somebodies wrote:
>> I have some difficulty trying to determine just how an organism would
>> create a carrier wave and modulate it to convey information.
>
> Well, there are many many very simple ways that do not require 
> sophisticated
> equipment, beginning with altering the repetition rate, frequencies, 
> speed,
> introducing warble, etc.  
Your examples are not carrier waves (which are used by FM) but simple 
AM. Bird songs do all those things. You can also look at the songs of 
the humpback whales which convey a lot of information, just we do not 
understand it all. I would postulate that the more complex the organism, 
the more complex will be the song or language. Sort of fits with the 
central processor: the more ram, the more it can do.

There is nothing stopping a song from being a short burst and the 
receptor able to decipher those bursts. I believe some bats do that, but 
will gladly bow to those more knowledgeable. In essence, I think we 
already have what you are looking for all around us. Except FM carrier 
waves. Too complex and too difficult to encode and decode.

Bill Truesdell (who does not talk to whales but mutters to himself)
Bath, Maine

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************