Weird Frog Hears Only Sounds It Wants
	A frog living near the noisy springs in central China was found by researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of California to have the ability to tune its ears to hear only certain sound frequencies, as opposed to hearing all the sounds in the acoustic spectrum at the same time, as humans do. Previous studies have shown that this particular frog (Odorrana tormota) is able to communicate in both acoustic and ultrasonic ... [read more >>]
	23 July 2008, 06:29GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

X-ray Reveals Why Stradivarius Violins Are so Valuable
	It’s almost amazing how violins made by applying three century old technology cannot be matched in sound quality by violins made through modern technology. No wonder some of these musical instruments value several hundred million dollars each and made Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu some of the most famous master builders of classical Cremonese violins. But what is the secret to their success and what really made their violins unique? ... [read more >>]
	02 July 2008, 08:38GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Gun Suppressors Work
	Gun suppressors, most commonly known as silencers, are generally used to 'quiet' down the loud bang created by the sudden expansion of the explosive discharge that is propelling the bullet out of the gun barrel and through the air. The vast majority of guns are not built to accept suppressors, although some are specially designed so that silencers can be screwed at the gun barrel aperture from where the bullet emerges as the gun ... [read more >>]
	14 May 2008, 08:57GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Microphones Work
	Often referred to as mike or mic, the microphone first became commercially practical with the invention of the carbon microphone by Thomas Alva Edison in October 1876. Back then microphones were called transmitters. Practically, the microphone is an electronic device capable of capturing minute air pressure waves or sounds and convert them either in an electrical current or an electrical parameter such as electrical resistance, capacitance ... [read more >>]
	08 May 2008, 08:40GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Future Language Issues Can be Detected even in 3-Month Old Infants
	You don't have to wait for the age of speech learning. A team led by Professor of Neuroscience April Benasich, at Infancy Studies Laboratory at Rutgers University in Newark, found just how the brains of 3-month old infants differentiate sounds signal language issues. The methods developed by this team can assess as early as 3 to 6 months if a baby will face language problems. A main role is played by the developing brain, ... [read more >>]
	16 April 2008, 04:32GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

World's Oldest Recording: Since 1860
	This is the world's oldest audio recording, from an era when today's recording technology seemed fairy tales. American specialists have found and listened an 1860 recording of a folk song. This pre-dated by 17 years the phonograph invented by Thomas Edison, which recorded him singing a children's song in 1877. This was previously considered to be the oldest record. "It's like a ghost singing to you,&qu ... [read more >>]
	28 March 2008, 08:28GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How You Can Pick Up at a Noisy Party
	In the middle of a crowded party, you approach and manage to talk with your preferred "target", with all the thundering background noise. This has been a mystery: how can we ignore background noise to focus just on the voice of our interlocutor. It has been believed that the brain differentiates sound sources by assessing where they come from. But we can still do this even when the position of the speaker in relati ... [read more >>]
	28 March 2008, 06:34GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Mac Does Its Job While User Is SoundAsleep
	A lot of Mac owners will leave their Macs on over the course of the night or even days at a time for one reason or another. The Mac, as any computer out there, makes sounds. Surely you've left the volume at maximum falling asleep while the machine was d ... [read more >>]
	27 March 2008, 16:51GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Creative: Asustek's Sound Cards Don't Support EAX
	Asustek recently released a new series of sound cards targeted at the enthusiast and high-end markets, which somehow ended Creative's supremacy on the market. Until Asustek arrived on the market, users who would like to enjoy a Hi-Fi ... [read more >>]
	26 March 2008, 07:30GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

A Weapon of the Future: Ultrasound Gun
	Forget the rubber bullets and water jets. The weapon of the future for controlling the mob will employ sounds. Or you may use it against the little monsters of the Halloween or an annoying neighbor. The handheld sonic gun, called Sonic Devestator, can emit intense ultrasonic charges capable of causing intense pain and discomfort in humans and animals. The ultrasonic waves are headed in a 45-degree cone from the "muzzle&q ... [read more >>]
	22 March 2008, 04:46GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Phone Call Without Speaking
	Until a machine will read your thoughts, a first step has been made: New Scientists signals the development of a neckband that decodes your nerve signals into speech. For the first time, you could make a phone call without opening your mouth. A trained individual can transmit motor messages to its vocal cords without emitting a sound. But the nerve signals can be detected by the neckband which sends them via radio waves to a computer th ... [read more >>]
	19 March 2008, 06:12GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Foxconn Introduces High-Definition Integrated Sound Motherboards
	Foxconn has announced a strategic agreement inked with digital audio expert DTS to deliver onboard digital sound with the DTS CONNECT and DTS Surround Sensation technologies into its upcoming motherboard products. "DTS CONNECT™ ensures simple installation of groundbreaking audio capabilities for the PC, breathing new excitement into every consumer's audio entertainment, experience" said David Tan, Vice Presiden ... [read more >>]
	07 March 2008, 11:08GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

