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Captive Beluga Was Able To Mimic Speech
ananyo writes "'Who told me to get out?' asked a diver, surfacing from a tank in which a whale named NOC lived. The beluga's caretakers had heard what sounded like garbled phrases emanating from the enclosure before, and it suddenly dawned on them that the whale might be imitating the voices of his human handlers. The outbursts began in 1984 and lasted for about four years, until NOC hit sexual maturity. NOC likely learned to imitate humans by listening to them speak underwater and on the surface. The whale's human-like calls are several octaves lower than normal whale calls, a similar pitch to human speech. Researchers trained NOC to 'speak' on command, and determined that he makes the sounds by increasing the pressure of the air that courses through his nasal cavities. They think that he then modified the sounds by manipulating the shape of his phonic lips, small vibrating structures that sit above each nasal cavity. A recording of NOC's speech is embedded in the story. He sounds remarkably like a kazoo."
"So long, and thanks for all the fish."
by increasing the pressure of the air that courses through his naval cavities
So whale farts help him make human sounds?
Even gave the handlers a raspberry at the end.
increasing the pressure of the air that courses through his naval cavities
I do that too.
Sounds like he's singing ... perhaps he picked up a song he liked from a radio or from a human singing. Man, it would be great if we could communicate with whales or dolphins ... anyone remember SeaQuest DSV? ;)
I do not have the software but NPG, or some other group should try and use sound software to at least see or hear if you can make out exactly what NOC is trying to say!
I for one welcome our speech mimicing beluga whale overlords.
Whoa! Not only can he talk, but he does it through his belly button!
Across many species the ability to mimic other creatures is commonplace. In this case, the notion that the beluga was "trained" makes it difficult to assess whether there was actual comprehension of the meaning and/or purpose of the mimicked sound(s). This makes the story nothing more than a parallel to circus-trained animal stories.
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
Especially the end part
I wonder if this will happen.
The fact that the guy apparently thought the whale was telling him to 'get out' struck me in a faintly creepy fashion.
I just had to imagine some deep rumbling voice warning the air-breathers to leave his aquatic home.
Can this whale copy the highest of arts?
Mariachi?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS_6-IwMPjM
It's a swedish fish!
If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
Subject says it all.
The outbursts began in 1984 and lasted about four years, until NOC hit sexual maturity.
If only people were like that: all talk until they hit sexual maturity and suddenly realize they don't know anything. People just keep on talking, as evidenced by the slashdot crowd, who... Oh... wait. This explains so much...
...but could it say "Jesus is watching you"?
We have a whale, another species on this planet, use human speech and the first thing he says is, essentially, "Get off my damn lawn, kid."
How come Slashdot never gets Slashdotted?
I think we've discovered the Alexandra Wallace of the whale world.
While I've spoken with many Narwhals Orating Cryptically, this is one Narratively Ostentatious Cetacean I'd really like to have a word with.
Forward! -- Emperor Norton, 2012
If NOC learns to speak like a human, maybe we will be able to communicate. Just think, we can teach him to lie, cheat, steal, revel in the suffering of others. Wait until he gets a load of our politicians. GO NOC!
The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
Sure, blame it on the whale. We all know it was a poltergeist.
"The outbursts — described today in Current Biology"
So apparently Current Biology's definition of current is 13-18 years ago?
that's sure to annoy my coworkers.
While the Beluga are aquatic, probably smarter, and definitely cuter than you, they are unlikely to replace you in the hearts of you pirate brethren.
Mainly because at 5.5 meters (18 feet) long and at 1,600 kg (3,500 pounds), they do not fit on the shoulder of your average pirate.
However, it is likely that the elder pirate gods, in their watery realm, prefer Beluga companions over parrots
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
until NOC hit sexual maturity.
"Screw learning a foreign language, I wanna meet girls!"
The whale's song, on repeat, fits perfectly with this:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2120659111755287021
mariachi beluga
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS_6-IwMPjM
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
All my NOC knows how to do is open tickets, escalate them to engineering, wake me up in the middle of the night for false alerts, and generally annoy customers.
Plus this cetacean NOC works for fish! Where can I sign up to get him on board?
Play it backwards, and it sounds like "I buried Paul".
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
Batman to me.... Who gave this whale youtube access??
Apparently, we sound like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Smartass cetaceans!
"Let me out, you stupid fucks."
It's a shame the Beluga accent makes "out" sound like "eat" in English. And so the response to everything he did was to give him fish.
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
Dolphins, whales.. where's teh difference.
Come back when you have real fish talking.
bickerdyke
Captive Beluga Was Able To Mimic Speech
That makes it sound like he's dead.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
"Take your filthy paws of me you damn dirty ape!"
who-wah wah wah whoa !