Zoologist at Girton College, University of Cambridge. Author of 'The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Why Animals Talk' https://bit.ly/482925U. Animal communication researcher, https://www.bioacousticsresearchgroup.org/https://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3mwxt5e4els2yA conversation with Thomas Villa from the Exo-Life Finder project exolife-finder.com Here we talk about biology, physics, and the evolution of intelligent life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2TAbDfA76Q03 Oct 2026 11:51 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwxt5e4els2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3msxgk43e6k2wJoin me at the annual conference of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ESSSAT) in Leeds on August 21, where I'll be giving a plenary talk on: "If language makes us human, where does that leave animals?" esssatconference.org/program/ @esssat.bsky.social13 Aug 2026 10:25 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3msxgk43e6k2whttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3mob5p5mxk22dWhat an honour! This article in @theatlantic.com names "The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy" along with Carl Sagan's "Contact" and "Cosmos" as their choice of "Six Books That Take You to Space" https://www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/06/alien-book-sci-fi-recommendations/687185/14 Jun 2026 16:08 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3mob5p5mxk22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3mmehpfvbqs2eHonoured to be part of the judging committee for the 🐺🐭📣 COLLER DOLITTLE CHALLENGE FOR TWO-WAY INTERSPECIES COMMUNICATION The public Award Ceremony is 25 JUNE 2026 - register free: 👉 https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_V73Duex0TRmxGNPYK0HaOA to hear the amazing discoveries from this year’s finalists!21 May 2026 12:54 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmehpfvbqs2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3midukmn4vk2hHere I am in a nice detailed podcast about the evolution of communication and what that means about human brains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AhnAuDtCWo31 Mar 2026 09:31 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3midukmn4vk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3mgfngrvivk2iWill humans and animals ever be able to converse? Here’s what I say... https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/animal-human-communication-research06 Mar 2026 15:38 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgfngrvivk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3mexvgezkmc2wRead more about our project to map tiger risk by eavesdropping on the alarm calls of prey animals https://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/news/eavesdropping-wildlife-reduce-human-tiger-conflict16 Feb 2026 10:59 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3mexvgezkmc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3me6z4xoifc2gNew documentary on PBS: Can Dogs Talk? https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/can-dogs-talk/ Do "speech buttons" really allow our dogs to speak to us? I'm one of a number of scientists interviewed, and the answer is...06 Feb 2026 13:29 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3me6z4xoifc2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3me4qiaskic2m🚨🐯 BIG NEW PAPER OUT! 🐯🚨 "An autonomous network of acoustic detectors to map tiger risk by eavesdropping on prey alarm calls" 🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅 We used AI to do real-time detection of deer alarm calls and warn villagers when there's a tiger in the area https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rse2.7006105 Feb 2026 15:48 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3me4qiaskic2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3m5yp3yai4c2e📢How animals reveal secrets of our intelligence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUfqcCIB6YY #AI, #LLM, and animal communication, with Tim El-Sheikh from The CEO Retort19 Nov 2025 16:42 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5yp3yai4c2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lwr6sj33xk2nI've just joined the scientific committee of the @CollerDolittle Prize coller-dolittle-24.sites.tau.ac.il offering $100,000 each year for scientific research that has used a non-invasive approach to communicate with or decipher an organism’s communication. Submit by the deadline of September 30th! https://coller-dolittle-24.sites.tau.ac.il/19 Aug 2025 15:05 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwr6sj33xk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lv4jo76szs2z🐯🦌🔊Read about the amazing work we're doing in Nepal to prevent human-tiger conflict using AI devices that listen out for deer alarm calls! https://greatplainsfoundation.com/tiger-conservation-nepal-bioacoustics/ And don't forget to watch the fantastic video by @Grizanderson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnVL6uXI6FM29 Jul 2025 16:29 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lv4jo76szs2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3luuidp5s4s2zOnce again, Star Trek nails social commentary. Even if the conflict in the Middle East is "over some piece of land", the reality is that "the basis for peace must be personal". Movements like @standing-together.bsky.social and Hand in Hand (www.handinhandk12.org) are building that peace.26 Jul 2025 11:44 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3luuidp5s4s2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lthovcyrq22s📣Check out the Listening Fields podcast, where I talk to the fantastic Dr Vickie Pham about recording animals in the wild, meaning & information in animal calls, and how we use acoustic monitoring to aid conservation of critically endangered species 🐅 https://soundcloud.com/faderadio/listening-fields-002-w-vp-and-dr-arik-kershenbaum-06072508 Jul 