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Study reveals complex orangutan culture

By Marsha Walton
CNN
Remember how the television show "The Waltons" used to end each evening? "Good night, John Boy. Good night, Mary Ellen. Good night, Grandpa."  In orangutan culture, there's a little less formal way to say good night: Ppppffffffffttttttttt.
It's the spluttering "raspberry" sound that humans use in jest or sarcasm.
Researchers say this vocalization, plus more than two dozen other signals and skills observed in wild orangutans, provide evidence that these great apes show cultural variations. Their culture, described as geographically distinct behaviours, comes from observing and mimicking their peers. It goes above and beyond what's instinctive and what they learn from their mothers.

So who do young orangutans look to for role models in gaining this playful and productive know-how?
"Those who have the most skills are the coolest," said Carel van Schaik, professor of biological anthropology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. His research is published in this week's Science magazine. Many of the skills involved access to food and water, as well as comfort.
Van Schaik and colleagues studied six different wild orangutan populations on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in South-eastern Asia. While the socially transmitted behaviours were often similar, there were geographic variations. That, say researchers, shows that distinct great ape cultures exist, and may have been around for at least 14 million years.
"We used to think culture was something specific just to humans and chimps, going back just six or seven million years," he said. Chimp culture was first documented in the 1980s.
For example, a "kiss squeak" is a common orangutan signal. It is just like it sounds, the same exaggerated kiss sound a human might make to a child or in jest to a loved one. Van Schaik said the kiss squeak is used by orangutans when there is something near them that they don't like, such as a predator or perhaps an intrusive human being.
"What we didn't know was how this signal varied," said Cheryl Knott of Harvard University, co-author of the study.
"For example, at the site of Gunung Palung in Borneo, orangutans almost always grab a handful of leaves and produce the sound by kissing into the leaves. At other sites they may use their fist, a flat hand, or nothing at all to amplify the sound. We had no idea of this fascinating variety," she said.
Sometimes it's even more elaborate, van Schaik said. Some orangutans would pull off a bunch of leaves from a branch, fling their arms in a theatrical gesture, toss the leaves and let them rain down to draw as much attention to themselves as possible.

"That way they made the intruder even more aware that they were annoyed," said van Schaik.
Yet these practices were never observed in Sumatra. The practices common in one group and absent in another are of great interest to researchers.
Ready to play, or mate
Scientists also discovered that the same gestures sometimes had different meanings in different ape populations. Tearing a leaf along the mid-rib makes a nice shearing sound, van Schaik said. In one group, that action means "I'm ready to mate," while in another it means "I'm ready to play." An important distinction in any species culture!
While some of the behaviors are playful, others are critical to survival.
"Natural selection has favored the ability to have culture, because many of these actions have to do with skills," said van Schaik.
For example, animals that don't use tools may not have access to the best food. Therefore, the "culture of copying" animals with an inventive spark isn't just for copying sake. The animal learns there's often a payoff as well: a long stick can relieve a hard- to- reach itch; a curled leaf can reach water in an out of the way place.
From the day they are born, orangutans will "suck up information from anyone who comes close," said van Schaik. Youngsters spend seven or eight years in close relationships with their mothers, then another four or five associating more with juvenile peers and other orangutans before they are sexually mature adults.
So how do chimp and orangutan cultures differ from humans? Human culture is cumulative; great ape culture is not. Knowledge and behavior are not passed on from one generation to the next.
"I use a phone and a computer every day, taking advantage of what humans before me created," said van Schaik. "I could not have created those tools on my own," he said.

On tap for further research will be tests for just that type of cultural innovation. Van Schaik would like to look at how simple behaviors evolve into the complex traditions that distinguish human beings from ape ancestors.
Orangutan researchers are warning of threats to any further study of these primates in the wild. Logging, mining, hunting, and forest fires threaten the animals. Their populations are dwindling throughout their range in Indonesia and Malaysia.
"This is our last chance," said van Schaik. "You cannot recreate cultures." He said a stepped up collaboration between researchers and habitat conservation efforts can prevent further destruction.


