From NOVA PBS Official.
Can animals talk? Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis reveals why some species might be closer than we think.
Talking, singing, even dancing — they all trace back to a rare superpower: vocal learning. But humans aren’t the only animals that have it. Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis has spent his career decoding the mysterious ability to imitate sounds, a key ingredient in spoken language. In this episode, he joins Hakeem to explore why only a handful of species — like parrots, dolphins, and bats — can do it, how it evolved, and what it reveals about the brain, consciousness, and culture. Plus, Erich shares how AI is helping decode animal communication and why engineering our pets to talk might actually be possible… but could fundamentally change the way they think.
Erich Jarvis is a neuroscientist investigating the mysteries of speech and vocal learning through groundbreaking research on birdsong and brain evolution. As a professor at The Rockefeller University and head of the Jarvis Lab, he explores how complex behaviors like human language arise from brain circuits and genetic pathways. Jarvis was also profiled in NOVA Wonders: What are Animals Saying.
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"Particles of Thought" is hosted by Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist, author, STEM educator, multi-patented inventor, science journalist, TV personality, science communicator, and inspirational speaker. His research is based on "hacking stars" to understand our universe better and develop innovative new technologies. Oluseyi’s work has resulted in 11 patents and more than 100 publications covering contributions to astrophysics, cosmology, and plasma physics and the development of space missions, observatories, focal plane instruments, detectors, semiconductor manufacturing, and ion propulsion.
Chapters
00:00:00 Language in Animals vs. Humans
00:10:45 Music and Vocal Learning
00:20:04 Can You Genetically Engineer Animals to Speak?
00:27:36 How Did Speech Evolve?
00:35:27 Can We Translate Animal Language?
00:41:45 Brain Size and Speech
00:47:32 Writing & Symbolic Communication
00:56:17 Conclusion
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