Using AI technology, scientists are beginning to map and understand the way animals talk, with the hopes of one day being able to speak human-to-animal.
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:08 Speak!
00:09 Hi there!
00:09 [Gasp]
00:10 Did that dog just say "Hi there"?
00:14 Oh yes!
00:14 [Bark]
00:15 [Music]
00:24 It is in the realm of possibility, although not yet achieved,
00:28 that one day we could have a zoological version of Google Translate.
00:33 So imagine, in addition to German or English, Cantonese or Cree,
00:38 you might have an option for Southern Australian Dolphin,
00:42 East African Elephant, or Sperm, Waelish.
00:47 The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted
00:50 as a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double backward somersault
00:53 through a hoop while whistling the Star Spangled Banner.
00:56 But in fact, the message was this.
00:58 So long, and thanks for all the fish.
01:01 [Music]
01:16 So it turns out there's a lot of communication in nature,
01:19 and different species are actually talking to one another.
01:22 One of my favorite examples is pollinators and plants.
01:26 So honeybees, if you play the frequency of a buzzing honeybee near a flower,
01:32 it will respond by producing more nectar and sweeter nectar.
01:36 Plants emit very high ultrasound,
01:39 and that ultrasound will vary depending on whether they are dehydrated,
01:42 or they're stressed, or they're healthy.
01:44 Sounds that insects can hear,
01:46 and actually AI algorithms can be trained to listen to plants
01:51 and indicate, simply by listening, what state the plant is in, healthy or not.
01:56 [Music]
02:20 Turtles are very patient conversationalists.
02:23 They might wait a minute or two before responding.
02:25 Baby turtles of this species make noise in their eggs before they hatch.
02:32 They're coordinating the moment of their birth with a specific acoustic signal.
02:37 And not only that, the mother turtles are waiting in the water,
02:42 calling to their babies, and then guiding them to safety in the forest,
02:45 away from predators.
02:46 And this has been determined using biologgers and drones.
02:50 Sweet!
02:51 Totally.
02:52 [Music]
03:00 The famous mating dance you think of as a visual display,
03:04 the peacock is actually giving a rock concert.
03:08 That tail is an acoustic resonator.
03:10 It makes very loud infrasound.
03:13 We cannot hear it.
03:14 The female peahens can.
03:17 And the realm of nature's hidden sounds,
03:19 this was only known, this was only discovered about 10 years ago.
03:23 Although, of course, we've lived with and known about peacocks for millennia.
03:27 Cool! What do these do, boys?
03:29 [Speaking in Japanese]
03:30 I use that color.
03:32 [Speaking in Japanese]
03:33 To talk with.
03:34 I would be happy if you stopped.
03:35 [Music]