Who hasn't dreamed of having the power of Dr. Dolittle, in the film of the same name, and talking to animals? It would come in very handy when it comes to unraveling the often strange attitudes of our pet cats, or explaining to a dog that no, it's not time to go out. Off the coast of Alaska (USA), researchers have achieved something of a miracle by communicating with a whale.
Discover our latest podcast
The Twain whale answered the call
It was a conversation that lasted around twenty minutes. A team of scientists from the SETI Institute managed to talk to a whale using an underwater loudspeaker. So no, as you can imagine, the researchers and the whale didn't talk about rain, sunshine or stock market prices... The discussion was certainly basic, but highly enriching!
Via their loudspeaker, the scientists broadcast a call message, which was heard by a 38-year-old humpback whale named Twain. In a statement released on December 12, the researchers declared:
In response to a recorded "contact" call from a humpback whale broadcast into the sea by an underwater speaker, a humpback whale named Twain approached the team's boat and circled around, while responding in conversational style to the whale's "greeting signal".
A world first gives hope to the search for extraterrestrial life
This is the first time such a feat has been achieved. This inter-species discussion fascinates researchers, in the sense that it augurs well for the search for life outside Earth.
Dr. Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute reasons as follows:
Because of the current limitations of technology, an important assumption in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that extraterrestrials will be interested in contact and will therefore target human receptors. This important hypothesis is certainly supported by the behavior of humpback whales.
Read more:
⋙ 'We cannot afford to be ill prepared' for alien contact, scientists warn
⋙ Chinese scientists claimed they discovered aliens, article deleted a few hours later
⋙ Do aliens really exist? An astronaut from the European Space Agency answers in new interview
⋙ A giant whale devoured a man and then spat him back out
This article has been translated from Gentside FR.
