Science
Animals
Scientists could actually be close to being able to decode animal communication and figure out what animals are saying to each other. And more astonishingly, we might even find ways to talk back. The study of sonic communication in animals is relatively new, and researchers have made a lot of headway over the past few decades with recordings and human analysis. But recent...
A.I. can find meaningful patterns in otherwise unintelligible noise, so scientists are starting to wonder: Can A.I. help humans interpret animal sounds? Scientist Karen Bakker and machine-learning expert Aza Raskin talk to “Unexplainable” podcast host Noam Hassenfeld about remarkable scientific discoveries and possibilities for interspecies communication.
Knowledge about the human microbiome, those trillions of bacteria, viruses, and other microbes that inhabit our bodies, is revolutionizing medicine just as mapping the human genome continues to do. Indeed, what we are learning could take us even further because the microbiome can be altered by diet, exercise, and stress control. Computational biology, DNA sequencing, and o...
Anyone who has ever had a pet understands how deeply connected human beings are to the animals who serve as our companions, lessen our stress, and perhaps offer a buffer against cognitive decline. Puppy play date, anyone? Honeybees help to protect our food supply, vision-impaired people rely not only on seeing-eye dogs but also on seeing-eye horses, and animal research has...
Before Covid-19 began spreading across the globe last year, virologist Nathan Wolfe already knew what was becoming abundantly clear: The world was woefully unprepared to prevent the spread of novel viral threats. To prevent similar devastation, he challenges people to imagine a different future where viruses are regularly tracked in groups of individuals—providing a sort o...
People are in constant conversation with their dogs, says dog scientist Alexandra Horowitz, and dogs pick up on things like our tone of voice. "We think meaning is all in the words but for them, the meaning is in the context, and they’re working very hard to understand it.” Horowitz studies dog cognition and the relationship between dogs and their human owners. She runs th...
What if we could turn back time and reverse extinction?
Founder and Director, Clever Canine Lab and Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland
Psychology Professor, University of Stirling; Scientific Director, Amboseli Elephant Research Project
Dog Cognition Scientist and Professor, Barnard College of Columbia University; Author, Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University; Co-Founder, Dognition
President, The Safina Center; Professor, Stony Brook University; Author, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel
Co-Founder, Revive & Restore; Co-Chair and President, The Long Now Foundation; Founder and Editor, Whole Earth Catalog
How do dogs perceive you and the world around them?
The science is clear that humans are not alone in their capacity to think and feel. Studies and anecdotes reveal similarities between human and non-human beings in self-awareness, empathy, communication, and even grief. From the whale who guides a lost sailor home in the fog, to the wild elephants who presciently appear at the fence of a reserve before the arrival of rescu...