In an ambitious five year project, top Israel, US and UK research institutes plan to learn how to communicate with Sperm whales. What WILL they talk about?
Pioneering study aims to enable humans to talk to whales
We all know whales communicate with one another, but what if we could understand what they say, and communicate our own thoughts back to them?
That’s what marine scientists from the University of Haifa, and top universities across the world hope to do with a new five-year research study to decipher how Sperm whales communicate and whether their speech patterns can be replicated so humans can communicate with them.-- More...
Cetacean Translation Initiative (CETI)
The new interdisciplinary Cetacean Translation Initiative (CETI) kicks off this week at a press conference in Dominica in the Caribbean, where the project will take place.
University of Haifa scientists will be joined by colleagues in marine biology, marine acoustics, artificial intelligence, and linguistics from Harvard University, The City University of New York (CUNY), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Imperial College London, U.C. Berkeley and others.
Researchers will use state-of-the-art machine learning and non-invasive robotics to listen and translate the Sperm whales’ language and even attempt to talk back to these beautiful and increasingly rare creatures.
The Sperm whale, which is considered a vulnerable species, has the largest brain on Earth, more than five times heavier than a human’s. Like humans, it also has a complex communication system and lives in tightly knit family groups.
These whales can grow up to 20.7 meters (68 feet), and live for 70 years or more. They are vital to our environment because they keep carbon out of the atmosphere, support our oxygen supply, and increase marine life.-- More...
ISRAEL21c was founded in 2001, in the wake of the Second Intifada, to broaden public understanding of Israel beyond typical portrayals in the mainstream media.
The organization’s founders – Israeli-American technology executives – understood the great power of the Internet and developed a first-of-its kind online product with global appeal and reach.
We all know whales communicate with one another, but what if we could understand what they say, and communicate our own thoughts back to them?
That’s what marine scientists from the University of Haifa, and top universities across the world hope to do with a new five-year research study to decipher how Sperm whales communicate and whether their speech patterns can be replicated so humans can communicate with them.-- More...
