May 23, 2023
Author and researcher Karen Bakker visits Google to discuss her new
book "The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us
Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants". The natural world
teems with remarkable conversations, many beyond human hearing
range. Scientists are using groundbreaking digital technologies to
uncover these astonishing sounds, revealing vibrant communication
among our fellow creatures across the Tree of Life.
At once meditative and scientific, The Sounds of Life shares
fascinating and surprising stories of nonhuman sound, interweaving
insights from technological innovation and traditional knowledge.
We meet scientists using sound to protect and regenerate endangered
species from the Great Barrier Reef to the Arctic and the Amazon.
We discover the shocking impacts of noise pollution on both animals
and plants. We learn how artificial intelligence can decode
nonhuman sounds, and meet the researchers building dictionaries in
East African Elephant and “Sperm Whalish”. At the frontiers of
innovation, we explore digitally mediated dialogues with bats and
honeybees. Technology often distracts us from nature, but what if
it could reconnect us instead?
The Sounds of Life offers hope for environmental conservation and
affirms humanity’s relationship with nature in the digital age.
After learning about the unsuspected wonders of nature’s sounds, we
will never see walks outdoors in the same way again.
Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.