Close Listening: How Sound Reveals The Invisible
The stethoscope seems so simple — a 19th century tool for listening more closely to the human heart or lungs. It also sparked a culture of listening that is transforming the way scientists learn.
View ArticleIt Took A Musician's Ear To Decode The Complex Song In Whale Calls
Male humpback whales create "songs" together, scientists say. Katy Payne was the first to hear the shifts in pitch and pattern in the collective calls as complex music — haunting, evolving tunes.
View ArticleListening To Whale Migration Reveals A Sea Of Noise Pollution, Too
Christopher Clark, an engineer turned whale biologist, wired the world's oceans with hydrophones. Whales sing as they migrate, he learned. And the ship sounds clouding the ocean can deeply interfere.
View ArticleTo Decode Elephant Conversation, You Must Feel The Jungle Rumble
The trumpeting roar of an elephant is loud. But scientists living with herds in the forests of central Africa say the deep rumbles that humans can't hear, but can feel, carry crucial messages, too.
View ArticleGood Vibrations Key To Insect Communication
For some insects, sound waves or vibrations are the real social media — high-speed rumbles sent through the air and along leaf stems to help the bugs claim territory, send warnings and find mates.
View ArticleWarning Calls Decoded: Squirrels Take Up Bird Alarms To Foil The Enemy
It can take more than just a keen ear to figure out what animals are saying. Sometimes, scientists are learning, you have to talk back to map the rich networks of conversation in a forest.
View ArticleWhat Does Daybreak Sound Like Where You Live?
The natural world is making a lot of noise at dawn. We're collecting recordings of this time of morning from across the world, so send us yours.
View ArticleHow Sound Shaped The Evolution Of Your Brain
Sound gets into our brains and processed so quickly that it shapes all other perceptions, says neuroscientist Seth Horowitz. "You hear anywhere from 20 to 100 times faster than you see."
View ArticleWake Up To Sounds Of Daybreak Around The World
Morning Edition listeners shared their morning sounds with us — from the Guatemalan countryside to a child's bedroom in Istanbul, Turkey.
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