Posted on 12/18/2023 9:10:02 AM PST by algore
It might sound like a scene out of Avatar 2.
But scientists claim it's now possible to have a conversation with a whale, following a 20-minute chat with a humpback whale in Southeast Alaska.
A 38-year-old whale named Twain 'spoke' with the researchers from the SETI Institute and UC Davis by responding to a pre-recorded 'contact call'.
This marks the first communication between humans and whales in their own language, according to the team.
Looking ahead, the researchers say the conversation could pave the way for interactions with aliens in the future.
In the study, researchers from SETI studied how whales communicate in the hopes of developing 'intelligence filters' as part of the search for alien life.
The scientists broadcast a type of greeting call called a 'whup/throp' through underwater speakers.
When the call was played through the water, Twain approached the boat and responded with a greeting call of her own.
Importantly, the scientists found that Twain was changing the frequency of her own calls in response to the researchers' broadcast.
According to lead author, Dr Brenda McCowan of UC Davis, this mirroring behaviour shows that the whale was engaging in a type of interactive conversation with the recorded call.
Dr McCowan said: 'We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback "language".'
In their research paper, Dr Brenda and her co-authors suggest that Twain was motivated to reply by 'excitement and possibly the onset of agitation'.
However, they also point out that the kind of 'behavioural synchrony' exhibited by the whale is associated with bonding and group cohesion.
This, according to the authors, suggests that Twain was actively engaged in a communicative exchange.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Uh… what did the cat say?
Did the whales tell them to “knock it off with the offshore wind power”?
Apparently a true story, too! Though one never knows...:)
20 minutes of “Can I speak to your manager?”
That happened to me once, but then I was drunk and she was on the next stool(s).
Sounds like an excerpt from a long-lost Michael Crichton novel.
Couldn’t they just call Christie Kreme?
“there most certainly are aliens”
Most live in Washington DC or Northern Virginia.
The density gets greater and greater in inverse proportion to distance from the white house.
Give the whale $5,000 + free phone + lodging + 3 squares a day. Then, let’s see what happens. ;-)
Yeah.
They’re working with Matthew Perry.
I saw this movie, Spock did a mind meld with a whale in the 1980’s to save the future. They built transparent aluminum and visited the USS Enterprise (CVN-65).
They transported two whales aboard a stolen Klingon Bird Of Prey, and did a sling shot around the sun to get back to their future time to stave off an alien attack.
Greg Gutfeld will use this headline and then post a picture of the cast of “The View”.....
***
You’re probably right! I can see it happening!
It might have been rhetoric.
Indeed! Goes along with hype about planets in the "habitable zone."
The whale was actually telling you that you smell and your mother dresses you funny.
Have you seen and heard the dogs that communicate by using prerecorded word buttons?
They have keyboards of pushbuttons laid out on the floor. Step on them in a series to build sentences. Dog can do the same.
Presto... Dogs can now communicate with canned speech.
No I have not.
However, I have Beagles and Chihuahuas.
They’re not that smart.
Maybe something a Border Collie or a Doberman could do.
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