What We Know About Dolphin Minds with Dr. Diana Reiss @EventHorizonShow

Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

An exploration into the minds of dolphins as a model for non-human intelligence, this conversation delves into how their complex communication systems and cognitive abilities can help us understand other potential intelligences. John Michael Godier is joined by cognitive psychologist and marine mammal scientist Dr. Diana Reiss, known for her groundbreaking research on dolphin self-awareness and vocalizations, highlighting surprising parallels with potential extraterrestrial communication.

Links:

seashepherd.org/our-team/dr-diana-reiss

McCowan, B., & Reiss, D. (1995). Maternal aggressive contact vocalizations in captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): Wide-band, low-frequency signals during mother/aunt-infant interactions.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/zoo.1430140402

Morrison, R., & Reiss, D. (2018). Precocious development of self-awareness in dolphins.
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0189813

00:00 Introduction to Dolphin Intelligence and Alien Communication
05:12 Diana Reiss's Early Research on Dolphin Cognition
10:05 Mirror Self-Recognition and Self-Awareness in Dolphins
15:47 Dolphin Communication and Vocalization Studies
20:32 Dolphin Echolocation and Sensory Perception
25:15 Dolphins Demonstrating Empathy and Altruism
31:10 Cognitive Parallels Between Dolphins and Primates
36:03 Dolphins' Use of Tools and Creative Play Behavior
41:08 Ethical Treatment and Dolphin Well-Being
46:10 Advocacy and Efforts Against Dolphin Captivity
50:10 Decoding Communication: Dolphins, AI, and Alien Signals
55:00 Future Research Directions and Final Thoughts

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FOOTAGE:
NASA
ESA/Hubble
ESO - M.Kornmesser
ESO - L.Calcada
ESO - Jose Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org)
NAOJ
University of Warwick
Goddard Visualization Studio
Langley Research Center
Pixabay

What We Know About Dolphin Minds with Dr. Diana Reiss

$Planet Nine Found in Old Data? With Terry Phan and Dr. Tomo Goto Could Planet Nine already be hiding in old infrared data? In this episode of Event Horizon, John Michael Godier speaks with astronomers Terry Phan and Prof. Tomotsugu Goto about their search for Planet Nine using archival data from the IRAS and AKARI space telescopes. They discuss how two detections decades apart could point to a hidden giant planet in our solar system. Papers: A Search for Planet Nine with IRAS and AKARI Data https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.17288 Do they repeat? Monitoring 36 non-repeating FRBs with FAST https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.03564 The true fraction of repeating fast radio bursts revealed through CHIME source count evolution https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.14337 Terry Long Phan is a PhD researcher at the Institute of Astronomy, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Taiwan. His work focuses on observational astronomy, with an emphasis on infrared sky surveys and the search for elusive solar system bodies. He is the lead author of the study “A Search for Planet Nine with IRAS and AKARI Data,” which leverages archival infrared observations from space telescopes to identify candidate objects in the outer solar system. Tomo Goto is a professor of astronomy at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Tokyo. He has been a fellow at the University of Hawaii and the Niels Bohr Institute. In 2006, he was a member of the JAXA team that launched the AKARI infrared space telescope. In 2015, he published his 100th peer-reviewed paper in an international journal. In 2021-2024, he was selected as a top 2% researcher in the world by Stanford University. He was ranked second among astronomers in Taiwan. 0:00 Introduction and bios 1:00 IRAS and AKARI infrared telescopes explained 2:13 Why Planet Nine might show up in old infrared data 3:27 The challenge of detecting distant, faint objects 4:13 Using visual inspection to identify candidates 5:02 The strongest Planet Nine candidate from the study 6:24 Orbital simulations and constraints from previous research 8:06 Can upcoming observatories confirm this detection? 9:33 Limitations of current infrared capabilities 12:50 Why this might change how we search for distant planets 15:28 Future follow-ups with new telescopes and data 18:10 Detecting movement in far-separated sky images 19:11 Estimating orbital periods from limited data 20:00 Why 700 AU is a critical distance for Planet Nine 20:38 Could telescopes mistake Planet Nine for a smaller object? 21:00 Why the object must be large to be seen by AKARI 24:30 Speculations about infrared detection of black holes or Dyson spheres 25:26 How infrared tells us about exotic solar system objects 30:31 Final thoughts and hope for a confirmed Planet Nine YouTube Membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz3qvETKooktNgCvvheuQDw/join Podcast: hhttps://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/john-michael-godier/subscribe Apple: https://apple.co/3CS7rjT More JMG https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnMichaelGodier Want to support the channel? Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EventHorizonShow Follow us at other places! @JMGEventHorizon Music: https://stellardrone.bandcamp.com/ https://migueljohnson.bandcamp.com/ https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/ https://aeriumambient.bandcamp.com/ FOOTAGE: NASA ESA/Hubble ESO - M.Kornmesser ESO - L.Calcada ESO - Jose Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org) NAOJ University of Warwick Goddard Visualization Studio Langley Research Center Pixabay$

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