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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Deep Voices"
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A FISH STORY--AS TOLD BY THE FISH... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. EVEN THOUGH THEY GET THE MOST LINES, FISH AREN'T REALLY KNOWN FOR THEIR VOCAL PERFORMANCES. THERE'S EVIDENCE THAT SUGGESTS THAT THEY'VE BEEN TALKING; WE JUST HAVEN'T LISTENED. A NEW STUDY LED BY CORNELL UNIVERSITY HELPS, FOR THE FIRST TIME, TO PUT VERBAL COMMUNICATION INTO EVOLUTIONARY CONTEXT: THE RESEARCH TEAM SAYS THAT FISH DO VOCALIZE--A TRAIT THAT DATES BACK LONG BEFORE VERTEBRATES FIRST VENTURED OUT OF THE WATER. THE RESEARCHERS COMPARED THE DEVELOPING BRAIN CELLS OF "MIDSHIPMAN" FISH LARVAE WITH OTHER SPECIES; THEY TRACED THE CIRCUITRY THAT ENABLES US TO TALK TODAY, TO HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO, WITH THE SOUNDS CREATED BY FISH. THE WAY THAT FISH REGULARLY COMMUNICATE IS WITH HUMS AND GRUNTS--AS RECORDED AT THE U-C-DAVIS "BODEGA MARINE LABORATORY". THE SOUNDS CAN INDICATE--AMONG OTHER THINGS--WHETHER A FISH IS TELLING A RIVAL TO GET OUT OF ITS FACE, OR WHETHER A MALE FISH WANTS TO ATTRACT A FEMALE. SO, YES, FISH HAVE A VOICE, TOO--A DEEP ONE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