New Phone Service Tells You Whether He/She Loves You or It's Just a Lie
	The human brain can be fooled, but not this phone. Our mind orientates too much based on the voice, but what a lier may not know is that there are non-perceivable patterns in the sound of a voice that can betray him/her. A new high-tech mobile phone device can secretly decode, based on the pitch and sound analysis of the interlocutor's speech, how much passion is in the voice of a lover. The "Love Detector" ser ... [read more >>]
	23 February 2008, 04:30GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

iPhone/iPod Headphones that Let You Hear Everything
	No, it's not an add-on for your MacBook Air, but one for your iPhone or ... [read more >>]
	21 February 2008, 09:48GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Your Mother Tongue Influences How Your Brain Develops
	Well, the development of your brain is not only influenced by genetics, diet and intellectual stimulation, but also by... your mother tongue! "Everyone has a brain stem, but it's tuned differently depending on what sounds are behaviorally relevant to a person, for example, the sounds of his or her mother tongue," said Jackson T. Gandour, a linguistics professor at Purdue University. The team first compared the brain ac ... [read more >>]
	20 February 2008, 04:35GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How to Hunt in the Dark Underwater
	Shrews have always been considered an ancestral model of mammals, the model of how primitive mammals must have looked during the dinosaur era. But a new research made on water shrews and published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" reveals highly sophisticated methods for hunting underwater small fish and aquatic insects even in total darkness. Being so small (half the size of a house mouse), water shrew ... [read more >>]
	20 February 2008, 04:04GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

A Snoring Partner Shortens Your Life
	A snoring partner means more than a bad night sleep. A new research published in the European Heart Journal shows that it can increase your blood pressure, no matter if you are awake or asleep. Hypertension is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and dementia. In fact snoring can reach 90 decibels, the same value like in the case of as a passing train. Other health risky sounds are aircraft noise and heavy ... [read more >>]
	15 February 2008, 14:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Does Our Ear Reflect the Sounds?
	A healthy ear reacts to the sounds it receives, emitting soft sounds in response. These sounds can be detected by sensitive microphones, which enable doctors check newborns' hearing, as a deaf ear doesn't reflect the sounds. A new study published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" and made by a team at the University of Michigan and Oregon Health and Science University reveals that, oppositely to ... [read more >>]
	13 February 2008, 02:46GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Beaked Whales Hear Through Their Throats!
	Beaked whales get their name from the shape of their snouts and their large size, but these cetaceans are close-related to dolphins. This family of toothed cetaceans is amongst the least known mammalian families. They measure between 3,4 to 12 m (11 to 40 ft) length and weigh 1 to 15 tones. They make deep dives and feed from the sea floor by suction feeding, without using their teeth (which are in fact deeply reduced in number of down ... [read more >>]
	11 February 2008, 03:28GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Sex and Sax: How Is It Possible?
	Did some of your intimate moments get higher when you played the CD with Kenny G, David Sanborn or Candy Dulfer? Now, a research published the journal "Science" has solved the mystery of how jazz saxophonists reach those shaking piercing high notes that amateurs cannot. By expertly shifting the shape of their vocal tracts, they manage to come with those acoustic stunts. This action changes various types of resonances (the amplif ... [read more >>]
	08 February 2008, 02:45GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

