Professor hopes his pigs will communicate via computer
(State College, Pennsylvania) -- The next wave in high-tech --
cyber-pigs.
A Penn State University professor says pigs can learn to use
icons on a computer screen to communicate with humans.
Stanley Curtis tells "The Philadelphia Inquirer" that porkers,
like primates, have high intelligence. He says he wants to find a
way for pigs and other animals to tell farmers when they're hungry
or whether they're hot or cold.
The project involves placing a computer just outside a pen. The
pigs move a joystick with their mouths, trying to get a circle onto
a target on the screen.
The pigs like it so much, they don't want to stop. Curtis says
usually he has to terminate their computer sessions -- otherwise,
they'll play all day.
(Copyright 1998 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-04-15-98 1217EDT