this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2023
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Scientists Have Reported a Breakthrough In Understanding Whale Language::Researchers have identified new elements of whale vocalizations that they propose are analogous to human speech, including vowels and pitch.

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[–] [email protected] 110 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Not only did the AI predict elements of whale vocalizations already thought to be meaningful, such as clicks, but it also singled out acoustic properties.

This is an amazing use of machine learning models.

[–] [email protected] 65 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Can’t wait for them to tell us to stop being fuckheads and ruining the planet

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago

"So long and thanks for all the fish"

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

NOC's vocalizations were recorded and studied by a team of biologists from the National Marine Mammal Foundation (NMMF) led by Sam Ridgway. In 1984, Ridgway and others at the NMMF began to hear peculiar sounds coming from the whale and dolphin enclosure. They were reminiscent of two people talking in the distance, the words just beyond the limit of comprehension.[5] Later, a diver working in the enclosure came to the surface after he heard someone cry "out, out, out!"[1] After he asked his colleagues "Who told me to get out?", they realized it had been NOC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOC_(whale)

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Imagine if we managed to make a translator for the speech of an animal, knowing what they say and being able to say something back. Literally speaking with animals. That would have been so amazing and revolutionizing.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Honestly? We’d just fuck it all up, and find some way to exploit it.

If they could, the first words they speak to us would likely be akin to “Fuck you!”, or “Just what the fuck exactly is wrong with you people?”

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[–] [email protected] 110 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Sokath, his eyes uncovered.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm too drunk to taste this chicken

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!!!

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago

Will and Gracie, in the tank.

Chekov, finding Alameeda

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[–] [email protected] 77 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hell yeah, I hope it works for orcas too so I can thank the ones that have been trashing the yachts.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago

How do I say “I support my seafaring cetacean brethren” in Orca?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm learning how to sail right now. It would be great to have that sorted out before I make my way by Gibraltar.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Huge rock, can't miss it.

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So what I'm hearing is they can literally talk to each other in a way that we do and we still kill them constantly.

[–] [email protected] 66 points 1 year ago (3 children)

We kill humans constantly too, and we probably obliterated the rest of the hominins also. I’m just saying we have a chequered track record.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago (7 children)
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[–] [email protected] 65 points 1 year ago

This is big news! We've got a lemmy community specifically about Digital Bioacoustics (technology and animal communication) for anyone interested.

[email protected]

Https://Lemmy.world/c/digitalbioacoustics

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Oooh, look! The translation's coming through!!

Thanks... for... all... the...

...

For what? Thanks for all the what?!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago
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[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (1 children)

“I wish I could speak whale!” - Dory

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

Oooooooookayyyyyyy

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They probably have nothing interesting to say anyway. After a year or two all the scientists will be like "I fucking know you like krill, whale. Shut the fuck up about the krill already".

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago

[Arthur Dent] learned to communicate with birds and discovered that their conversation was fantastically boring. It was all to do with wind speed, wingspans, power-to-weight ratios, and a fair bit about berries.

-- Douglas Adams, 'Life, the Universe, and Everything.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I kind of still want to know what I'm sleeping to.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (4 children)

"Can I try putting it in your blowhole this time?"

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago

"So Long, and thanks for all the fish"

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)

What they're saying is: "All shall perish" as they proceed to kill people and smash yachts.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago

Flippity floppity y'all on my property

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (6 children)
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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So just fucking say what it is! We know they're intelligent. Just tell us how they all think we're running the planet.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (3 children)

They've already dispatched Orcas to send that message. We don't seem to be getting it.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Realistically, other whales would probably hate orcas, given they hunt whale calves

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This statement does not fit my joke.

How can I delete someone else's comment?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Write a stern letter to the Internet Committee, explaining your grievances. I'm sure they are happy to assist, especially on cases like this one! 👍

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

You have to type your password into a comment, post it, and then hop on one leg while refreshing lemmy for 10 minutes. After that, it should delete the user's comment.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago
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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

"Yoooooooouuuuuuuu guuuuuuuuuuyyyyyyysssss reallllllllllllyyyyyyy suuuuuuuuuuuuccccccckkkkkk. Exccccceeeept Garrrrrrryyyyyyy. Heeeee'sssss niiiiicccceeeeeeeeeooooooooo." -The Whales probably.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

"Who turned up the heat?"

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (8 children)

If complete mutually intelligible communication of complex ideas with another species is undeniably proven, that will be a massive boon for veganism(although of course not all animals are equal), and a legal quagmire. What do you do if they are suffering in ways that we can fix due to their environment? Like humans were, and then we changed our environment. Do you give whales weapons so they can defend themselves from orcas? Do you shoot whale pochers? Do you shoot orcas attacking whales? Do you farm krill for them to eat? Do you drastically alter the ocean surface to be more comfortable for whales?

After all, most people recognize it as good to alter a person's natural state(hunting and gathering from caves) for the better, so would that not be the same for animals that are considered essentially people or near-people?

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago

We don't even treat other humans on earth with dignity and respect and you think anything will change for whales as drastically as you propose? Maybe I'm mega jaded but I see this having little impact.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

Just in time for them to go extinct. It’ll be helpful in a few hundred years though when we need to travel back in time again.

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