4 Amazing Bat Senses
	1. In the depths of the caves, where current airs, temperature and humidity are practically constant, bats seem to know exactly when it's time to go hunting. In fact, when atmospheric pressure decreases (before a rainfall), the insects gather at low altitude and are easier to be preyed. The atmospheric pressure varies both inside and outside the grottoes inhabited by bats. Bats know that low atmospheric pressure means more food and th ... [read more >>]
	02 February 2008, 07:19GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Male Hummingbirds Sing with Their Tails for Sex
	We've known that the bird's trills are produced by a very complex organ called syrinx, located on their trachea. But a new research published in the "Proceedings of the Royal Society B" journal shows that in fact their chirps may be produced via the most unexpected means. A hummingbird species has been found to make its chirp sound by using its tail feathers. Anna's hummingbirds (Calypte anna) is the northernmos ... [read more >>]
	01 February 2008, 03:59GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Sound Waves Keep Your Computer Cool!
	Prepare to throw you cooling fans and heat sinks out the window! Scientists say they won't be powerful enough to cool your future computer processors anyway, and liquid cooling techniques will be implied in just a few months or years. However, cooling computer chips with liquids are not as efficient as they might seem, they will keep you computer cool no doubt about it, but this technique requires a greater power input. Thus, instead ... [read more >>]
	24 January 2008, 08:54GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Acoustic Cloak Bends Sounds Around You!
	Let's not fool ourselves, invisibility cloaks have been built and they do exist; they don't work exactly as they should is another thing. However, Duke University researchers said they hadn't done enough to improve the technology and decided to test some acoustic invisibility devices before resuming the work on the electromagnetic ones. Their previous demonstration of the invisibility cloak apparently proved th ... [read more >>]
	18 January 2008, 03:53GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Do Musical Instruments Work?
	Sounds are vibrations transmitted through the air as waves to our ears. The frequency of the sounds is given by the number of vibrations per second, measured in hertz (Hz). Humans can perceive only sounds with a frequency of 16 Hz to 20 kHz (20,000 Hz). Most musical instruments produce sounds with frequencies of 27.5 Hz to 4,186 Hz. Doubling the frequency produces a note with an octave higher on the musical scale. Tonality refers to how hi ... [read more >>]
	17 January 2008, 07:11GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Will We Ever Achieve Invisibility?
	The universe is a world of infinite possibilities. Well, at least theoretically. Theoretical physics predicts anything from parallel universes to time travel. But, as we came to find out, neither of these two concepts are really so easy to prove. Invisibility cloaks are not different. Although physicists clearly showed that optical cloaks could be built, so far they have been capable only to create cloaks working in the microwave ... [read more >>]
	12 January 2008, 06:29GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Our Auditory Neurons - 10 Times More Sensitive than a Cat's: One Tenth of an Octave
	There must have been something about our hearing that enabled us to differentiate speech and music from other sounds. The human ear can detect sound frequencies of 16Hz to 20 kHz, no matter if tones were high or low, near or far. But our ears are simple compared to the remarkable ability of single brain neurons to make the difference between the very subtlest frequencies, down to a tenth of an octave. This is the result of a research p ... [read more >>]
	11 January 2008, 04:16GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

10 Things About Hearing, Sound and Noise
	1.Movement or chocking of the objects produce sounds. A sound is the vibration of elastic waves through different environments (solid, liquid, gaseous), with a frequency between 16 Hz to 20,000 Hz (20 kHz) (which is detected by the human ear). 2.Human ear has three parts: external, median and internal. The external ear is made of pinna (the only visible part) and auditory canal. The pinna acts like a parabolic antennae, directing the s ... [read more >>]
	27 December 2007, 16:56GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Your Right Hemisphere Gets You 'Hooked Up in da Club'
	The left cortical hemisphere realizes this through an acoustical technique named "simultaneous masking", which enables the brain to distinguish one sound even when it comes together with competing sounds and noises. Also named frequency masking, the process often takes place when two or more sounds with a similar frequency, which are clearly heard in separate situations, cannot merge when emitted together, confusing the listener. ... [read more >>]
	19 November 2007, 04:05GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Guitar Hero III Sound Issues
	This must be some sort of a joke. Not only does Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock feature less game modes than expected, but it also delivers poor sound quality. In fact, the game actually lacks a bunch of channels, while some even claim that the game doesn ... [read more >>]
	12 November 2007, 04:34GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

