Can decoding whale speech help us talk to aliens?

Can decoding whale speech help us talk to aliens?

Can decoding whale speech help us talk to aliens? Hear from Project CETI on how they're doing it...

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According to David Gruber from Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) , sperm whales use a series of Morse code-like clicks called codas, which carry all the hallmarks of a highly evolved language. In fact, Gruber believes that the language that sperm whales speak could be perhaps “perhaps the most sophisticated form of communication that has ever existed.”

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Image from Project CETI

In the 1960s when scientists initially studied humpback whale songs, human language experts were not brought into the mix. Now, they have become the secret sauce. The CETI team is learning from scratch, ensuring that animal behavior and conversation is at the very forefront of their research. Once they master listening, the next step is to start playing back codas to the whales to test theories of what they’re hearing. 

Project CETIs work is split into four phases:

  1. Phase one: Monitor and record the movements & sounds of sperm whales
  2. Phase two: Process the raw data
  3. Phase three: Train computers to help learn and understand the communications
  4. Phase four: Scientists eventually validating the understandings via carefully designed playback studies.

David Gruber thinks that what they are creating at Project CETI is a longer, sustained practice that ensures that we communicate peacefully and ethically for all involved.

Read more. Discover Project CETI & watch David's TED talk.

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Sourjya Sarkar

Career Break | Ex-MILA| Ex-Siemens| Ex-Hopkins |Ex-IITKGP|

1y

This is fantastic !!

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Marcelo Salup

✅International CMO ✅ McCann ✅ FCB ✅ Strategy ✅ Advertising ✅ Marketing ✅ Media ✅ Award-Winning Creative ✅ High-stakes Negotiations ✅ Company Launch ✅ Team Leadership ✅ Startups ✅ Branding ✅ Digital ✅ Direct

1y

Where they totally lose me is when someone says "probably the most sophisticated form of communication" blah blah blah. Think about it. Scientists don't know the first thing about the language.They are now beginning to try to find out about it. For all we know some of the clicks are just saying, swim from here to there. It's superbly interesting, I already speak 3 languages fluently, one more so so. Let's stop with the BS and study this with zero preconceived ideas

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