Arthur C. Clarke

iPads for Apes: Did Arthur C. Clarke Get It Right Again?!

by Socrates
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The very first Arthur C. Clarke book I ever read was a 1963 edition of Dolphin Island. This science fiction novel is about a runaway teenager who gets shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean where he is eventually saved by “the people of the sea”: dolphins. The protagonist – Johnny Clinton, ends up on a mysterious island of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef where a brilliant Professor invents a small handheld device that is used to communicate with dolphins… *** Orangutans at the Jungle Island Zoo in Florida are learning to use iPads to identify object like body parts and food. The hi-tech approach to communication is modeled on a system used successfully with autistic children. The zoo is hoping it will help visitors connect with the apes and promote awareness of their endangered status in the wild. Original story by Ben Gruber for Reuters News:

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Hawking, Sagan and Clarke on God, The Universe And Everything Else

by Socrates
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As you know usually I try to leave you with something interesting for the weekend. Today I found this classic video of 3 of the best scientific minds of the 20th century – Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, Arthur C. Clarke, discussing God, the Universe and everything else. I enjoyed it immensely and was surprised to find out that Stephen Hawking and his jokes were almost as funny as Douglas Adams in his On Parrots The Universe And Everything… Hope you like it as much as I did. Enjoy!

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