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URL:https://lectures.london/cambridge-university/why-animals-talkand-can-w
 e-translate-what-they-say/calender.ics
NAME:Lectures London
X-WR-CALNAME:Lectures London
TIMEZONE-ID:Europe/London
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UID:25d1379f-c9ba-44db-9cf5-3b9a9b543410
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DTSTAMP:20260705T084110
DTSTART:20260716T130000
DTEND:20260716T140000
SUMMARY:Why animals talk…and can we translate what they say?
LOCATION:Cambridge University: Sainsbury Laboratory 
DESCRIPTION:Talk Overview All animals—and even many plants—communicate
 \, but the complexity of what they “say” varies widely. This is shaped
  by evolutionary pressures: species with more complex social lives tend to
  develop richer communication systems\, as sharing more information offers
  clear advantages. Rather than treating animal communication as a version 
 of human language\, this talk emphasises understanding each species’ ada
 ptive needs to determine how much information they actually require to con
 vey. With growing interest in using AI to “translate” animal communica
 tion\, it is crucial to first consider what animals need to communicate\, 
 and how they encode that information. Dr Kershenbaum explores questions ar
 ound information content and signalling\, challenging the assumption that 
 human notions of “meaning” can be directly applied to other species. A
 nimals may experience and interpret meaning in ways very different from li
 nguistic humans. The talk also examines whether traditional measures such 
 as “complexity” are helpful indicators of language-like systems\, and 
 considers how meaning operates in graded communication signals\, as seen i
 n species like dolphins and wolves. Speaker Background Dr Arik Kershenbaum
  is an Associate Professor and Fellow of Girton College\, University of Ca
 mbridge. A zoologist specialising in animal vocal communication\, he condu
 cts fieldwork on species including wolves\, gibbons\, dolphins and hyraxes
 . His research investigates the information content of animal calls and ap
 plies these insights to conservation. He is the author of 'The Zoologist
 ’s Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Why Animals Talk'\, which earned the Max Pl
 anck Group Science Communication Medal. Dr Kershenbaum studied at Cambridg
 e\, completed a PhD at the University of Haifa\, held a postdoctoral fello
 wship in Tennessee\, and later returned to Cambridge\, where he received a
 n ScD and is currently a College Teaching Officer at Girton College. No bo
 oking required. Join in person at the Sainsbury Lab\, Cambridge (47 Batema
 n St)\, or online via Zoom.
URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/whatson/detail.shtml?uid=b4b8a39a
 -6c05-4552-a812-423c68c05843
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