This is fascinating.  “We’re all time travellers, in the sense that we can recall memories and plan for the future. Mental time travel is considered by many to be unique to humans; animals were assumed to be ‘stuck in time’, but now that idea has been challenged… by a bird.”  Go read it for the details and results of the experiment.  Cool stuff, and yet another blow to anthropocentrism—not to mention the false religious dogma of human preeminence among our animal brethren.

I and the Bird #43 is a theater full of great avian showings, so grab your ticket and head on over there.

The latest Philosophers’ Carnival is available.

Pharyngula, Deep Sea News, and Discovery News all have information about the colossal squid inadvertently caught off Antarctica.  “The squid, weighing an estimated 990 lbs and about 39 feet long, took two hours to land in Antarctic waters, New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said. The fishermen were catching Patagonian toothfish, sold under the name Chilean sea bass, south of New Zealand ‘and the squid was eating a hooked toothfish when it was hauled from the deep,’ Anderton said.”  There are plenty of photos in the post at Pharyngula.  Because the squid was dying by the time the fishermen realized they had snagged it, it was brought aboard and will be handed over for scientific study.