Dr Marina Davila Ross, from the University of Portsmouth and Professor Elke Zimmermann at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover, Germany, studied the play behaviour of 25 orang-utans aged between two and 12 at four primate centres around the world.

Dr Davila Ross commented: "What is clear now is the building blocks of positive emotional contagion and empathy that refer to rapid involuntary facial mimicry in humans evolved prior to humankind."

Hard to keep a straight face, isn't it?

News story and giggling orang pic here.

New Year book-keeping post

Last year's one-and-only resolution was to get a clarinet and learn to play it.
Done!
If you define "play" as knowing the scale of G and being able to stumble through "The Medallion Calls" and "Roumanian Horra and Bulgar".

This year I want to:
do pilates  at least 3 times a week;
play clarinet at least twice a week.

Lots of other good intentions, but am limiting myself to two actual resolutions for fear even that is more than I can manage.