From CPU to GPU Starvation - Microsoft Acknowledges Audio Glitches in Vista
	Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista, advertised as an evolution in comparison with its predecessor, Windows XP, is nothing short of a resource hog, swallowing every crumb of CPU cycles and digesting even the last bits of RAM thrown at it. And yet, while the Windows client has been experiencing issues related to compatibility, stability, and reliability, the overall performance is also affected in a variety of scenarios, ... [read more >>]
	01 November 2007, 08:09GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

VIA Partnerships with QSound Labs
	VIA Technologies just announced a partnership with the QSound Labs company, one of the leading providers of audio and voice software applications, that is aimed at providing a superior sound technology that can be used with Microsoft Windows Vista enabled computer systems, including multimedia, laptop and desktop platforms. The technologies developed by VIA in collaboration with QSound Labs will soon be found integrated into the ... [read more >>]
	26 September 2007, 08:21GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Compact Design and Superior Quality from Logitech's New Speakers
	Logitech just announced the launch of a new audio speaker system, the Logitech AudioHub Notebook Speaker System with Integrated USB Hub, which delivers exceptional high quality audio in a unconventional design as it combines a 2.1 one-piece speaker system and three integrated Hi-Speed USB ports in a compact form that fits neatly behind most notebooks, so mobile computer users will be able to benefit from both a high quality audio experienc ... [read more >>]
	11 September 2007, 09:30GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Addicted to Yahoo Messenger's Old Sounds? Here's How to Install Them!
	Yahoo Messenger 8.1 comes with numerous additions compared to the older versions, including new sounds that are meant to enhance the chatting experience provided by the past releases. Although I really like the new sounds implemented into YM, some of you might want to use the old audio files into their instant messaging client. Numerous users tried to do this manually and downloaded an older version of Yahoo Messenger from which ... [read more >>]
	24 August 2007, 15:41GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Logitech G51 Sound System
	Logitech announced the release of another piece of hardware designed for gamers as an extension of the G family of computer gaming peripherals, the Logitech G51 Surround Sound Speaker System. This new sound system is composed of a 5.1 speaker setup that features a 360 degrees surround sound system for the ultimate audio gaming experience. The Logitech G51 Surround Sound Speaker System offers the best of the audio cutting edge ... [read more >>]
	23 August 2007, 08:40GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Like Bats and Dolphins: The Boy That Uses Echolocation
	We know that echolocation is extensively used by bats, dolphins and by some bird species. Based on the echo made by the sounds or ultrasounds they emit, these species can make an auditive image of their environment. It is literally like seeing with your ears. We, as humans, can’t really imagine this. But when the body loses one sense, this can boost the remaining senses to the limits that are quite unusual for the ordinary people. Thi ... [read more >>]
	30 July 2007, 14:26GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Why Is Our Hearing So Keen?
	Humans can hear sounds between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. Bats and dolphins go much further: they can hear sounds over 20 kHz (ultrasounds), while dogs and elephants hear sounds under 20 Hz (infrasounds). For 30 years, researchers stated various hypotheses on how specialized cells in the mammals’ inner ear amplify sounds. A recent research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital found that the bouncing cell bodies rather than vibrating, hair-like ... [read more >>]
	30 July 2007, 06:56GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

New Software Determines Dolphin Species Based on Their Whistle
	We, humans, live in a visual world. 90 % of our information concerning the environment comes through our eyes. But if we refer to cetaceans (dolphins and whales), their world is mainly auditive. These animals practically "see" with their ears, employing the ultrasound ecolocation, as vision in the water is greatly impaired by its turbidity and depth (light does not go deeper than 200 m (660 ft)). Moreover, a dolphin brain ... [read more >>]
	24 July 2007, 05:38GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Being a Napoleon is Genetic!
	You could be a little Napoleon that can listen to a phone message while at the same time talking with a friend and understand what both are saying and perhaps writing something at your desk. In this case, you have a good genetic package, as signaled by a team at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). This could explain many auditory processing disorders (APDs), when overall healthy individuals display ... [read more >>]
	18 July 2007, 06:19GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Listening for Microbes in Beer Can Make It Tastier
	A new technology helps scientists know what's happening inside fermentation processes, like those that produce beer, but also pharmaceuticals, without sticking their fingers inside the product. This new acoustic method can improve the quality of the finished product. Beer is produced in large tanks, where large amounts of slurries made of sugars derived from starch-based material, like malted barley, are fermenting for ... [read more >>]
	05 July 2007, 09:48GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Existence of New Type of Electron Wave Finally Proved
	A new research has just proven the existence of a completely new type of electron wave on metal surfaces. Called the "acoustic surface plasmon," it will have profound implications in the fundamental understanding of chemical reactions on various surfaces. Bogdan Diaconescu and Karsten Pohl of the University of New Hampshire, US, led the research that finally proved the existence of this new plasmon, which could fin ... [read more >>]
	05 July 2007, 06:37GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Does the Most Powerful Sonic Weapon Work?
	Recent escalations of urban conflict and an increasing need for powerful, yet non-lethal weapons led to development of a sonic weapon that doesn't kill, but can make you pass out and even permanently deaf. Sonic weapons have been made popular by science fiction productions, but they are also used in reality, not to destroy buildings, tanks, butto injure, incapacitate, or kill an opponent. Although many real sonic and ult ... [read more >>]
	27 June 2007, 10:18GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Amazing Echo in Nature
	An echo is a reflection of sound, arriving to the listener sometime after the direct sound. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or in a room, by the walls. A true echo is a single reflection of the sound source. The time delay is the extra distance divided by the speed of sound. If so many reflections arrive to a listener that he is unable to distinguish between them, the proper term i ... [read more >>]
	13 June 2007, 15:41GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Heat + Sound = Electrifying Love
	That's exactly what a team of scientists observed in an experiment and then transformed into a practical device. The gadget can turn heat into sound and then into electricity and is very promising as an effective method of transforming waste heat into electricity, harnessing solar energy and cooling computers and radars. Orest Symko is an University of Utah physics professor who leads the team, and he said they are planning to tes ... [read more >>]
	04 June 2007, 03:38GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Do Fish Speak?
	"Fish don’t think/’Cause fish know everything." If we make scuba diving, the sea seems a world of silence. But it’s a deceptive view. Fish are not that smart and …they do speak. In fact, water transmits sounds better than the air and while light penetrates just to 300 m (1,000 ft), below this depth there’s total darkness and the inhabitants of the depths use sounds to ..."keep in touch". Abyssal fish ... [read more >>]
	02 June 2007, 06:58GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Dinosaurs Heard Infrasounds
	They had feathers and a complex behavior. Now scientists are decoding their sensory abilities. A team at the University of Maryland led by professor Robert Dooling claims that dinosaurs probably heard many low frequency sounds, like the heavy footsteps of another dinosaurs, but they were unable to detect the high pitched sounds that birds make. The team reached this conclusion based on researches made on bird hearing. Dinos ... [read more >>]
	02 June 2007, 03:41GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Elephants Tell by Seismic Waves if You Are A Friend or Not
	Elephants are not only the largest land mammals, but also the possessors of some amazing abilities, like that of infrasound communication over large areas. We cannot hear them, but elephants located tens of kilometers away can. In 2004, the behavioral ecologist Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, found that African elephants can communicate between them from kilometers away through ground ... [read more >>]
	01 June 2007, 06:12GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Hot Gas and Sound Waves Escape Sun's Surface through Magnetic Portals
	A mystery about the interior of the Sun lasting for centuries has been solved by scientists at National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA. They now proved that sound waves escape the interior of the sun and form fountains of hot gas that shape and provide fuel for a region of the sun's atmosphere. This thin region, called chromosphere, appears as a ruby red "ring of fire" around the moon during a total solar eclipse and ... [read more >>]
	30 May 2007, 15:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

We Feel the Music The Way Our Speech Is
	How you speak is connected to how you feel music, as a team at the Duke University Center for Cognitive Neuroscience has discovered. "The particular notes used in music sound right to our ears because of the way our vocal apparatus makes the sounds used in all human languages," said Dale Purves, the George Barth Geller Professor for Research in Neurobiology. "It's not something one can hear directly, but when the sou ... [read more >>]
	25 May 2007, 07:43GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Google Earth to Include Audio Features!
	The Mountain View company prepares an innovative function for its downloadable Google Earth, the search giant aiming to implement an exciting collection of sounds. Basically, the new feature will offer an interesting view over a selected area as the program will provide high-resolution photos bundled with specific sounds of the region. New Scientist Tech reported today that the collection of sounds will be provided by Wild Sanctuary, a com ... [read more >>]
	11 May 2007, 13:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia