Slashdot Mirror
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.
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"
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
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'.
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
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...