Uggghhhhhh….

We always have one of these snarky comments about the value of a basic research paper like this.

When I was in grad school, in the 90’s, one of the seminal papers in my area was on cell differentiation in embryonic sea urchins. I’m sure that if reddit existed in the 70’s, we’d have seen posts mocking the use of research money on that paper. It turned out to be one of the early building blocks towards organ printing.

This is important work. It isn’t just that fish can communicate, it’s how they communicate. There is a whole system present to transmit an emotion from one fish to another fish who then processes that emotion, (presumably) experiences their own, then behaves according the experience the other fish is having. The whole process is underpinned by neurological and chemical interactions that are comparable to other animals including humans. Understanding how that process works helps us understand animal life as a whole, including ourselves.