Winter storm system socks East
WASHINGTON (CNN) --Officials declared states of emergency Sunday in the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia as a deadly winter storm system continued its march across the country, bringing heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain to the Eastern United States.
Weather-related traffic accidents have taken at least six lives.
"Weather conditions statewide continue to deteriorate, and it is important to be proactive in responding to emergency needs that may arise," Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell said in declaring a statewide disaster emergency.
Heavy accumulations of snow shut down airports and rail lines, and flood watches were issued from northern Arkansas and Alabama through Tennessee and eastern Kentucky, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
The storm had left a deadly trail in its wake.
In West Virginia, a middle-aged woman died when she tried to drive over a flooded road and her sport utility vehicle was swept under, according to a State Police dispatcher in Huntington.
"She's presumed drowned," dispatcher N.M. Abbess said. "There were witnesses that saw the vehicle go under."

The road was parallel to Mud River, which was severely flooded, he said.
In Missouri, three people were killed early Sunday in New Madrid County in the southeastern corner of the state when the driver lost control on icy Interstate 55, crossing the median and colliding with a semitrailer, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
A woman was killed Saturday in southeastern Iowa near Danville when her car was involved in a collision with an Amtrak train, the Des Moines County Sheriff's Department said.
A woman died in southeastern Nebraska on Friday when the car her husband was driving slid off an icy road south of Lincoln, a spokeswoman for the Lancaster County Sheriff's Department said.
Holiday expected to ease strain on Washington
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Airport closed early Sunday. Both were expected to reopen at noon Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration said, though a spokeswoman for the airports said they were shut indefinitely.
"We're just hanging out here," said a frustrated passenger at Reagan National. "I just hope the airport is not going to get too cold at night."
Dulles International Airport was operating with one runway.
Monday's federal holiday of Presidents' Day will dull the impact of the city's biggest winter storm of the season because government offices will be closed, a city agency spokeswoman predicted.
Mary Myers of Washington's Public Works Department said road crews were anticipating less traffic on Monday, which will mean fewer obstacles to snowplows. Many motorists already were staying indoors.
"This is a government town, so we are looking for lighter-than-normal traffic, which can only help us," she said.

The storm dumped at least a foot of snow in the city and suburbs, closing shopping malls, other businesses, monuments and the Smithsonian Institution museums.
"That's usually a big chunk of the sightseeing itinerary," Myers said. Many events were canceled.
Because of the storm, President Bush returned to the White House by motorcade Sunday instead of traveling by helicopter from his mountaintop retreat at Camp David, Maryland.
Motorist: 'You just couldn't see anything'
Travelers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania described the highway conditions: "We came from Baltimore earlier, and it's just treacherous the whole way. And if you don't have to go out I wouldn't, at all, ever. It's just bad the whole way," said one.
"There were a lot of white-out spots and you just couldn't see anything in front of you so you'd just slow down and wait for it to clear," said another. "Trucks passed you and you couldn't see anything."
Amtrak was hit, too. Its Web site said most trains between Washington and Florida were canceled Sunday, although most routes to the North remained open.
One train passenger in Raleigh, North Carolina, was philosophical: "It's a little upsetting but, you know, it's God's work so you can't fight it," she said. "So I guess I'll have to stick with it."
In Philadelphia, heavy snows predicted for Monday arrived early, sending some people scurrying for provisions.
"It wasn't supposed to be this early," said one shopper at a grocery store, "so I'm out here getting eggs and milk and all the stuff we need."
The city declared a snow emergency Sunday afternoon.

"This is the 14th snowfall that we've had in 12 weeks. And it's going to be the biggest and the largest," said Philip Goldsmith, Philadelphia's managing director of streets.
New York expected up to a foot of snow, and 3 to 6 inches were predicted for Boston. Baltimore is gripped by cold; it was 14 degrees there, with a wind chill of minus 7 early Sunday.
To the south, freezing rain was falling across southern Virginia into the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina and down toward Charlotte. As much as half an inch of ice was predicted.
In Virginia, traffic was reported light on highways, but Virginia State Police said they were busy with spinouts and accidents on Interstate 95.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the slow-moving system could continue to bring winter precipitation to some areas for two or three days.
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- The job insecurity that has settled over the nation during the past few years has made the idea of self-employment more appealing to college students. And so a growing number of colleges and universities are offering courses and even degree programs in entrepreneurship to prepare young people for the challenges of working for themselves.
"People realize that rather than get a job, I've got to make a job," said Erik Pages, policy director for the Washington, D.C.-based National Commission on Entrepreneurship.
In the 1980s, only a handful of business schools offered entrepreneurship programs, Pages said. At least 550 colleges now offer classes in entrepreneurship, with 49 offering it as a degree program, he said.
The University of Dayton began offering entrepreneurship as a major in 1999 and had 10 students. There are 83 students in the program this school year.
Reina Hayes, a sophomore at Dayton, said, "when I looked at different kinds of majors, none of them seemed to fit what I wanted to do until I looked at entrepreneurship."
"I didn't even know it was a major," she said.

On the job training
Students in the program start their own companies as sophomores with $3,000 in seed money from the school. After a year, the businesses are liquidated, with any profits donated to charity.
As they start their businesses, students take classes in finance, marketing, how to create new ventures and how to write a business plan.
Ideas for companies must first be approved by the students' professor, who evaluates the businesses chances of success. However, grades are based on business plans and team interaction, not the success, failure or profits of the business.
Hayes and five other students formed the UD Bottling Co., which sells 32-ounce unbreakable water bottles designed for rigorous activity such as mountain climbing. The bottles cost the student entrepreneurs $5.46 and sell for $10.
Hayes said the company's inventory of 300 bottles sold quickly and there are plans to order up to 200 more. She said the experience has helped her learn how to write a business plan, motivate employees and resolve conflicts.
Pages said entrepreneurship becomes more popular in a weak economy when laid-off workers can't find jobs at existing companies. But it is also attractive in better times -- people know they can fail at a new business and still recover, he said.
Beyond business
Entrepreneurship programs are no longer limited to business schools.
"We're seeing it in engineering, life sciences, liberal arts. A lot of entrepreneurship students are not business majors," said Tony Mendes, director of college initiatives for the Kansas City, Missouri,-based Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Mendes said students in many majors aren't willing to settle for working for large institutional companies. "They want the option of creating their own destiny," he said.
At Dayton, sophomore Laurel Reeber formed the Flyer Frisbee Co., which sells tournament-quality Frisbees with the Dayton Flyers team logo. Students earn about $4 in profit for each $10 Frisbee sold.

So far, the students have sold about 80. "We have our work cut out for us," Reeber said.
She said her company plans to step up door-to-door sales at the dorms and might try to sell the Frisbees to local retailers.
Reeber said she plans to run her own business someday, planning weddings, anniversaries and parties. She said she was inspired by the independence of her father, a financial planner.
"My dad kind of works for himself," she said. "He can make his own appointments. He can be in the office when he wants."
Robert Chelle, director of the University of Dayton's L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, said some students have seen their parents lose jobs or find only part-time work. He said that experience can give students a greater desire for financial security.
"The students sense that if they are in control, that would be a better situation," Chelle said.
The program currently has seven companies operated by students, including businesses that market collectible cigarette lighters and beer steins. One business produces television commercials for local companies.
Chelle said about one-third of the school's entrepreneurship graduates have gone to work for their family business. Others have joined small, emerging companies or landed jobs with state or local development departments.


Study: Ibuprofen could be bad for heart patients
LONDON, England (AP) --Fresh evidence adds to suspicions that ibuprofen could be dangerous for most heart patients because it can block the blood-thinning benefits of aspirin.
New research published this week in The Lancet medical journal found that those taking both aspirin and ibuprofen were twice as likely to die during the study period as those who were taking aspirin alone or with other types of common pain relievers.

