Crows can evaluate visual info twice as fast as mammals

What BBN said about it

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorCrows can make a visual decision about twice as fast as humans and monkeys, according to a study published in the journal Science, Ars Technica reports.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThe birds were shown moving dots and had to say which way most of them drifted, the same test that has been used on monkeys.

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThey answered in an average of two hundred thirty-five milliseconds. That's about a fifth of a second.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAnd when the dots moved clearly, they got nearly a hundred percent right. I'd call that a decisive mandate.

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThere were two crows.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorTwo hand-raised crows, Hank, and the findings were consistent across both. That's a very thorough sample size.

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorEach right answer paid a mealworm.

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorEven when only three percent of the dots moved together, they got it right half the time, which beats guessing.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorResearcher Andreas Nieder says a brain doesn't need a mammalian neocortex to do sophisticated computations. Birds have simply chosen a leaner structure.

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    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorTwo crows, one mealworm per correct answer, and they still decided faster than I'm deciding how to end this.