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Singing Dolphins Do Batman

The results of two scientific studies have shown that dolphins are capable of recognizing rhythms and pitch and are able to reproduce them. In order to best demonstrate this ability the scientists chose the epic, Batman theme song and were able to teach a shortened version to the dolphins who reproduced it in response to certain stimuli.

30 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. meh by B11 · · Score: 4, Funny

    let me know when they can do "free bird."

    --
    insert inflammatory anti-microsoft comment here
    1. Re:meh by BakaHoushi · · Score: 5, Funny

      Free bird? Ha! Dolphins have their own song and dance number. I've seen it myself.

      So long and thanks for all the fish
      So sad that it should come to this
      We tried to warn you all but oh dear... oh dear...
      You might not share our intellect
      Which might explain your disrespect
      For all the natural wonders that grow around you...
      So long so long so long and thanks... for all the fish...

  2. Incorrect headline by XorNand · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ugh... the blurb is woefully incorrect. The dolphins didn't sing, and they certaintly didn't sing the Batman themesong. They were trained to respond to the rhythm of one long beat, followed by one short beat. It's quite a stretch to equate this to the old "Batmaaaannn!" catchphrase, much less the song. Perhaps the dolphins are instead brushing up on Morse code in preparation for a DX contest?

    --
    Entrepreneur : (noun), French for "unemployed"
    1. Re:Incorrect headline by mr_matticus · · Score: 4, Informative

      To its credit, the summary does say "shortened version" and the headline says they do 'Batman' and not the 'Batman theme song.' As for TFA, they looked at more than the simple short-long sequence--dolphins were tested to recognize rhythmic sequences more complex than this at various pitches and tempos.

    2. Re:Incorrect headline by aussie_a · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh you clearly don't understand the headline. The Dolphins didn't sing the Batman theme song. They did Batman. More specifically, they did Adam West. I hear he quite enjoyed it.

    3. Re:Incorrect headline by The_mad_linguist · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not to mention this isn't really news. The article is from october of last year.

      Here's a more recent article about the same thing. They've moved past just Batman.
      http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-disney dolphin3106may31,0,890126.story

    4. Re:Incorrect headline by Lars+T. · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Hey, I thought you said Troy McClure was dead."
      "No, what I said was: "He sleeps with the fishes".

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

    5. Re:Incorrect headline by wschalle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Elephants are also capable of distinguishing rhythmic and even melodic patterns. The Thai Elephant Orchestra is a group of elephants who were given musical instruments, and began to play them as a group, copying each other's rhythms, and making use of repeated melodies. http://mulatta.org/Thaielephantorch.html

  3. Birds do this too by Heir+Of+The+Mess · · Score: 5, Funny

    Birds do this too, and elephants, and probable many other animals that you might want to kill time by studying scientifically.

    There's some bloody bird outside my bedroom window that has a natural ability to memorize the latest ringtone on my mobile phone whenever I change it. 6am in the morning I jump out of bed thinking my phone is ringing (I'm waiting on some important calls)

    Reminds me of this poem

    I woke early one morning,
    The earth lay cool and still
    When suddenly a tiny bird
    Perch on my window sill,
    He sang a song so lovely
    So carefree and so gay,
    That slowly all my troubles
    Began to slip away.
    He sang of far off places
    Of laughter and of fun,
    It seemed his very trilling,
    brought up the morning sun.
    I stirred beneath the covers
    Crept slowly out of bed,
    And gently lowered the window
    And crushed his little head.

    I am not a morning person

    --
    Australian running a company that does C# / C++ / Java / SQL / Python / Mathematica
    1. Re:Birds do this too by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 2, Funny

      There's some bloody bird outside my bedroom window that has a natural ability to memorize the latest ringtone on my mobile phone whenever I change it.

      Make it do the Crazy Frog!

      (For those who don't know what I'm talking about, you're lucky. The horror, the horror...)

      --
      Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
    2. Re:Birds do this too by ettlz · · Score: 5, Funny
      Make it do the Crazy Frog!

      Shut the fuck up!

  4. Dolphins do Batman by Placebo+Messiah · · Score: 4, Funny

    What a man in a batsuit and a sea creature do together is their business and they can tape it and post it on the internet if they want to

  5. Obligatory Hitchhiker's Guide Reference... by gbobeck · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, the dolphins can "sing" the Batman theme... I wonder how long it will take before they start "singing" "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish"

    --
    Navicula hydraulica plena anguilarum est. Omnes castelli tuus nostri sunt. Ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.
  6. birdsongs by Goldsmith · · Score: 2, Funny

    Somewhere, an ornithologist read that article and died inside...