Scientists believe ibuprofen clogs a channel inside a clotting protein that aspirin acts on. Aspirin gets stuck behind the ibuprofen and cannot get to where it is supposed to go to thin the blood.
Aspirin is considered the most important medicine for heart disease. Nearly all heart patients take it every day because it prevents the clots that cause heart attacks and strokes. Ibuprofen, which is in Motrin and Advil among other brands, is widely used for arthritis and other aches and pains.
Scientists at the Medicines Monitoring Unit of Britain's Medical Research Council checked the medical records of 7,107 heart patients who had been discharged from hospitals between 1989 and 1997 with aspirin prescriptions and had survived at least one month after leaving the hospital.
They were divided into four groups according to their prescriptions. The first group included those on aspirin alone.
The second were given aspirin and ibuprofen and the third group had aspirin with another pain killer, diclofenac. Ibuprofen and diclofenac both belong to a widely used class of pain relievers known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs.
The last group included those taking aspirin with any other NSAID, such as acetaminophen, which is in Tylenol.
'Raises red flag,' but no definitive answer
The researchers found that those taking ibuprofen were almost twice as likely as those taking aspirin alone to die by 1997. That meant that for every 1,000 patients treated, there were 12 extra deaths a year when ibuprofen was taken with aspirin.
For heart-related deaths, ibuprofen was linked to three extra deaths per 1,000 patients treated per year.
Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, the maker of Advil, said "this study does not provide a definitive answer" to whether ibuprofen interferes with the effects of aspirin.
Wyeth spokesman Fran Sullivan argued that recent clinical research papers "suggest that the use of ibuprofen at the same time as low-dose aspirin does not alter the risk from heart disease."

Experts say it is important to track both heart-related deaths and deaths in general because deaths are sometimes attributed to the wrong cause and heart-related cases may be missed. For instance, a death certificate may say the person died in a car crash when, in fact, a heart attack or stroke at the wheel caused the crash.
No extra deaths were seen in the groups taking the other types of NSAIDs.
"The message here is beginning to be 'go for something other than ibuprofen,'" said Garret FitzGerald, who was not connected with the latest study, but whose research sparked concerns about the combination just over a year ago.
"Mechanistically, you have a very clear rationale for why it should happen," said FitzGerald, professor of cardiovascular medicine and chair of pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania. "Now we have four studies each coming out with the same message. It's several pieces of ancillary evidence that when assembled are more persuasive than when taken in isolation."
"Lots of people take these two kinds of drugs chronically and probably a large number take both together chronically," FitzGerald said. "Talk to your doctor before you embark on this combination thinking that it's totally innocuous because both are available over the counter."
Dr. Tom MacDonald, who led the Lancet study, said taking the odd ibuprofen for a few days would not be a problem. It's regular use that seems to be at issue.
But the findings are not rock solid, experts said.
"This definitely raises a red flag ... but I don't think this can be viewed as the definitive answer on the question," said Dr. Veronique Roger, head of cardiovascular research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not connected to the study.
It could be that heart patients who take ibuprofen have additional conditions that in turn make them more prone to premature death and were not accounted for in the study, she noted.


Rice: Bush won't back down on Iraq
WASHINGTON (CNN) --The Bush administration held to its stance on Iraq on Sunday, a day after millions of people worldwide demonstrated against a possible war in the Persian Gulf.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice carried the White House position into the battle of words on the Sunday talk shows.
She said on both "Fox News Sunday" and NBC's "Meet the Press" that President Bush would not back down, despite pleas last week from most members of the U.N. Security Council that he give weapons inspectors more time.
"Some [nations] gave [Iraqi President Saddam Hussein] the impression Friday that he can play this game," Rice told NBC.
"The coalition of the willing is preparing," she said on Fox. "We are in a period now, a diplomatic window, in which we should be discussing how the Security Council can best carry out its obligations.
"But Saddam Hussein shouldn't read into what he's seen over the last couple of days that somehow he's going to get away with it again."
Led by France and Germany, opposition to use of force in Iraq was voiced after chief U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei delivered their latest reports.
"We are making progress," said Jean-David Lafitte, the French ambassador to the United States. "But it's too slow. We demand more, but we maintain that the inspections produce results."
In an interview with TIME magazine in this week's editions, French President Jacques Chirac also called for continued inspections before any military action is considered.
Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Lafitte cited the discovery and destruction last week of 10 artillery shells filled with mustard gas -- cataloged by previous inspection teams but not destroyed before they left Iraq in 1998 -- and a report that declared that Iraq's Al Samoud 2 missiles were not in compliance with U.N. rules and must be destroyed.
The Iraqis responded that they would not destroy the missiles after the report found that they exceeded the allowable range of 93 miles (150 kilometers) by about 18 miles (30 kilometers).

Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz scoffed at the idea, saying the missiles were not capable of reaching "any country around Iraq."
The French ambassador would not say whether his government thought Iraq's refusal to destroy the missiles represented a material breach of the resolutions requiring disarmament.
Christopher Meyer, Britain's ambassador to the United States, was more specific.
"The key standard is the key requirement of [U.N. Resolution] 1441, which is that if Iraq wants to avoid serious consequences, then it must cooperate fully, comprehensively and immediately," he told ABC. "That resolution found Iraqis already in material breach.
"Nothing we have heard from the two reports so far from Hans Blix tells us we have had the nature of cooperation the resolution requires."
Failure to destroy the Al Samoud missiles, Meyer said, "would dig the material breach deeper."
In Europe on Monday, the focus will shift to a meeting of 15 European Union heads in Brussels, Belgium.
Diplomats told Reuters that they hoped Friday's mixed report to the United Nations from the chief weapons inspectors and the huge anti-war protests could defuse a confrontational "high noon" mood.
They said they hoped Europe's leaders could unite behind a final plea to Saddam to comply with U.N. disarmament resolutions before it is too late. (Full story)
Rice said any delay in enforcing the U.N.'s resolutions would send Saddam the message that he could continue to "play cheat and retreat."
But at Friday's Security Council meeting, the U.S. position appeared to be losing momentum, with only Britain and Spain falling solidly behind Bush's stance.

The United States and Britain have insisted that U.N. Resolution 1441 is about compliance and not inspections, and that they would prefer a peaceful solution to the crisis.
They also have said they want the unanimous support of the Security Council for whatever measures are taken.
"The world has to pull together and send a very strong message to the Iraqis," said Rice, adding that the United States would not object to a second resolution on disarmament.
The United States and Britain, sources have said, are working on such a resolution, to be introduced to the Security Council by mid-week.
"What we would like to see is a united Security Council, united in the determination to see Saddam Hussein either disarm or be disarmed," Meyer said. "That is our position."
But absent a united council, British Prime Minister Tony Blair "is prepared to take action in certain circumstances," Meyer said.
"The key thing here are the reports of Blix and ElBaradei," he said. "If they continue to say there is not full compliance with 1441 -- and in that passionate debate last Friday nobody claimed that there was -- and in those circumstances if a country were, for example, to veto a resolution and most other member states were willing to go along with war, we would be there."

A dream final round: Tiger leading, playing with Mickelson

By Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — A script right out of Hollywood came together in a span of 20 minutes late Saturday afternoon in the Buick Invitational, when two players made birdie putts from the same line on the 18th green. One of them gave Tiger Woods the lead. The other allowed his chief nemesis, Phil Mickelson, to join him in the final group. (Related item: Buick Invitational par scores)

"It's going to be mayhem out there," said Brad Faxon, who already has been nominated for best supporting actor — despite being only one stroke out of the lead.

