Hacker Cinema
The Day of the Dolphin
1973 · Film · 105 min
Directed by Mike Nichols
DramaScience FictionThrillerAdventure
A marine biologist teaches his dolphins to communicate in English but shady characters plan to kidnap the trained mammals for a more sinister purpose.
1 positive7 neutralfrom 8 commenters
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8 comments on Hacker News
As you should -- it's fucked up.
I remember the movie made about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Dolphin
You could make the argument that it's further a reference back to "Day of the Dolphin"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069946
Well I remember a US movie of the 1970's with George, C. Scott:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Dolphin
though admittedly in the fiction the dolphins were trained to place the explosives and leave.
About the supposed use of dolphins in Sevastopol:
https://www.livescience.com/russians-using-military-dolphins-satellite
they seem like a marine version of the good ol' Roman geese:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennus_(leader_of_the_Senones)
a sort of intrusion alarm.
Reminds me of this old movie about George C. Scott getting duped into training a dolphen to KILL! ... The President!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Dolphin
They also used dolphins carrying bombs in the movie "The day of the dolphin" I watched as a kid in the 70s.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069946/
A typical clickbait title.
No, dolphins are not helping us hunt for aliens. Rather, researchers are putting forth the idea that dolphin intelligence might be a good model as they search for other intelligences in the universe.
As an aside, John Lilly is described as a neuroscientist who in 1961 was best known as trying to talk to dolphins (George C. Scott's character in Day of the Dolphin was based on him). He went on, however, to be equally well-known for his experimentation with LSD (which inspired a second Hollywood movie, Altered States). Lilly also developed the first sensory deprivation tank.
You would think that Lilly would appear on Wikipedia's listing of Caltech notable alumni, but he does not.
I heard an interview with the researcher on the radio while I was driving to work a few weeks ago, and it floored me. I then thought about the movie with George C. Scott, 'Day of the Dolphin', which my Dad took me to see when I was nine. I cried at the ending (no spoiler here, see the movie!).
I remember reading an account in Omni magazine from Dr. John Lily of one of his experiences with LSD and a deprivation tank. He became a point of light, racing at ever higher speed through the cosmos. He reaches the edge of the universe, and two other points of light accost him and announce that they are the "Intergalactic Thought Police" and that he's not allowed to proceed further.
Dr. Lily inspired the movies "Altered States" and "The Day of the Dolphin."