A Tribute To The Proud And Peaceful Pigeon

B.F. Skinner thought pigeons were so smart they could be used to guide missiles during WWII. He proposed a system in which pigeons would essentially pilot the missile. Skinner said pigeons could be trained to peck at a screen to adjust the trajectory of a missile toward its target. Project pigeon was funded but never used. It's one of the many reasons I could talk about pigeons all day. 

In 2013, New York conceptual artist named Duke Reilly trained half his flock of pigeons to carry contraband cigars from Cuba to Florida and the other half to carry tiny video cameras documenting the smuggling flight of their comrades. 

Another group of researchers trained pigeons to reliably distinguish between the paintings of Picasso and Monet, even if they had never before seen a particular painting. 

Today, on the show, everything you wanted to know about pigeons. 

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