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New Research Says That Dolphins Can Speak

New Research Says That Dolphins Can Speak

We all know how smart dolphins can be, whether they’re learning tricks or being part of the Russian navy. But, can they actually talk to each other?

Dolphins have shown the ability to imitate various noises and whistles, and there has also been some research showing that they can — at least in captivity — be trained to acquire a vocabulary for up to 40 different objects.

Researcher Denise Herzing now says that she and her Bahamas-based team have succeeded in creating a prototype that can actually decode the communication between the mammals, writesSüddeutsche Zeitung.

The underwater computer that divers can strap to their waists is called, aptly, a CHAT (Cetacean Hearing And Telemetry).Two hydrophones (underwater microphones) record the sounds of passing dolphins and analyze them. The CHAT can also emit sound waves that imitates the dolphins. Herzing refers to this as interfacing with the animals.

Herzing’s team based their research by following a pod of Atlantic Spotted dolphins. Objects were given assigned noises outside a dolphin's normal repetoire of whistles, but easily mimicable, and as the toys were passed out, the CHAT computer emitted a specific noise for each object.

In a blog post, Herzing writes that she was in the water when she heard the word ‘sargassum’ in her headphones after it was translated from dolphin-speak to English thanks to their software. For those of us less familiar with the lexicon, it’s a type of seaweed that the researchers were giving to the dolphins who love to play with it. She believes that the dolphins heard the specific whistle assigned to the word and repeated it.

“This doesn’t mean that the dolphin knew what it was saying, though,” Herzing admits. “It could be that the animal was just imitating that particular sound without associating it with the seaweed.”

Whether dolphins really can talk remains a controversial issue among scientists, but what is certain is that Bottle-Nosed dolphins can whistle a sort-of name that they call each other underwater. And, since very little is otherwise known about these calls, here’s where Herzing’s work may presently be most useful: as a suitable base for clearing that question up with a higher degree of certainty.

Here’s a TED talk Herzing gave last year about communicating with dolphins:

Photo by: sheilapic76 via Flickr

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Putin's Hidden Message In Dam Explosion: If Cornered, I Will Stop At Nothing

The Nova Kakhovka dam explosion was undoubtedly carried out by Putin, putting both Ukrainian and Russian lives at risk. The explosion makes clear that there no limits to how far Putin will go. That has been his message since Day One of the war.

Residents of occupied Ukrainian towns flee flooding from the Nova Kakhova Dam explosion

The Kherson region, where Ukraine retook several key towns and cities last November, is flooding as water levels on both banks of the river rose by 10 meters.

Twitter via Volodymyr Zelensky
Anna Akage

-OpEd-

Southern Ukraine is still reeling from the explosion at the Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River. The surrounding Kherson region, where Ukraine retook several key towns and cities last November, is flooding as water levels on both banks of the river rose by 10 meters, forcing thousands of Ukrainians to evacuate.

The catastrophe may lead to the shutting down of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the nuclear reactors of which are cooled by water from the Dnipro.

With enormous consequences on a human, environmental and strategic levels, Kyiv and Moscow are blaming each other for the explosion. But it is simply unfathomable that Ukraine could be responsible for the attack — both, because it wouldn't make sense for Ukraine to attack its own people — and because the disaster is a major impediment from Kyiv's much-anticipated military counteroffensive.

Yes, the bombing of the dam was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to slow down his coming military losses. But there is another, deeper explanation for this attack at this moment in time: it's a clear message to the world that there are no limits to Putin’s aggression. Especially when his back is against the wall.

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