Eddy's Good News: Data on the humback whales language and machine that purifies seawater!

Virgin Radio

11 May 2022, 09:08

Every day during his show on Virgin Radio, Eddy Temple-Morris brings you Good News stories from around the world, to help inject a bit of positivity into your day!Be sure to listen each day between 10am and 1pm (Monday - Friday) to hear Eddy's Good News stories (amongst the finest music of course), but if you miss any of them you can catch up on the transcripts of Eddy's most recent stories below:Wednesday 11th May 2022

Fascinating news from the high seas as researchers studying the language used by humpback whales have recorded hundreds of their ‘words and conversations’ and even discovered a new one!

Marine biologists have thus far put whale sounds in two categories: song and non-song. Of course they may sound like songs to us but of course these are probably highly complex sentences, oven conversations in whale language. The shorter, or non-song sounds might, in the absence of a babel-fish translator, be words and scientists in South Africa and the UK have recorded over 600 of these sounds, including some that have never been heard before. From gunshot sounds, to “whups” and “grumbles”, the language of these mammals is rich and complex. There are many human languages in which a very subtle, almost inaudible change in emphasis or pitch can completely change a word and the same is almost certainly true for whales and in actual fact, the 600 words they recorded are more likely to be thousands of words. This is part of an international effort to further protect whales because it’s new clear they are a much bigger and more important part of the global warming picture because the algae that sequesters much of the world’s CO2 relies on whaley-waste as its favourite food.

Via: goodnewnsetwork.org

Two days in a row for the tech boffins at MIT on our Good News, yesterday it was the thinnest speaker in the world, today it’s a portable machine that can turn seawater into fresh drinking water in minutes.

Desalination will become a more and more vital way to get water to humans, animals and plants that need it, as our world heats up and up till now it’s always been done the same way, by filtering out the salt. But salt sifting scientists at MIT have been working for over a decade on cracking the holy grail of desalination, which is to do it filter free!

Gone are the high pressure pumps and complex filtration systems which require lots of energy and instead, this little box about the size of an old fashioned typewriter uses ‘ion concentration polarisation’ which pushes the seawater under low pressure, past membranes which remove almost all the salt particles, and what’s left is taken out by ‘electrodialysis’ to leave water that exceeds World Health Organisation quality standards. It’s a huge deal because filtration systems aren’t practical for portable units and this could be a lifesaver for civilian and military personnel in remote places.

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org