Birds don't know shit about microphones.
this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
619 points (98.4% liked)
Science Memes
14188 readers
1667 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Just sayin'
Once I sat in a field listening to Victor Wooten and whistling along with him. On a fence nearby was I think a brushed shouldered blackbird? Brushed shouldered something. It started singing with me and doing a little dance. Eventually it even started syncopating its part. Like, you could see it waiting for the timing to be just right for each note. On key and everything. Went on for about half an hour.
Birds are cool.
The black hole only knows two songs, tho.
Black Hole Sun and Supermassive Black Hole.
Fun facts: you may actually hear an orbiting black-hole spin if you're close enough. It's possible for gravitational waves to reach the same amplitude as sound waves, which would probably cause your eardrum to activate as space contracts and expands past it, so you would "hear" something, but we don't really know what it would sound like, likely a hum or high-pitched thrumming.
Depending on the size of the black hole (smaller is more likely for this) you may also "see" static in the air, as hawking radiation is emitted by the space around the event horizon. Hawking radiation doesn't come "out" of a black hole, that would be impossible. Instead, it "appears" in space around the black hole, and as it does, it draws mass off the black hole. For larger black holes this area of hawking radiation could be enormous, millions and millions of miles, and it would be very, very faint. For smaller ones, it may actually throw so much hawking radiation out that it would appear in your retinas at times.
Blackhole: "Hey.... You wanna hear the most annoying sound in the universe? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Good for it. Those are both fantastic songs.
Even 30 years later, Black Hole Sun blows my mind. Chris Cornell's voice walks this impossible line between sounding so full of emotion that it's about to burst, and sounding somehow soothing and precise.
That's not even a line that exists to walk; he creates a line that cannot logically exist, just so his voice can walk it.
Chris was one of a kind. Limo Wreck really showed his range, and is one of my favourites.
"WHILE. THE. REST. OF. YOU. HARVEST. THE. SOULS"
There are no pauses in that sentence but they're sung with such punctuated venom that they feel like universes of their own.
What about Black Hole by Betraying The Martyrs?
Unfortunately, it also partially remembers the first verse, and the chorus of Spoonman, but that shit has been stuck in its head for a couple billion years now...
Feel the rhythm all alone.
Massive, compact astronomical object: "AND WASH AWAY THE RAAAAAAAAAAINNN..."
It’s all vibes man
The song is 'Happiness by the kilowatt' by Alexisonfire.
(Which itself is a reference to 'The Euphio Question' by Kurt Vonnegut)
My favourite bird song fact is that parrots (even small ones like budgies) can associate particular sound sequences with specific members of their flocks, including themselves. They can also introduce themselves to each other with those sequences.
If you happen to own a parrot, it most likely has a name in its own language and has told it to you. And it also gave you a name.
This is what AI should be for, finding the patterns and deciphering
thats what a lot of AI is used for, just in different fields.
There's a fun open source app called WhoBIRD that identifies birds by their calls in real time!
It's actually really impressive and a lot of fun identifying the local birds. This is a use of learning models I can totally get behind. :D
AI has been and continues to be used for these sorts of things. Generative AI like LLMs and image generators might be getting all the media attention and attract the techbros at the moment, but they are fundamentally inappropriate for this purpose, but other AI machine learning models are making advancements all the time.
They've so far used AI to detect all the different parts of a particular whale species' language, like the different sounds and timing. Deciphering the meaning will be much harder since it's difficult to observe their behavior, but small land mammals should go much smoother.
Every tool has its use, as long as it's not being shoved everywhere for the sake of shareholders™
It's bird-post day it seems
Tits out for Spring!!!
Looks like they're working out
hm, hanging low.. it'll be rain
I saw it! I saw a bird today!
Pics?
Flew away
happens
RIAA: *heavy breathing intensifies*
did the bird stop awkwardly when it notices the microphone
view more: next ›