NationStates Jolt Archive

Christmas tune music to dogs' ears

It's music to the ears of dogs and the creators say it's a sure hit - but to those who are not canines, this Christmas hit is closer to The Sound of Silence.

Believed to be a world first, A Very Silent Night, by The Underdogs, was recorded as an SPCA fundraiser at the highest frequency possible on CD, so only dogs can hear it.

[...] After a test run at Wellington's Newtown SPCA, director Bob Kerridge said there were diehard fans and some not so sure. "There's been a whole mixture from our canine critics."

Mr Kerridge, who was unable to hear the track, said the dogs were able to clearly hear the recording. "None of the dogs that have heard it have been repulsed by it. They all think it's pretty good - but in varying degrees of praise."

The CDs cost from $4.99 at The Warehouse.


(link (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4310854a4560.html))

... the heck?! :eek:


Chimp beats humans in computer games

Chimps have beaten human adults in two tests of short-term memory.

Japanese researchers from Kyoto University says this challenges the belief of many people, including many scientists, that humans are superior to chimpanzees in all cognitive functions.

One memory test included three five-year-old chimps who'd been taught the order of Arabic numerals 1 through 9 and a dozen human volunteers.

They saw nine numbers displayed on a computer screen.

When they touched the first number the other eight turned into white squares.

The test was to touch all these squares in the order of the numbers that used to be there and one chimp, Ayumu, did the best.

When Ayumu and nine college students did a second test the chimp also did better.

The results are recorded in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology.


(link (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4311802a4560.html))

I'm not particularly surprised by this. There doesn't seem to be any particular reason why a chimp shouldn't outsmart humans in this way. Chimps have proven their intelligence in similar ways time and time again.

Someone should remind these people that just because dogs can hear things we can't doesn't mean they can't hear things that we can.......

Someone should remind these people that just because dogs can hear things we can't doesn't mean they can't hear things that we can.......

well, they wouldn't make any money that way :p

Umm.. wasn't there once this catfood commercial featuring mice and whatnot on TV that you were supposed to 'make your cat watch' (however one achieves that) and, if your cat responded positively to it, you were supposed to go and buy that brand of catfood because your cat 'clearly approves of it'?

(Vaguely reminds me of the Whiskas slogan "Katzen würden Whiskas kaufen" - "Cats would buy Whiskas")

Why yes - the Wiki entry for Whiskas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskas) has a section on it, as said commercial actually was a Whiskas commercial - funny.

On Wednesday 27th January 1999, Whiskas singles aired the very first "commercial for cats" on British TV. The VHS release featured a small segment on how the advert worked, and showed several cats [sic] reactions. The advert itself was a collection of clips with contrasting colours, fish [sic] and video captured from underwater. The end of the video (before fading out and then running again) claimed that 'In our tests, 8 out of 10 preferred it', a previously mentioned slogan for the company.

well, they wouldn't make any money that way :p
What kind of nut buys their dog a really really high pitched CD? Seriously, I hate really high noises, why wouldn't a dog?
Umm.. wasn't there once this catfood commercial featuring mice and whatnot on TV that you were supposed to 'make your cat watch' (however one achieves that) and, if your cat responded positively to it, you were supposed to go and buy that brand of catfood because your cat 'clearly approves of it'?

(Vaguely reminds me of the Whiskas slogan "Katzen würden Whiskas kaufen" - "Cats would buy Whiskas")

Cats would buy Whiskas, but if you'll do it for them they won't bother.

What kind of nut buys their dog a really really high pitched CD? Seriously, I hate really high noises, why wouldn't a dog?


It's the highest pitch for a CD; it doesn't mean it would seem particularly high-pitched for a dog. Then again, when my dog heard bagpipes near Inverness, she tilted her head right back and howled.

I'm merely wondering why anyone would buy Christmas music that only a dog can hear, rather than music that both dogs and humans can hear. It's not even as if dogs particularly want to hear Christmas music. My dog never reacts to music (well, except bagpipes... And my sister playing the recorder, many years ago. That made her howl, too.).

What kind of nut buys their dog a really really high pitched CD? Seriously, I hate really high noises, why wouldn't a dog?
I only answer his because I have nothing else to do with the 12 minutes before class, but: because dogs have a different hearing range from you (I make the unwarranted assumption that you are a member of the human species)?

Cats would buy Whiskas, but if you'll do it for them they won't bother.
Proud animals as they are, they definitely wouldn't; they'd invent and buy something they don't need the degradation of a human can opener for in order to consume it.

I It's not even as if dogs particularly want to hear Christmas music.

Source? ;P

I only answer his because I have nothing else to do with the 12 minutes before class, but: because dogs have a different hearing range from you (I make the unwarranted assumption that you are a member of the human species)?
Oh yeah.....
Also, totally unwarranted.


Proud animals as they are, they definitely wouldn't; they'd invent and buy something they don't need the degradation of a human can opener for in order to consume it.

This makes sense.

Source? ;P

Touché. Maybe there exists an untapped market of passionate music lovers and Christmas enthusiasts among dogs. :p

Touché. Maybe there exists an untapped market of passionate music lovers and Christmas enthusiasts among dogs. :p
:D

Touché. Maybe there exists an untapped market of passionate music lovers and Christmas enthusiasts among dogs. :p

Absolutely. I think we ought to remember how very much the 'reality' about dogs we perceive is but a construct of our, for the most part terribly speciesist and anthropocentric, human minds. I think we ought to bust this whole biased fundament and re-construct a new basis for discussion solely from empirical evidence brougth to us by our canine specialist experts. It's high time we shifted out focus from talking 'about' them to talking 'with' them! End marginalization of canine interests NOW!

I love being a social sciences major.

Thanks for clarifying the title. I thought I was going to have to throw away a good portion of my CD collection.

Oy, the Canine Jewish community won't be pleased by this...

"Chimps have beaten human adults in two tests of short-term memory."

At a casinio near my home they have a chicken that often beats humans at tic tac toe.

For a scientific study to be accurate over a broad spectrum the sample size has to be larger than the sample size in this article.

This study has almost no scientific value, other than to state that one of three apes has a better short term memory (according to one test) than nine humans and two other apes.

This study has almost no scientific value, other than to state that one of three apes has a better short term memory (according to one test) than nine humans and two other apes.
Heh, humans are apes.

Thanks for clarifying the title. I thought I was going to have to throw away a good portion of my CD collection.

You could always have given them to an animal shelter, y'know.