Orangutan pointing to an object on an iPad at Jungle Island in Miami (© J Pat Carter/AP)

Young orangutans love iPads; older ones, not so much

5/9/2012

Not only do we share about 97 percent of our DNA with orangutans -- we also share the same approach to technology, depending on our age. Researchers at a Miami zoo have let six orangutans play with iPads to do everything from communicate with keepers to expand their vocabulary. Scientists noticed that the young whippersnappers in the group love using technology, while the old sticks in the mud could care less. "Our young ones pick up on it ... It's like, 'Oh I get this,'" says Linda Jacobs, who oversees the program. Jacobs adds that the group's elder apes just aren't interested. After all, they've gotten along just fine without these newfangled touch-screens, thank you very much. Sound familiar?

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