"This will be like the 16th hole of Phoenix on every hole."
The buzz over Woods' return to the PGA Tour turned into a frenzy at Torrey Pines when he surged into the lead with a 4-under 68, mixing an array of incredible shots with a steady diet of clutch par saves to build a one-stroke lead.
"I'm excited about even having a chance after taking off as much time as I did," said Woods, who was at 12-under 204.
In his first tournament since Dec. 12 surgery on his left knee, Woods didn't waste any time getting back into a familiar position. The next test is whether he can hold the lead, something he does better than anyone.
Woods is 26-2 on the PGA Tour when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead. The last player to beat him from behind was — guess who? — Mickelson, in the 2000 Tour Championship at East Lake.
Wait — it gets better.
Only last week, Mickelson stirred up their rivalry even more by saying in a magazine interview that Woods plays "inferior" clubs, and that he is the only players good enough to overcome "the equipment he's stuck with."
They cleared the air and saw each other briefly on Wednesday. Their next meeting comes Sunday morning on the first tee at Torrey Pines.
"I guess it is ironic," Woods said.
Still, both of them have played well at Torrey Pines. Mickelson won in 2000 and 2001; Woods won in 1999 and has never finished worse than fifth.
"If you were to pick two guys to play well on this course, you'd probably pick us," Woods said. "It's going to be exciting." Sure, but who could have guessed this? Television ratings are 113% higher whenever Woods is in contention. Now, the final round of the Buick Invitational has been transformed into a tantalizing show featuring two of the best players in the world.
It will be the first time they have played together in the final round since the 2001 Masters, when Woods won an unprecedented fourth consecutive major.

They last played together in the second round of the unofficial Target World Challenge, when Woods beat him by nine strokes.
Mickelson had a 69 by making his 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole, and he knew exactly what was riding on that putt.
"I was thinking on that putt on 18, I would love to get into that last group," said Mickelson, who was two strokes behind at 206, along with Steven Alker.
Don't forget about Faxon.
He had a chance to put distance between everybody when a short birdie putt at No. 10 moved him to 13 under. Faxon three-putted for bogey twice, and had to make a 3-foot par putt on the par-5 15th for a 71 to get into the final group.
"I think I'll be the judge," he joked about the Woods-Mickelson pairing.
That might not be the main event.
The Buick Invitational has a history of the winner coming from behind, although rarely does the front-runner have the reputation or record of Woods.
"I can't just worry about Phil," Woods said. "There are a lot of guys right behind us. If we don't go out there and play well, we will get passed. We have to take care of our own business."
Alker joined Mickelson at 10-under 206, thanks to a lob wedge from 92 yards that spun back into the hole for eagle on No. 18. Fred Couples birdied the last two holes and was in a large group at 207.
A dozen players were within five shots of the lead.

It might be time to stop asking about his knee. Woods reported no swelling or pain when he awoke Saturday morning from a 27-hole round, which he called a "very positive sign."
An even better outlook is some of the shots he hit Saturday that electrified the gallery on an overcast day along the Pacific Ocean.
From 277 yards in a fairway bunker, Woods ripped his 3-wood to about 15 feet for a two-putt birdie on No. 6.
One of the loudest cheers came from his only bogey on the next hole. From a fairway bunker, Woods caught the lip and came up well short, flew a wedge over the green in grass so thick he could barely see his ball, then muffed the chip.
He chipped in for bogey from 25 feet.
"Finally I said, 'Let's just get out of here with 6. Whatever you do don't make it a 7.' And it happened to go in," Woods said. "I was just trying to eliminate making another mistake, and I happened to get rewarded."
Even more rewarding were the pars, from 6 feet on five of six holes along the back nine of the South Course. That kept him in a tie for the lead when Faxon faltered, and Woods surged ahead with more fireworks.
From 289 yards away in the 18th fairway, his 3-wood sailed right of the green and into a corporate tent, where it hit the 5-year-old son of former San Diego Chargers kicker Rolf Benirschke.
Woods got a free drop in shaggy rough, then took a full swing with his 60-degree lob wedge. The ball landed a foot from the hole and rolled 6 feet by, setting up a birdie.
Mickelson has excessively deferential toward Woods since the equipment flap, and he continued to sing his praises Saturday.
Still, he relishes the opportunity.

"If you ever watching him or compete against him when he's in the final group and playing pretty good, he's very impressive," Lefty said. "I enjoy that challenge to try to keep up and catch him."