Published since 2005. San Francisco is a city that belongs to the people of the world. Hence this blog has a global focus. The name "Sam Spade's San Francisco" refers to an exciting era in the City's history, the time of Dashiell Hammett's fictional gumshoe and San Francisco character, Sam Spade. My name is Tom Dunn and I edit the blog. I'm not as exciting as Sam Spade, but I am definitely a San Francisco character.Contact or on Twitter -- Search blog below.
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Saturday, June 14, 2008
San Francisco Pigeons Are Smarter Than Your Kids
Herb Caen once said that true San Franciscans are a lot like pigeons. They are survivors with tough feet. I've always liked that quote and I consider myself to be a pigeon-like San Franciscan.
Now there's some evidence that we pigeons are not so dumb after all. Read this piece from Science News and the next time you come across a San Francisco pigeon, toss it a crumb or two.
In the photo: A pigeon watching TV (Credit: Image courtesy of Keio University). Click on the image to enlarge in a separate window.
Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
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