The Mystery of the Monkeys on the Rock

When you think of monkeys, you probably think of the Tropics. Few species of monkeys venture into temperate lands. Nevertheless, there are one or two notable exceptions.

In the high Atlas Mountains of North Africa, where snowfall is common during the winter, small groups of Barbary apes roam through forests of cedar and oak. One isolated group of these monkeys can be found 200 miles [300 km] to the north, marooned on the Rock of Gibraltar, at the southernmost tip of Europe.

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The Early History of Balloon Flight

Joseph Michel and Jacques Étienne Montgolfier, sons of a wealthy paper manufacturer of Annonay, France, are honored in history for building and launching the first hot-air balloon. Their initial experiments during the early 1780’s involved paper balloons, which they believed were made to rise because of the smoke from burning straw and wool. Before long, they realized that it was the heated air that created the lift.

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The Terrible Price

This meteoric rise in popularity, however, was not without its rumblings of foreboding. In fact, as far back as some 19 centuries ago, the Roman historian Pliny had noted that slaves who worked in asbestos mines seemed to have respiratory problems. His was only the first of many warning voices.

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Social Skills in Infants?

Babies as young as six months develop “social judging skills before they [can] talk,” say researchers at Yale University, U.S.A. Babies aged six months to ten months watched a large-eyed toy try to climb hills, while other toys either helped it or pushed it backward. The children were then “presented with the toys to see which they would play with,” explains the Houston Chronicle.

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