Elephant trunk whiskers exhibit material intelligence (mpg.de)

Makes sense, though, doesn't it? An elephant's trunk is the fusion of its nose and upper lip, wouldn't that be the location where the mystacial vibrissae (whiskers) be located on any other mammal, making these homologous to e.g. cat's whiskers, which are highly sensitive?

Intelligence. Oh dear. As if the word wasn't getting enough abuse already these days...

“Material intelligence” appears to mean that the tapering of the whiskers allows for touch localization that’s more precise than would be expected from the whisker density alone. Not that the whiskers are “thinking” in any way that most of us would expect from the title.

This could be useful for blind people. If the stick tapers to a hair, then it would be a soft response on a flat surface, and a stronger feel when hitting a step, &c.

Though surely they would have already discovered this...