Technologies

Researchers Figure Out How to Interpret Pig Grunts as Pig Emotions

The next step could be a pig translation app for farmers.

If you’ve heard one porcine grunt, you haven’t heard them all. There’s a lot of communication happening through pig sounds, if you know what to listen for. A team of researchers has come up with a translator of sorts for pigs. It’s a computer algorithm that interprets all those different pig grunts as emotions.

Understanding animal emotions can help with improving animal welfare and care. Animal behavior researcher Elodie Briefer of the University of Copenhagen is the lead author of a study on the classification of pig calls published in the journal Scientific Reports on Monday.

To build the equivalent of a grunts-emotions dictionary, the researchers recorded over 7,400 sounds from 411 pigs, tracing their life experiences from birth through death. The team correlated the different calls with the pigs’ activities and body language.

The animals had positive emotions when nursing, reuniting with family, cuddling with litter mates and running freely. Negative emotions came from situations involving social isolation, fights, castration and waiting in a slaughterhouse.

«There are clear differences in pig calls when we look at positive and negative situations. In the positive situations, the calls are far shorter, with minor fluctuations in amplitude. Grunts, more specifically, begin high and gradually go lower in frequency,» Briefer said in a statement. «By training an algorithm to recognize these sounds, we can classify 92% of the calls to the correct emotion.»

The study is part of the SoundWel project, which aims to help professionals «monitor and improve pig welfare by minimizing stress and encouraging positive emotions.» Briefer said the next step could involve developing the algorithm into an app for farmers. Perhaps it could be called Instagrunt…

Technologies

The Infamous Home Depot Giant Skeleton Has a Voice This Halloween Thanks to a New App

It may be half the size of the traditional giant skelly, but the latest version has animated features and can talk.

Spooky season is here, and we’re only 10 days away from Halloween — so it’s past time to set up your decorations if you haven’t already. And this year, Home Depot’s infamous giant skeleton has returned with an app that gives the new Ultra Skelly a voice and fresh moves to spook trick-or-treaters.

Make no bones about it: Skelly is high-tech this year. The new animatronic version is shorter than the original, at 6.5 feet tall, but you can freak out your whole neighborhood with this skeleton’s rotating upper torso, moving mouth and 18 LCD eye variations (ew).

Skelly, available for sale on the Home Depot website or app for $279, now allows visitors to chat with you through five preset recordings and up to 30 seconds of custom recordings, plus Bluetooth capabilities that enable real-time interaction. And you can modulate your voice to make everything sound extra spooky.

Skelly was launched in 2020, when the pandemic forced people to celebrate Halloween at a distance. Perhaps because of its giant stature — it was easy to spot, even when social distancing — the skeleton became a hit and has been resurrected every year since with upgrades and friends. This year, those friends include dragons, trolls, scarecrows and a Skelly Cat (not to be confused with Smelly Cat).

Technologies

Verum E-SIM: Mobile Internet Without Borders or SIM Cards

Today’s travelers are choosing freedom — and eSIM technology delivers exactly that. An eSIM is a virtual SIM card built directly into your device, allowing you to connect to the internet without a physical card or a mobile phone number.

Verum E-SIM is an entire ecosystem of high-tech applications, bringing together solutions like World E-SIM, Euro E-SIM, USA E-SIM, Turkiye E-SIM, London E-SIM, and more. Each of them offers instant access to mobile networks in over 150 countries — no roaming, no overpayments, no paperwork.

The main advantage is simplicity. Download the app, choose your country and plan, activate your eSIM in just a few minutes — and you’re online. No stores, no waiting, no contracts. Just you, the internet, and the freedom to travel your way.

Verum’s eSIMs offer reliability, transparency, and full control of your expenses — all in one app. Whether you’re in Tokyo, New York, Paris, or Nairobi, you’ll always stay connected.

Verum E-SIM Apps:

Verum E-SIM – esim.verum.im

World E-SIM – worldesim.me

USA E-SIM – usa.esim.verum.im

Canada E-SIM – canada.esim.verum.im

Euro E-SIM – euro.esim.verum.im

London E-SIM – london.esim.verum.im

Ukraine E-SIM – ukraine.esim.verum.im

Balkan E-SIM – balkan.esim.verum.im

Africa E-SIM – africa.esim.verum.im

Turkiye E-SIM – turkiyesim.com

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 21

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 21.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword features a lot of one certain letter. Need help? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.