Not only are killer whales the largest of the dolphin family but they’re also recognized as one of the world’s largest powerful aquatic apex predators – but did you know they can speak?

Over time, orcas – also known as killer whales – have evolved to swim up to 40 miles a day, according to National Geographic. They can hunt on land and are actually in possession of the largest marine mammal brain.

Here’s something you may not know about orcas though – they can apparently copy basic human words like ‘hello’ and ‘bye bye’.

Orcas are one of the most intelligent marine mammals in the world (Wirestock/Getty Images)

Orcas mimicking human language

The recording is part of a 2018 study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, which saw experts from Germany, Spain, the UK and Chile documenting how they discovered orcas could mimic human language.

Josep Call, a professor in evolutionary origins of mind at the University of St Andrews and co-author, explained the researchers initially wanted to see ‘how flexible a killer whale can be’ when it comes to copying sounds they’re not used to.

“We thought what would be really convincing is to present them with something that is not in their repertoire – and in this case ‘hello’ [is] not what a killer whale would say,” Call said, per The Guardian.

The team carried out the research by first training a 14-year-old orca named Wikie to copy three familiar orca sounds made by her three-year-old calf, then exposing her to five orca sounds she had never heard before.

The human sounds the orca was able to say

Finally, Wikie heard a human make three orca sounds, then six human sounds including the words ‘hello’, ‘Amy’, ‘ah ha’, ‘one, two’ and ‘bye bye’.

After listening to Wikie’s responses, the team found that the orca was able to quickly copy the sounds, including nailing two of the human utterances on the first attempt.

Recordings of Wikie capture her attempts to mimic the human speaking to her, and while admittedly some of the attempts sound like they’ve come from a terrifying goblin, others are eerily accurate.

Listeners have been left unnerved by the recordings, with one viewer commenting: “The hello sounded demonic.”

Wikie the whale succeeded in mimicking a number of human sounds (Abramson et. al/CBS News)

And another joked: “OK, that second hello was a little demonic. Was that really an orca, or the Devil speaking through a ghost box LOL The funniest and scariest thing EVER! That’s my day, can’t stop laughing my head off lol.”

But as demonic as the recordings might sound, other viewers have pointed out just how amazing it is to hear the whale mimic humans.

“This makes me tear up, the fact that we live in a such a beautiful world filled with wonderful creatures,” one person wrote.

While only one human sound given to Wikie – ‘hello’ – was correctly produced more than 50 percent of the time on subsequent trials, the findings offered the first evidence that orcas may be learning sounds by vocal imitation.

“This is something that could be the basis of the dialects we observe in the wild – it is plausible,” Call said.

Can orcas understand what these sounds mean?

Wikie’s responses are made even more impressive by the fact her vocal apparatus is so different to humans.

Call said: “Even though the morphology [of orcas] is so different, they can still produce a sound that comes close to what another species, in this case us, can produce.”

That being said, Call added: “We have no evidence that they understand what their ‘hello’ stands for.”

Though the research with Wikie has offered some initial insight, Call noted that more trials would need to be carried out with wild orcas to learn more about how they learn sounds.

The first patient for Elon Musk’s Neuralink device has showed themselves using a computer with the device.

A nine minute livestream on X showed Noland Arbaugh using the device to play chess online.

Mr. Arbaugh, 29, who was left paralysed below the shoulders in a diving accident, received the chip in an operation in January.

Speaking during the nine-minute presentation, Mr. Arbaugh said that the procedure to install the device was ‘super easy’.

As well as successfully playing chess ‘with his mind’, he also said he’d been able to put in an eight hour stint of the grand strategy game Civilization VI.

Nonetheless, he clarified that the new technology is not perfect and has ‘run into some issues’ which are being looked into.

Neuralink is a technology company owned by Elon Musk and is researching ways to connect the brain to a computer.

It is hoped that the technology will enable people who have suffered severe spinal or neurological issues to tackle some of the challenges they face.

The device is around the size of a coin, and works by picking up on the electrical signals the brain produces whenever we do something, whether that’s moving our bodies, speaking, or even thinking.

X/@neuralink

Neuralink has previously tested on pigs and monkeys, and in May 2023 was granted permission to begin human testing by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

It is not the only company looking into the prospect of using computer interfaces as a way to treat certain conditions.

The École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne in Switzerland has successfully enabled Gert-Jan Oskam to walk by thinking of the movements involved.

Mr Oskam, 40, was paralysed in a cycling accident, and the electrical implants have enabled him to stand, walk, and climb stairs.

The peer-reviewed journal Nature published details of the findings in May 2023.

Speaking about the cutting edge technology, Professor Anne Vanhoestenberghe of King’s College London. told the BBC: “For any company producing medical devices, the first test in humans is a significant milestone.

“For the brain computer interface community, we must place this news in the context that whilst there are many companies working on exciting products, there are only a few other companies who have implanted their devices in humans, so Neuralink has joined a rather small group.”

