Alex

Pepperberg hoped that a similar system would help Alex grasp the meaning of words, not just their sounds.

Pepperberg can show Alex two objects (for example, a green square and a red square) and ask, "What's different?"

But in many ways, the bird called Alex is unusual, for it has shown the kind of mental abilities that scientists once thought only humans had.

To teach Alex, Pepperberg used a special form of training.

How many cars does Alex have?

Alex is for the most part just an ordinary bird.

Alex will answer, "Color!"

Alex seemed to learn nouns such as "paper," "key" and "cork," and color names such as "red," "green" and "yellow."

"Five!" says Alex.

Alex would correctly describe the object and color, even if he had never seen that object before.

Martin was pretty dull as names went but 'Alex Blake' had a certain dash to it. His publishers hadn't considered Martin's own name to be 'punchy' enough. The pseudonym Alex Blake was chosen after much deliberation, most of which excluded Martin. 'A strong, no-nonsense sort of name', his editor said, 'to compensate'. For what, she didn't say.

'I had a Christmas card from someone calling herself Alex the year before last,' Daniel said. 'I couldn't think who it was.' 'Oh, yes, she's changed again,' Alice said. 'I never got used to Alexandra, either. It never occurred to me that Sandra was short for Alexandra - anyway, she's Sandra on her birth certificate.'

CEO and cofounder Alex Karp distanced Palantir from other Silicon Valley technology companies in a letter included in the filing, writing that “we seem to share fewer and fewer of the technology sector’s values and commitments.”