6 ms·
To understand our fascination with crystals, researchers gave some to chimps
- shagie 8mo agoFull article share link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/science/chimpanzees-crystals.html?unlocked_article_code=1.QlA.xnpf.QI5r5arlDNZy&smid=url-share https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/science/chimpanzees-cryst...
- mikkupikku 8mo agoShare links need accounts anyway? Is this new? "You have free access to this story. Continue reading with a Times account"
- mrbluecoat 8mo agoThey're also into bananas
- gtowey 8mo agoWhat's wrong with bananas?
- SpaceL10n 8mo agoA sizable percentage of the human population is deathly allergic to bananas.
- IAmBroom 8mo agoAnd this is relevant how?
- throwway120385 8mo agoMy son is not, and he will let you know how not allergic he is to Bananas if he sees any that he is not eating.
- olivia-banks 8mo agoI'm mildly allergic to bananas, but I don't think the number of people allergic to bananas is "sizable."
- tsimionescu 8mo agoThey're a nightmare for atheists! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfv-Qn1M58I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfv-Qn1M58I
- MyHonestOpinon 8mo agoThis is clearly a parody. right? right? please say yes.
- prophesi 8mo agoThe intelligent design controversy during the mid 2000's were a fun time. I still have some Flying Spaghetti Monster merch.
- marcosdumay 8mo agoWatch the last few seconds.
- miningape 8mo agoI thought this was going to be the amazing atheist banana clip, was pleasantly surprised to be reminded of this instead
- Centigonal 8mo agoso are people! we overthrew multiple countries for banan
- IAmBroom 8mo ago"Bananoi", please. They aren't Latin.
- JKCalhoun 8mo agoMe too.
- ducttapecrown 8mo agoIt's mentioned in the article that the chimpanzees only relinquished the crystals in exchange for many bananas, so it seems they're more into crystals...
- doubled112 8mo agoI've often joked about inflation and that while TVs may have become inexpensive, food has not. Are you saying that I might be able to harvest the crystals in them and pay for bananas?
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- chasil 8mo agohttps://archive.ph/EHCxx https://archive.ph/EHCxx
- boilerupnc 8mo agoarchive.ph isn’t working for me, but .is works https://archive.is/EHCxx https://archive.is/EHCxx
- dustractor 8mo agohow are you still able to access archive.ph? do we need to put something in the hosts? All I've gotten there for the last month and a half is an nginx landing page.
- cluckindan 8mo agoAvoid these sites, they use visitor browsers as a DDoS attack platform.
- specproc 8mo agoThis, I've not heard of. Do you have a source?
- quuxplusone 8mo agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47092006 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47092006 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46843805 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46843805 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46624740 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46624740 (I don't fully understand the relationship between archive.is, archive.ph, and archive.today, but my impression is that they're all the same person.)
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- talktalkmake 8mo agoYou're talking ** Karl, PLAY A RECORD
- JoelMcCracken 8mo agoDon’t get me wrong, this is very interesting, but there is something very funny about the idea that “give a chimpanzee stuff and see if they like it” is academic research. This could absolutely be a headline on The Onion.
- Razengan 8mo ago"Breaking: Animals Have Preferences"
- khana 8mo ago[dead]
- dmix 8mo ago> But he’s also very interested in “the impact of crystals on the history of art and the history of mind,” This made my eyes roll a bit.
- indoordin0saur 8mo ago[flagged]
- that_lurker 8mo agoHave Americans tried giving them crystals
- indoordin0saur 8mo agoOur scientists know not to give them that sort of power. Who knows what horrors we could see should the lower primates gain clairvoyance or telekinesis.
- panzagl 8mo agoThe study was in Spain- do European countries have the same sort of backlash to this stuff? Is there a province in Spain that has the equivalent to 'the senator from Indiana' that is the stereotypical anti-NSF figure in US politics? Genuinely curious about this.
- moi2388 8mo agoWhat if you place a whole bunch of similar crystals in a pile, with only 1 or 2 smooth rocks? I’m willing to bet they will go after the smooth rocks and it’s about rarity, not crystals.
- lich_king 8mo ago> I’m willing to bet they will go after the smooth rocks and it’s about rarity, not crystals. Why? Crystals are pretty, rocks are not. We clearly prefer shiny colorful things to dull beige things, even if shiny things are abundant.
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- mikkupikku 8mo agoWell.. Some rocks are definitely shiney. It would be interesting to see if monkeys have any affinity for well polished rocks with pretty colors. Humans do like them, maybe not as much as crystals but they're nice nonetheless.
- adrian_b 8mo agoWhile the ancient Romans liked transparent crystals, especially emeralds and beryls, they were not the most valued gems. The most valued gems in Ancient Rome were the higher-quality varieties of noble opals and pearls, which are not transparent, but which show a variable play of colors, depending on the ambient light and on the angle of sight.
- axus 8mo agoYou have a question, a hypothesis and designed an experiment to test it. The study had a harder question: "What properties of crystalline stones attracted them?". The abstract has this answer: "We found that transparency and geometric shape were the two attractors guiding chimpanzees." Maybe this is scientific proof for the diamond industry.
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- tantalor 8mo agoI'd gladly trade you a banana tomorrow for a crystal today.
- nivertech 8mo agounsurprising, since they're also into Monoliths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHWs3c3YNs4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHWs3c3YNs4
- yashasolutions 8mo agowait until they hear about microservices
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- ducttapecrown 8mo agoNYTimes competing with NYTimesPitchBot for funnier headlines, I see. What a bizarre and awesome piece of science. I like crystals for the miracle of uncountable numbers of atoms transferring symmetry from the smallest scale to the visible scale.
- tedmiston 8mo agonow give them The Orb
- pkghost 8mo ago“While the attraction is clear, the underlying motivation is not,” he said. Nobody involved in the study or the article has ever done even a small dose of psilocybin and interacted with crystals.
- actionfromafar 8mo agoNot even the chimps.
- CatMustard 8mo agoFollow up study?
- e1ghtSpace 8mo agoDamn now I want to buy a large crystal for my desk.
- metalman 8mo agohere is a random wierd thing about chimps that makes the whole crystal thing worth a go. I give you ,stick in ear and worse https://www.livescience.com/animals/land-mammals/chimps-develop-fashion-trend-by-shoving-grass-in-their-ears-and-in-their-butts https://www.livescience.com/animals/land-mammals/chimps-deve...
- tug2024 8mo ago[dead]
- speedylight 8mo agoHumans like pretty things, that’s why I have an urge to pet bears and tigers even though I know they’ll kill me.