LISA O’CONNOR/AFP via Getty Images

Nonetheless, she cautioned that the true measure of success for such a device is measured in its long term ability to help patients.

Neuralink has previously been criticised over its animal testing, with Reuters reporting in December 2022 that its tests have resulted in the deaths of around 1,500 animals.

In July 2023, the head of the US Department of Agriculture said it had not found any violations of animal research regulations at Neuralink.

A separate investigation by the Dept of Agriculture is ongoing.

UNILAD has reached out to Neuralink for comment.

Elon Musk has shared an update on the first person to have a Neuralink device implanted in their brain.

The project has now moved on to human trials, with recipient Noland Arbaugh now passing more than 100 days with the device.

Arbaugh suffered from life-changing injuries following a diving accident in 2016.

The incident left him with ‘absolutely no feeling’ from his shoulders and below.

He became the first person to have a Neuralink device implanted into his brain, which he has since been able to use to control a computer.

The procedure was carried out on January 27 and lasted just 30 minutes, including a ‘sewing machine-like’ robot which removed a small section of his skull and implanted the chip.

An update from the company, which is owned by Elon Musk, has now clarified some challenges they have faced.

Neuralink has confirmed that part of the implant malfunctioned in the weeks after the procedure.

The device works using 64 ‘threads’ which Neuralink claims are thinner than a human hair.

Noland Arbaugh is the first person to have the implant. (Noland Arbaugh)

These pickup on signals from the brain which are then interpreted into signals.

But in the weeks after the procedure a number of threads have retracted from Arbaugh’s brain, the company explained in a blog post, though they did not disclose how many threads had retracted.

This meant that the device would not pick up on the brain’s signals as effectively.

Neuralink has since announced it has updated the software in the device to improve how it picks up on signals.

According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, Neuralink did consider removing the device, but decided against it as there was no direct risk to Arbaugh’s safety.

The device aims to allow someone to use a computer with just their brain. (Neuralink)

For his part, the blog post said that Arbaugh said the device is a ‘luxury overload’ which has helped him to ‘reconnect with the world’.

Arbaugh, 29, said: “[The Link] has helped me reconnect with the world, my friends, and my family.

‘It’s given me the ability to do things on my own again without needing my family at all hours of the day and night.”

Neuralink is not the only company that is working on implanting a device into someone’s brain.

It is hoped that the technology can be used to help people with conditions such as paralysis to be able to interact with the world more.

However, there is still a long way to go before the technology can be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

A major Tesla investor has sold its entire stake after CEO Elon Musk attempted to wangle himself a record-breaking pay package.

Entrepreneur Musk is the world’s richest man, with a net worth of more than $400 billion, as per Forbes.

But in 2018, Tesla shareholders initially voted to approve a record-breaking $56 billion pay package for him.

The deal would’ve allowed Musk to buy a maximum of 304 shares for $23.34, on the condition that he met certain performance goals.

For context, Tesla now shares trade at a rate of $403 each.

Elon Musk in 2000 (Pauline Lubens/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)

Despite the majority of shareholders approving the pay deal, one investor filed a suit which claimed that the board had been misleading and that the pay package was unfair.

And the Supreme Court has since twice rejected Musk’s appeals, as Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick stated that Tesla’s ‘unprecedented theories go against multiple strains of settled law’.

The proposed pay package angered investors, so much so that one Dutch company got rid of all $585 million worth of its shares in the electric vehicle company.

Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP – one of Europe’s largest pension funds – sold its entire 2.8 million shares in September, valued at the time at $585 million, according to Bloomberg.

In a statement to the NL Times, an ABP spokesperson said ‘we cannot and do not need to invest in everything,’ adding that Musk’s pay deal was ‘by no means the only reason’ for the divestment.

The Tesla CEO ruffled feathers with his $56 million pay package proposal (Christian Marquardt – Pool/Getty Images)

ABP’s Tesla investment was only worth around a tenth of its other US company holdings, Fortune reported.

The publication claims ABP ‘owned €5.6 billion’ in technology company Nvidia at the end of September.

Meanwhile, its investments in Microsoft and Apple were even larger at €6.0 billion and €6.3 billion respectively.

Months after ABP sold its shares, Tesla stock skyrocketed to a record high of $479.86 in mid-December, following Donald Trump’s election in early November.

ABP told press that the move was not ‘politically motivated.’

Musk has been a prominent supporter of President-elect Trump, and has since been confirmed as the head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk is an outspoken supporter of President-elect Donald Trump (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

While it isn’t technically a government department, it’s reported that DOGE will act as an outside advisor to Trump’s administration.

Under the new role, Musk has already promised to slash the federal budget by trillions.

Speaking about the appointment, Trump said DOGE will help his team to ‘dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies’.

Musk has also attempting to influence politics across the pond in the UK, calling on King Charles to dissolve parliament and reportedly suggesting he’d donate $100 million to far-right, anti-immigration party Reform.