This is for business. Scientists simulated conversation with aliens by communicating with whales underwater

December 16, 21:55 Share:

Scientists were able to speak to a humpback whale in its own language (Photo: NOAA)

Researchers in the SETI project have not given up hope of one day talking to extraterrestrials, and are preparing for this by studying other interspecies communications.

Just as astronaut crews simulate missions to Mars or the Moon while on Earth, the SETI team is studying the communication systems of humpback whales in hopes of drawing conclusions that will help them better interact with signals from space.. Their goal is to develop filters that will allow them to interpret any of the received extraterrestrial signals..

The day before, a group of scientists, together with representatives of the Alaska Whale Foundation, managed to simulate an interspecies conversation and conduct a 20-minute exchange of signals with a humpback whale named Travis. To do this, the team studied the communication systems of humpback whales and created signals that the marine mammal could respond to.

During the experiment, the researchers transmitted greeting signals to the whale using an underwater speaker and were able to receive its response.

“Twain approached and walked around the crew's boat, responding in a conversational style to the whale's greeting call.. During the 20-minute exchange, Twain answered each call and negotiated variations in the intervals between signals,” says the SETI Institute.

Lead study author Dr. Brenda McCowan of the University of California, Davis noted that this “ the first such communication exchange between humans and humpback whales in the “humpback language.”

The researchers assumed that, due to the limitations of existing technology, aliens, if they were interested in establishing contact, would need to involve human receivers who would act as intermediaries. And the experience of communicating with a whale confirmed their assumption.

As NV Techno wrote, scientists have improved methods of searching for life beyond the Earth using radio frequencies. To do this, they developed an innovative approach “ coincidence rejection”, which allows you to filter out signals originating from Earth.

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