Newcastle face Middlesborough in what looks like to be a relegation decider with just 3 games to go.
The funniest of thing of all, comes from a comment from Gareth Southgate, in what I call "Southgate in Stupidgate scandal"...
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Chimpanzees have long been suspected of planning ahead |
A male chimpanzee in a Swedish zoo planned hundreds of stone-throwing attacks on zoo visitors, according to researchers.
Keepers at Furuvik Zoo found that the chimp collected and stored stones that he would later use as missiles.
Further, the chimp learned to recognise how and when parts of his concrete enclosure could be pulled apart to fashion further projectiles.
The findings are reported in the journal Current Biology.
There has been scant evidence in previous research that animals can plan for future events.
Crucial to the current study is the fact that Santino, a chimpanzee at the zoo in the city north of Stockholm, collected the stones in a calm state, prior to the zoo opening in the morning.
The launching of the stones occurred hours later - during dominance displays to zoo visitors - with Santino in an "agitated" state.
This suggests that Santino was anticipating a future mental state - an ability that has been difficult to definitively prove in animals, according to Mathias Osvath, a cognitive scientist from Lund University in Sweden and author of the new research.
"We've done experimental studies, and the chimps in my mind show very clearly that they do plan for future needs, but it has been argued that perhaps this was an experimental artefact," Dr Osvath told BBC News.
"Now we have this spontaneous behaviour, which is always in some sense better evidence."
Cracking show
Dr Osvath embarked on the study after zoo staff discovered caches of stones in the section of the enclosure facing the public viewing area.
Since the initial discovery in 1997, hundreds of the caches have been removed to protect visitors, to whom the caching and the aggressive displays seem strictly related; in the off season, Santino neither hoards the projectiles nor hurls them.
The chimp stashed hundreds of stones in anticipation of throwing them |
Most interestingly, Santino seems to have learned how to spot weak parts of the concrete "boulders" in the centre of the enclosure.
When water seeps into cracks in the concrete and freezes, portions become detached that make a hollow sound when tapped.
Santino was observed gently knocking on the "boulders", hitting harder to detach bits that were loosened and adding those to his stashes of ammunition.
There are a number of examples of complex behaviour in apes that suggest forms of consciousness.
Planning behaviour like that of the current work is connected to so-called autonoetic consciousness, where information due to memory can be distinguished from that from the senses.
"I'm personally convinced that at least chimps do plan for future needs, that they do have this autonoetic consciousness," Dr Osvath said.
"I hope that other zoos or those in the wild will look more closely at what is happening," he added.
"I bet there must be a lot of these kinds of behaviours out there, and I wouldn't be surprised if we find them in dolphins or other species."
Authorities in Gavle had tried to fireproof the goatA giant straw goat erected each Christmas in a northern Swedish town has been burned down - yet again.
The 13m-high (43ft) animal in Gavle has been torched 23 times since it was first erected in 1966. It has also been hit by a car and had its legs cut off.
The vandals are rarely caught, though in 2001 a 51-year-old American tourist spent 18 days in jail after being convicted of setting it alight.
In 2007, the goat managed to make it through the festive season unscathed.
Goat committee spokeswoman Anna Ostman said this year's unlucky creature was set on fire early on Saturday morning.
The 7m-long (23ft), three tonne goat was originally designed to attract tourists to Gavle, which is 106 miles (170km) north of the Swedish capital.
GOAT HIGHLIGHTS1966: The first goat is burned down - beginning the tradition1970: It is set on fire six hours after being erected1971: Tired of arson, the project is abandoned. Schoolchildren build a miniature. It is smashed to pieces.1976: A car crashes into the goat1979: The goat is burned down before it is finished1987: The goat is treated with fireproofing - but still goes up in smokeBut in its first year it was burned down on New Year's Eve and since then has been attacked regularly.
In 2005, it was torched by two arsonists dressed as Father Christmas and the Gingerbread Man.
Authorities in Gavle have tried to protect the goat using fireproofing chemicals, security guards and a web camera.
But just 10 of the goats, which are built in the town's central square, have survived beyond Christmas since 1966.
Goats have a special place in Swedish tradition. According to folklore, they delivered festive gifts before Father Christmas took over.