All posts tagged: Monkey

Chimp Slasher Flick ‘Primate’ Hits Streaming. Warning: This Ain’t No Punch the Monkey Story

Chimp Slasher Flick ‘Primate’ Hits Streaming. Warning: This Ain’t No Punch the Monkey Story

If you’ve been yearning to watch a horror film about a killer animal similar in tone to, say, Stephen King’s Cujo, I’ve got some good news for you. Primate will stream soon. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re in for a ride. Primate follows a pretty simple story: A group of friends is repeatedly attacked by Ben, the family chimpanzee. As you can see from the trailer below, the cute pet turns savage and does some unspeakable things to the folks he used to cohabit peacefully with. This ain’t no cuddly Punch the monkey story. And for that matter, it’s no Bubbles story either, but never mind, go ask your parents. Johnny Sequoyah stars alongside Jessica Alexander, Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur, Victoria Wyant, Gia Hunter, Benjamin Chang, Charlie Mann, Tienne Simon and Miguel Torres Umba, who plays Ben. The film is helmed by The Strangers: Prey at Night director Johannes Roberts. Keep reading for more info on when Primate will premiere and how to watch it with a VPN. When to watch Primate …

Scientists make a pocket-sized AI brain with help from monkey neurons : NPR

Scientists make a pocket-sized AI brain with help from monkey neurons : NPR

Researchers using data from macaque monkeys were able to shrink an AI vision model to a tiny fraction of its original size. AerialPerspective Images/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption AerialPerspective Images/Getty Images A human brain consumes less power than a light bulb, while artificial intelligence systems guzzle electricity to do the same tasks. Now, scientists have created a highly efficient AI model that hints at how living brains are able to do so much with so little, a team reports in the journal Nature. The model, which mimics a part of the brain’s visual system, started out using 60 million variables. But the team was able to compress it into a version that performed nearly as well using just 10,000 variables. “That is incredibly small,” says Ben Cowley, an author of the study and an assistant professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. “This is something we could send in a tweet or an email.” The compact model also appears to work more like a living brain, which could help scientists study what goes wrong in …

Could Punch the monkey make us a little more human?

Could Punch the monkey make us a little more human?

Punch, the baby macaque, with his stuffed toy at Ishikawa Zoo, near Tokyo, on February 19, 2026. STR/AFP In an era of highly polarized debates, could hope really come from a small ball of dark fur, with two protruding ears, wide eyes and a wrinkled little face? That is the question, judging by the widespread enthusiasm for Punch, a macaque born seven months ago at Ishikawa Zoo, near Tokyo. On Instagram and TikTok, footage of the baby primate in his enclosure has multiplied. His story is truly worthy of a Charles Dickens novel. Rejected by his mother at birth, Punch has struggled to integrate with his group of macaques. His only lifeline: a much larger orangutan-shaped stuffed toy, which he clings to desperately, especially when bullied by other macaques. The result is at once adorable, funny and somewhat unsettling. “Punch, we’re with you!” exclaimed one user on Instagram, while comments poured in suggesting everything from elaborate escape plans to adoption, or simply hoping for a quick (and happy) resolution to the saga before everyone slips …

Punch The Monkey: Why Plush Toys Help Humans And Animals

Punch The Monkey: Why Plush Toys Help Humans And Animals

Primate expertise provided by Dr Luke Duncan, a postdoctoral research fellow, primatologist, and part of the University of Warwick’s ApeTank. Therapy comment by relationship therapist and author at Passionerad, Sofie Roos. If you’re 1) on social media and 2) have something resembling a heart, chances are it’s been broken by the Japanese macaque, Punch, from Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan. The adorable monkey, whose mother abandoned him, has gone viral for clutching an IKEA orangutan plush to help manage his feelings of abandonment (the burnt orange stuffed toy has since sold out in multiple stores). But why do animals, including humans, so often turn to stuffed toys in our times of need, or as a more everyday source of comfort? One study suggests that dogs can become almost “addicted” to their toys, which another paper says may boost their welfare. Over a third of adults sleep with a plush every night. Here, we spoke to primate expert Dr Luke Duncan and therapist Sofie Roos about the “cuddle therapy” a variety of species can get from …

What the internet’s obsession with Punch the monkey says about the global loneliness epidemic, according to a psychologist

What the internet’s obsession with Punch the monkey says about the global loneliness epidemic, according to a psychologist

A very adorable baby Japanese macaque named Punch has been breaking the hearts of millions of social media users around the world as he struggles to integrate into the enclosure at Ichikawa zoo.  The now-viral monkey was rejected by his mother and was given a stuffed orangutan plush toy to keep him company while he adjusted to life in the Japanese city of Nomi. After videos of other monkeys bullying the seventh-month-old primate brought the internet (and the HELLO! office) to tears, we couldn’t help but wonder what this fascination with a tiny animal more than eight thousand miles away was telling us about our own loneliness and attitude towards human connection.  As Punch and his teddy continue to pull at social media’s heartstrings, we asked leading psychologists what our inability to look away is revealing about our own loneliness epidemic in today’s society.  Attachment psychology in action, albeit through a screen  © JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty ImagesPunch is a seventh month-old male macaque monkey who was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth Aside …

Here’s what we can really learn from Punch the viral monkey

Here’s what we can really learn from Punch the viral monkey

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more A baby macaque monkey named Punch has gone viral for his heart-wrenching pursuit of companionship. After being abandoned by his mother and rejected by the rest of his troop, his zookeepers at Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan provided Punch with an orangutan plushie as a stand-in mother. Videos of the monkey clinging to the toy have gone viral worldwide. But Punch’s attachment to his inanimate companion is not just the subject of a heartbreaking video. It also harks back to the story of a famous set of psychology experiments conducted in the 1950s by US researcher Harry Harlow. The findings from his experiments underpin many of the central tenets of attachment theory, which positions the bond between parent and child as crucial in child …

Blue-faced, puffy-lipped monkey scores a rare conservation win

Blue-faced, puffy-lipped monkey scores a rare conservation win

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. For once, there’s good news in animal conservation. A population of Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus avunculus)—critically endangered primates with colorful faces and big lips—is stable.  This news is particularly welcome, given the fact that the funny-looking species isn’t just critically endangered. Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys are among the most endangered primates in existence. Most of the species are limited to two primary areas in northern Vietnam’s karst limestone peaks—Quan Ba Forest and Khau Ca Species and Habitat Conservation Area.  A new population census by the wildlife conservation charity Fauna & Flora verified that Tonkin snub-nosed monkey numbers in the Khau Ca Species and Habitat Conservation Area are stable. There are approximately 160 of these primates in the conservation area, according to the latest census. The survey took place outside of the species’ breeding season and spotted some infants.  Tonkin snub-nosed monkey census 2025 The 19-day survey saw a collaboration between Fauna & Flora’s conservation team and local community groups and …