Could humans ever talk to animals?

You’ve probably seen videos of dogs pressing buttons marked “play”, “outside” or “treat”. Some cats use them too, although they may have understood us perfectly all along and simply decided not to answer.

In this Squiz Kids Science Short, we discover how scientists work out what animal sounds mean, whether elephants call each other by name, how sperm whales build messages from clicks, and how AI is helping researchers search for patterns hidden inside animal chatter.

So, are pets really talking? Could we one day translate a whale conversation? And what is the difference between communication and language?

Pop on your listening ears as we tune in to the extraordinary animal conversations happening all around us.