Do chimpanzees have language?

The chimpanzee, the smartest of all primates apart from man, is smarter than scientists had thought. Trained chimpanzees have shown that they can be taught to use a form of mute language to "talk" to their instructors.

First, chimpanzees learn symbols by a series of simple words.

These symbols are figures marked on tokens. For example, chimpanzees learn that if they give their trainer a token marked with a circle, they will receive a banana in return.

Other figures represent other words. Within a short time, chimpanzees were building their own "phrases," placing a group of tokens in a certain order. But what did the chimpanzees say? Most were simple things, like, "I want a banana now.

These chimpanzees even learned to operate a vending machine. They were taught that certain tokens, when placed in the slot of the machine, would give them a piece of fruit. The chimpanzees soon began to accumulate their tokens, and they even fought each other for the "coins"!


.

Where is the world's largest tomb?

Nintoku was a Japanese emperor who ruled in the fourth or fifth century after Christ.

According to a legend, Nintoku wanted his brother to became emperor instead of him, so he refused to take his throne for three years. His brother also refused to become emperor, and eventually committed suicide to ensure that Nintoku would rule.

Another legend says that one day Nintoku looked over his village from an elevated tower, and noticed that there was no smoke coming from any of the houses he observed. He realized that people did not have rice to cook, so he used the wealth of his palace to distribute food to the poor in Japan.

Nintoku's body is supposed to rest under a mound in Sakai, Osaka, the city that was the capital during Nintoku's reign. This mound, called Daisen Kofun, is the largest tomb in the world. It is 463 meters long, about 300 meters wide, and 45 meters high.

.

Did the ancients have mechanical watches?

Antikythera is a Greek island about 40 km from Crete. In 1900, divers discovered the remains of an old ship near Antikythera.

In the ship there were marble and ceramic objects from the first century BC. They also discovered a bronze object in the shipwreck that had been eaten away by time. This object was finally forgotten for years in a museum storeroom.

In 1955, a scientist decided to clean the old bronze object. When the scab was removed, the object turned out to be an instrument of some kind. It had a series of gears that fitted perfectly into each other. The device is thought to be an astronomical clock, but the way it worked is unknown.

Such objects were never mentioned in ancient Greek or Roman writings. If it were not for the work of a curious scientist, perhaps it would never have been known that such an enigmatic "clock" existed.

26 interesting facts about Beyoncé Knowles

1. Beyoncé Knowles (born September 4, 1981), is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model.
2. Beyoncé is ranked #14 in the "100 Hottest Brunettes of AIM."
3. Beyoncé was named Forbes Richest Celebrity Under 30, with a total earnings of $80 million.
4. Beyoncé says that her marriage with Jay-Z isn't exactly "perfect," but adds that no marriage is perfect and they have fights like most couples do.
5. According to Forbes, Beyoncé Knowles was the second highest earning musician of 2008, making eighty million dollars.
6. PETA ended their "war" with Beyoncé after she stopped wearing fur, and even sent her a faux-fur throw as a wedding present.
7. Beyoncé was ranked #25 in FHM Online's 100 Sexiest Women in the World of 2007.
8. Beyoncé Knowles was among People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People of 2006.
9. Beyoncé credits actor/rapper Will Smith for the reason she always treats fans with respect because when she met him at a soundtrack signing for the movie Men In Black, his perfect behavior really impressed her.
10. Beyoncé became the face of American Express in 2007. She was chosen because the credit card company saw her as a role model and an inspiration to others, among other reasons.
11. After two fans were hurt at a gig in St. Louis, Missouri in June 2007, Beyoncé Knowles rushed to the hospital to make sure they were okay.
12. Beyoncé is allergic to perfume.
13. Beyoncé enjoys playing board games with friends and crew members while on the road.
14. Beyoncé Knowles lost over 6kg in 10 days for her role in Dreamgirls with a drastic diet which she could only drink maple syrup mixed with lemon juice and water.
15. After the Spanish version of her hit song Irreplaceable became a big hit, Beyoncé decided to release a Spanish version of her album “B’Day,” even collaborating with Shakira on her song Beautiful Liar.
16. In 2003, Beyoncé Knowles was the first female artist to reach the number one position on both singles and albums chart simultaneously in the United States and the United Kingdom.
17. Beyoncé has a younger sister Solange, who is five years her junior.
18. Beyoncé's name is actually her mother's maiden name.
19. In 2001, Beyoncé Knowles became the first African-American woman to win the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year award.
20. Beyoncé's height is about 5'7".
21. Beyoncé Knowles collects African-American art.
22. Beyoncé ranked #1 on VH-1’s list of the 100 Hottest Hotties.
23. Beyoncé filmed some of the parts for her video Déjà Vu in Louisiana.
24. Beyoncé Knowles recorded her newest album B'Day in secret because she knew her manager father would interfere with it.
25. Beyoncé's song Check On It became her third number one single.
26. Beyoncé Knowles is signed with Sony Music Entertainment.

