An elephant that can count or a dog that can foretell a disaster would once have been the topic of fiction or a circus attraction, but now they are the focus of scientific interest and their abilities appear to be genuine.
For millennia, the lowly status of animals ensured that any suggestion they had human-like abilities got short shrift. Yet attitudes towards animals have changed, and so has the willingness of scientists to take claims of gifted animals seriously.
Recently, an elephant named Authai has been making headlines because of her apparent ability to count.
Shown computer images of collections of objects, she was able to work out which showed the most objects around two-thirds of the time.
According to the Japanese researchers behind the study, the time Authai needed to reach her answer depended on the number of objects — suggesting she really was counting them — a trait once thought unique to humans.
Meanwhile, a species of crow continues to wow scientists with its ingenuity.
In 2002, a New Caledonian crow named Betty became world-famous because she appeared to bend garden wire into hooked tools to get food out of a trap. The same species of crows have since been observed making hooks to catch fish, and then keeping their inventions safe for re-use.
Now scientists have witnessed the crows going to the next level, creating tools with several parts.
Faced with out of reach food, they picked up sticks supplied by researchers, only to find they were not long enough. So the crows looked around and noticed straws into which their sticks could fit, giving them extra reach.
Carefully sliding the sticks into the straws, the crows then returned to their task, and managed to flick the food out of the container.
Amazed, the researchers decided to make the task even harder, giving them ever shorter sticks to work with. One of the eight crows in the experiment went as far as creating a four-part tool consisting of two sticks and two straws.
The researchers, from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany, and the University of Oxford, admit they don’t know why the crows are so ingenious. They suspect they mentally visualise the tools being put together — though this has yet to be proven.
It suggests we humans still have much to learn about the abilities of other animals. And nowhere is this more apparent than in research into their ability to detect ill-health and even foretell disasters.
Malaria has just become the latest human disease that dogs are thought to be able to diagnose. Their noses, crammed with incredibly sensitive scent-detecting cells, can detect molecules in concentrations up to 100 million times weaker than humans can.
A team of researchers led by Professor Steven Lindsay of Durham University has trained dogs to detect the molecules in the socks of children infected by malaria. In tests, the dogs proved capable of correctly detecting the disease in around 70 per cent of cases, even in those with no outward signs of the disease.
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, research into the method — which is quick and non-invasive — is seen as important to eradicating the disease.
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A recent review in the Journal of Veterinary Behaviour found impressive evidence of the ability of trained dogs to detect lung, ovarian and prostate cancer, too, by sniffing body fluid samples.
But their superpowers don’t end there — animals are also thought to be able to detect disasters. Reports of animals fleeing the scene of an impending earthquake date back to Ancient Greece and anecdotes persist to this day.
Following the devastating Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of 2004, reports emerged of elephants and other animals moving to higher ground before disaster struck. Such anecdotes may have some basis in genuine ability — in 1997, scientists at the University of California reported that elephants can detect the stomping of others over distances of 50 kilometres or more. Such sensitivity may allow them to detect so-called foreshocks, which often presage major earthquakes.
This year, a scientific review of past reports confirmed that such a link does appear to exist, but the evidence remains patchy.
Given the potential benefits, researchers are starting to follow up such anecdotes. Another team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology is currently tracking thousands of electronically tagged birds to see if they behave differently in the run-up to earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
Despite such developments, many scientists remain sceptical about the superpowers of animals. But simply dismissing the idea out of hand is increasingly looking bird-brained.
Robert Matthews is Visiting Professor of Science at Aston University, Birmingham, UK
What you as a drone operator need to know
A permit and licence is required to fly a drone legally in Dubai.
Sanad Academy is the United Arab Emirate’s first RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training and certification specialists endorsed by the Dubai Civil Aviation authority.
It is responsible to train, test and certify drone operators and drones in UAE with DCAA Endorsement.
“We are teaching people how to fly in accordance with the laws of the UAE,” said Ahmad Al Hamadi, a trainer at Sanad.
“We can show how the aircraft work and how they are operated. They are relatively easy to use, but they need responsible pilots.
“Pilots have to be mature. They are given a map of where they can and can’t fly in the UAE and we make these points clear in the lectures we give.
“You cannot fly a drone without registration under any circumstances.”
Larger drones are harder to fly, and have a different response to location control. There are no brakes in the air, so the larger drones have more power.
The Sanad Academy has a designated area to fly off the Al Ain Road near Skydive Dubai to show pilots how to fly responsibly.
“As UAS technology becomes mainstream, it is important to build wider awareness on how to integrate it into commerce and our personal lives,” said Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief, Dubai Police.
“Operators must undergo proper training and certification to ensure safety and compliance.
“Dubai’s airspace will undoubtedly experience increased traffic as UAS innovations become commonplace, the Forum allows commercial users to learn of best practice applications to implement UAS safely and legally, while benefitting a whole range of industries.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)
Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)
Wednesday
Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)
Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)
Norwich City v Everton (9pm)
Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)
Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)
Thursday
Burnley v Watford (9pm)
Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)
Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