2025 16:11 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lthovcyrq22shttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lthhvolzf22sNew paper! Using AI to track the frequency of vocalisations across a (very) wide range of species https://www.ricardmarxer.com/f0-bioacoustics/ In wolves, dolphins, etc, the up-down of frequency of their calls is where all the information is. Neural nets can do this automatically! ‪08 Jul 2025 14:06 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lthhvolzf22shttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lt7nqqczck2sCongratulations Dr ‪@simon-kershenbaum.bsky.social‬ on his first lead author paper 🎉http://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225012969 Variation in phenotype, genotype, and somatic diversity among asexual Schmidtea mediterranea planarians05 Jul 2025 11:29 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lt7nqqczck2shttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lt65d6dao22sJust finished reading Ittay Flescher's remarkable book, "The Holy and the Broken". If you are tired of endless dehumanisation of both sides do come to his book launch at Girton College, Cambridge, on July 16th. Sign up on the link here https://actionnetwork.org/events/the-holy-and-the-broken-in-discussion-with-ittay-flescher/ @ukfost.bsky.social04 Jul 2025 21:03 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lt65d6dao22shttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lsba6uciwc2lOn July 16 I'll be hosting Ittay Flescher for a talk about his book "The Holy and the Broken" - how communities can work together to overcome the hatred and the destruction that we see around us in Israel and Palestine. 6:30 Girton College. Free. Book here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/the-holy-and-the-broken-in-discussion-with-ittay-flescher/23 Jun 2025 09:07 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsba6uciwc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lptyydzcvc2pThere's been a lot of coverage in the media recently of AI and dolphin communication. Here's a good @sciam.bsky.social SciAm podcast that speaks to the actual scientists @drdherzing.bsky.social Denise Herzing about what they're doing. (and to me too) https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/dolphingemma-could-enable-ai-communication-with-dolphins/23 May 2025 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lptyydzcvc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lpa3eearos27A packed meeting to hear Amin Amara and Uri Weltmann, leaders of @ukfost.bsky.social Standing Together, speak about the role of a grassroots movement of Jewish and Palestinian Israelis in opposing the war in Gaza and in building a cooperative, multinational society.15 May 2025 17:52 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpa3eearos27https://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lot4itjnhs24Finally the book is published! PRIMATES IN PERIL: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2023–2025 Updated information about the cao vit gibbon! Link download: https://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/1200343/28689322/1746295616970/Top_25_Primates_2023-2025.pdf https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E6p29yT91/10 May 2025 14:08 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lot4itjnhs24https://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3logcpiwft22cA reminder of the meeting next week in Cambridge where you can hear from the leaders of Standing Together @standing-together.bsky.social working to bring together #Jewish and #Palestinian citizens of #Israel. Sign up on the link below: https://actionnetwork.org/events/building-power-through-jewish-palestinian-solidarity-hear-standing-together-leaders-speak-in-cambridge/05 May 2025 11:54 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3logcpiwft22chttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3logccytgj22c"Cold-blooded culture?" A great new paper out by my collegues Angela Dassow and Holly Root-Gutteridge @hollyhowls.bsky.social and others on the phenomenon of: 🦎🐍🐊🐢CULTURE IN REPTILES 🦎🐍🐊🐢 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2024.012905 May 2025 11:47 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3logccytgj22chttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lnbbnvrpas2i📣Cambridge, come hear Amin and Uri, two leaders of STANDING TOGETHER, a grassroots movenment that mobilises Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israel against war, occupation, and racism. Thursday May 15 6pm, Woolf Institute, Cambridge https://actionnetwork.org/events/building-power-through-jewish-palestinian-solidarity-hear-standing-together-leaders-speak-in-cambridge/ @ukfost.bsky.social20 Apr 2025 18:27 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lnbbnvrpas2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lmylmodtgs2iThe pace of discoveries in the search for alien life is picking up. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39jj9vkr34o If you want to know more about what life will be like on other planets, The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy is a good place to start https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314542/the-zoologists-guide-to-the-galaxy-by-kershenbaum-arik/9780241986844 #scicomm #astrobiology17 Apr 2025 07:31 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmylmodtgs2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3lmtxha243k2ehttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-ai-let-us-chat-with-dolphins/15 Apr 2025 11:20 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmtxha243k2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/arikkershenbaum.bsky.social/post/3llcdv6isg22xAnother cool podcast, if you want to know more about animal communication 🦧📣 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPGyM1Zq8cw #scicom26 Mar 2025 17:49 +0000at://did:plc:ze2kpdutak36yuoeb4vndbar/app.bsky.feed.post/3llcdv6isg22x