  7. Jaws theme tune.... by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... assuming flipper has a sense of humour he'll also laugh his head off as the swimmers run screaming up the shore.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
  8. It was pure luck by clickclickdrone · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Thd scientists asked the dolphins about tunes and they thought the question was about tuna so they all signed up.

    --
    I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
  9. Re:Dolphins singing? by JRGhaddar · · Score: 2, Informative

    here is the link to the dolphins doing thei thing. Dolphin's sing "Batmaaaan"...

  10. Re:screw that! by macadamia_harold · · Score: 4, Funny

    Screw that! you know the next step is to hook these dolphins up to sentry robots armed with machine guns. Yeah, who's laughing now, sharks with frickin laser beams strapped to their heads?

  11. Re:I have a dog that can growl "sausages" by foobsr · · Score: 2, Informative

    "Dolphins are highly intelligent aquatic mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin

    Yes, you may be right with regard to "delphinic". But the stupidity involved in regarding dolphins as fish beats my ignorance with regard to the English language.

    CC.

    --
    TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
  12. Re:I have a dog that can growl "sausages" by P(0)(!P(k)+P(k+1)) · · Score: 2, Informative

    Dolphins (not delphins, BTW) [...].

    “Delphin” is actually closer to the original Greek delphin, Latin delphinus; if you had your OED handy, you'd see that it was used right up until the seventeenth century* when “dolphin” took over under the influence of Louis XV.

    _____________
    * 1633 P. FLETCHER Pisc. Ecl. VII. xiii. 47 The lively Delphins dance, and brisly Seales give eare.

  13. About dolphins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They are pretty damn smart.

    I've worked with them, and have good friends that have worked with them more than I have.

    A couple of 'cool' facts:

    When you meet someone for the first time, you shake their hand and look them in the eye, right?

    Dolpins 'beam' you with their 'sonar'. They tend to think that people with an implant (pacemaker), screws or pins (from surgery), etc. are 'cooler' because they are different from most humans they meet.

    They can tell if a woman is pregnant, often before she knows herself, and they understand what it means. One friend of mind works with some 'wild' dolphins in the Florida keys. Every once in awhile they'll get a new researcher (female) and a lot of the female dolphins will be very gentle near her, and rub her belly with their noses (i.e. being very affectionate). The 'old hands' from the research team will always tell the new lady that she's pregnant. New lady will always say 'no way'. The dolphins are invariably correct.

    'FYI'. :)

  14. Soon, they will become more intelligent than us by Rastignac · · Score: 2, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new sea overlords. ;)

    --
    -- Rastignac was here.
  15. Re:screw that! by Scott+Swezey · · Score: 2, Funny

    Screw that! Let's hook them up with sonar and lasers.

    --
    Scott Swezey
  16. Stuff dolphins by bananaendian · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Repeat a few tunes from Batman? ha!
    The Lyrebird of Australia is practically a living tape recorder (<= google video)

    --
    www.tribalnetworks.org - helping tribal people around the world to own their own means of high-tech communications
  17. Re:I have a dog that can growl "sausages" by micpp · · Score: 2, Informative

    No, living in the water makes them aquatic. They don't have gills or lay eggs.

  18. Let me know when... by Hittite+Creosote · · Score: 2, Funny
    Not interested in this.

    However, if they were reporting dolphings jumping backwards through a hoop while whistling the Star-Spangled Banner, then I'd be concerned.

  19. RIAA vs. Dolphins by BMonger · · Score: 2, Funny

    Whoever owns the rights to the Batman song should be filing suit any minute now... take the dolphins for all the tuna they have.

  20. You laugh, but... by FooAtWFU · · Score: 3, Informative
    "Hey, I thought you said Troy McClure was dead."
    "No, what I said was: "He sleeps with the fishes".
    You laugh, but did you hear the one where a woman married a dolphin? (She exhorted people that she's "not a pervert" though, mind you.)

    I also hear of marriages to snakes and dogs.

    --
    The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    1. Re:You laugh, but... by SamSim · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Dolphins are more intelligent than humans. Why shouldn't they be intelligent enough to give consent to - well, if not marriage, at least sex? It's like on Star Trek when humans marry an aliens, only the physiological differences are greater. Also, you don't share a language. (Hmm, maybe it's more like marrying a Russian mail order bride or something.)

      Yes, it IS freaky, but quite frankly, has anybody asked the dolphin? He may well have an opinion on the subject.

  21. JAWS by mnmn · · Score: 3, Funny

    Meh!

    Let me know when they can do the JAWS theme.

    Imagine swimming in Florida waters and just hearing the JAWS theme with fins approaching you...

    --
    "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky