Holy Porpoise Chorus, Batman!

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[Science]
[Beating Dead Horses]
Scientists at New College of Florida in Sarasota have been able to get dolphins at Disney's Epcot Center to sing a short, high-pitched version of the Batman soundtrack. Using rewards and repetition, the dolphins were taught to recognize and repeat various rhythms at various frequencies. This is the first evidence that other animals can recognize and reproduce rhythms vocally, a real breakthrough. I'm not so sure--if they could teach them to truly appreciate the 1966 feature-length Batman movie, THAT would be something.

The researchers began by teaching dolphins to react to certain rhythms and rewarded appropriately. Then they worked to have the dolphins produce the rhythms using a pneumatic switch. Eventually the dolphins vocalized the rhythms they were being taught whenever they were showed a Batman doll by the researchers.

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