New technologies contain possibilities that were absolutely unthinkable until recently (if at all possible, they were only possible in the realm of science fiction). However, technology is advancing by leaps and bounds and with its help we could be at the door to communication between species. This was predicted last Saturday at the DLD conference by Karen Bakker, professor at the University of British Columbia, and Michael John Gorman, founder and director of BIOTOPIA.
In his conversation with Gorman Bakker, he explained the important role of sounds in nature and what humans can learn from them. Sounds that microphones installed in the Amazon rainforest or in Antarctica capture and record for posterity. These microphones, which are part of a project Bakker calls “Sound of Nature” , also capture sounds that are completely inaudible to the human ear.
During her presentation, Bakker shared with the audience at DLD a recording of the sounds made by a bat to emphasize that animals have their own language, individual names, and many other personality traits that we normally associate with humans. “Bats are similar to humans in many ways,” she emphasized.
Even animals without eyes or ears are capable of generating sounds, as state-of-the-art microphones have shown. Corals also produce sounds and are able to hear, Bakker emphasised. These marine organisms can not only hear the sound of the sea but also rely on it to orient themselves in the depths and to a certain extent know where they are going. Until recently, it was thought that corals had no control over their habitat, he said.
Towards the creation of a Rosetta Stone for interspecies communication
Microphones installed in nature have also made it possible to discover that animal and plant species can also communicate with each other. Bees, for example, can listen to certain frequencies emitted by plants and thus find it easier to track them.
With the invaluable help of artificial intelligence , scientists have set out to create a sort of albania number data Rosetta Stone for deciphering non-human languages . Bakker refers to this project as a “Google Translate for non-human communication.” “We are on the verge of interspecies communication, between humans and insects like bees, for example,” Bakker stressed. not only translating different sounds emitted by bees but also communicating with these insects.
According to Bakker, “technology can definitely help us reconnect with nature .” Gorman responded to these words, perhaps laced with excessive optimism, by asserting that technology can also be used for perverse things, such as “domesticating animals that previously lived exclusively in the wild.”
Along the same lines, Gorman also called Bakker's proposed Google Translate for non-human communication "far-fetched." The professor replied, however, that although it is full of challenges, this technology is far from far-fetched and will be perfectly feasible within the next two decades. "Today we cannot talk to animals, in the future robots could do it ," she added.
Bakker concluded his speech by stressing that the analysis of whale sounds has helped to significantly reduce one of the main causes of whale deaths: collisions with ships. In this sense, the “Sound of Nature” project can very well contribute to environmental protection in the years to come.