22 Interesting facts about Tyra Banks

1. Tyra Lynne Banks is an American media personality, actress, occasional singer, former model and businesswoman.
2. Tyra Banks was left embarrassed after strapping in to a lie-detector machine on an episode of her chat show. Asked if she was jealous of Oprah Winfrey, she said no, but was called out by the machine.
3. Tyra Banks has a difficulty saying the word "frighteningly".
4. Banks is the creator and host of the UPN/The CW reality television show America's Next Top Model, co-creator of True Beauty, and host of her own talk show, The Tyra Banks Show.
5. Tyra's favorite television shows include Heroes, Will & Grace, and Daily Show With Jon Stewart.
6. Tyra Banks admires Oprah, Jay Leno, Isiah Thomas, and Cindy Crawford.
7. Tyra is allergic to dogs but she still likes Beagles.
8. Tyra Banks has a fear of dolphins.
9. Tyra's favorite sports are basketball and tennis but her main hobby is boxing.
10. At the age of 20, Tyra was the first black woman be signed by a cosmetic company.
11. Tyra's friends used to call her "The Black Widow" because she used to break up with men she was dating before they would break up with her.
12. Tyra does not drink alcohol.
13. Tyra Banks is 5'10" tall and she takes a size 9 (US) shoe.
14. Tyra was chosen as one of People Magazine's annual '100 Most Beautiful People in the World' in May 2007.
15. Tyra's nickname is BBQ.
16. She deferred college and spent the majority of '92 modeling in Paris for the likes of Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Yves St. Laurent and Oscar de la Renta.
17. When Tyra Banks was eleven, she grew four inches and lost 30 pounds.
18. Tyra and fellow supermodel - Naomi Campbell reconciled on her talk show (November 2005).
19. Oprah Winfrey helped Tyra start her talk show, The Tyra Banks Show which premiered in September 2005.
20. Tyra's eye colour is greenish brown.
21. Tyra has appeared in many TV commercials for Victoria's Secrets between 1996 and 1999.
22. Tyra has announced that the current and 5th season of The Tyra Banks Show will be its last.

21 interesting facts about Brittany Murphy

1. Brittany Murphy (born November 10, 1977) was an American actress and singer.
2. Brittany Murphy sings on Paul Oakenfold's hit single Faster Kill Pussycat.
3. Brittany starred in films such as Clueless, Girl, Interrupted, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys.
4. In 2004, Brittany was nominated for a Razzie Award in the category of Worst Supporting Actress for her role in the 2003 film Just Married.
5. Brittany and Donald Faison have shared credits twice; the first time was in 1995's Clueless, and again in 2003's Uptown girls.
6. Brittany married screenwriter Simon Monjack in a private ceremony in Los Angeles in the spring of 2007. This was the first marriage for both. The couple were married until Brittany's death in December 2009.
7. Brittany’s nickname in school was ‘Crack Baby‘, due to her constant giggling in Maths class.
8. Brittany Murphy was nominated for two Annie Awards in 1997 for "Voice Acting by a Female Performer in a TV Production" and "Best Individual Achievement".
9. Brittany's hair color is naturally brown, but she has been seen sporting blonde, black and red before.
10. Brittany Murphy was raised a Baptist and remains a practicing Christian.
11. Brittany stood at 5'3" or 1.60 m. She weighed approx. 105 lbs.
12. Brittany is of Irish and Italian descent. Her mother is Sharon Murphy, who is of Irish and Eastern European descent, and her father is Angelo Bertolotti, an Italian American. Sharon, is a survivor of breast cancer.
13. In 2002 Brittany performed in the opening act at the MTV Movie awards.
14. Brittany's date to the high school prom was Jonathan Brandis of SeaQuest DSV fame.
15. Brittany's favorite music is jazz, especially Cole Porter. She also enjoys TLC, Björk, Beck and The Rolling Stones.
16. Brittany Murphy was caught kissing Winona Ryder and was broadcast on Celebrities Uncensored.
17. Brittany says that she prefers dating tall men.
18. Brittany appeared on the cover of Cosmo Girl in September 2004.
19. Brittany Murphy had a mini performance at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards. She sang a line or two of the opening song with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jack Black and Andy Garcia.
20. Brittany is a singer and was in a band called, "Blessed Soul", in the late 90s.
21. Her final film, Abandoned, is expected to be released in spring 2010.

26 interesting facts about Rihanna

1. Rihanna (born February 20, 1988), is a Barbadian recording artist and model.
2. She worked with Maroon 5 on a song called If I Never See Your Face Again.
3. Her single, Take a Bow, remained in the Top 10 songs on iTunes for about a month in June 2008.
4. Rihanna is 5 feet 8 inches tall.
5. Rihanna claims that her dark skin color faded away because she spends so much time traveling in cold countries.
6. She banned fans from bringing umbrellas to her U.K. concerts because she does not want anyone getting hurt if the fans try to copy her dance moves with the umbrellas when she performs her song Umbrella.
7. Rihanna doesn't smoke.
8. In her song Don't Stop the Music, she samples a part of the Michael Jackson song Wanna Be Startin' Something from his Thriller album.
9. In February 2008, it was revealed that Barbados was creating a national holiday to honor Rihanna. Rihanna accepted the honor and put on a free concert for her fans.
10. Rihanna is a big fan of Whitney Houston.
11. While she was a child, Rihanna's mother, a professional make-up artist, did not allow her to use beauty products. Ironically, she grew up to became the spokesperson for Cover Girl cosmetics.
12. Rihanna won as Cosmopolitan Magazine's Ultimate Mistress of Music for 2007.
13. Rihanna's biggest pet peeve is when people are dishonest.
14. If Rihanna didn't have a music career, she would like to go into psychology.
15. Rihanna has a turtle and a Pomeranian named Marley.
16. Rihanna was chosen as one of People Magazine's annual 100 Most Beautiful People in May 2007.
17. She won four honors at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards including Female Artist of the Year.
18. Unfaithful is based on a relationship Rihanna had when she was 14-years-old. Her relationship "was not physical" though.
19. In 2006, Rihanna received two Video Music Award nominations for "Best New Artist" and "Viewer's Choice" for S.O.S..
20. Her musical influences include Dancehall, Pop, Reggae, and Soca.
21. Rihanna has two brothers Rorrey and Rajad.
22. She sold a million copies worldwide of her debut Music Of The Sun.
23. The lead single off her album A Girl Like Me, "S.O.S." was recorded for her recent endorsement deal with Nike.
24. Her musical inspirations include Alicia Keys, Beyoncé Knowles, Mariah Carey, Sean Paul, Luther Vandros, Shaggy, DC, and Diana Ross.
25. Rihanna once said she would risk her life for her mother and her brother.
26. Rihanna is of African, Creole and Guyanese descent.