Ch-ch-ch-chirp.

Continuing the avian theme: An analysis of birds' calls offers insight into the causes of human stuttering, according to researchers who recently published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Santosh A. Helekar of Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston and colleagues analyzed the songs of mildly sedated zebra finches via blood oxygenation level-dependent functional MRI and found that the right side of the birds' brains was better at distinguishing sounds and that the birds displayed varying brain activity depending on whether they heard a recording of their own call, that of another bird, or a single tone. The researchers' next project: Correcting the grammar of chimps who do sign language. "Different than? Koko--for shame."