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Bats rely on their hearing more than any other mammal. After all, bats navigate the night sky by hearing the results of their echolocation, their natural sonar system. Turns out that's just the beginning of what makes bat-hearing amazing. More »
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Remember the last time you were at a noisy party — the kind of party where you have trouble understanding what the person next to you is saying? Scientists call this the "cocktail party problem," and use it to describe the difficulty that humans have understanding speech in the presence of background noise. More »
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Our brains pay less attention to aspects of the world that appear to remain the same. We need this mental relief to experience life without being overwhelmed, but it can keep us from noticing when patterns change. More »
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The McGurk effect is a powerful illusion where our brains hear the wrong noise if they're presented with visual evidence that something else is being said. Now we've discovered what part of the brain is behind this strange effect. More »
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Even in loud settings with tons of different noises, we seem to have a knack for focusing in on the most important sounds, particularly sounds of danger. If we're anything like bats, it's because our neurons make those sounds louder. More »
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According to evolutionary biologists, movie music contains "unexpected" sounds that trigger primal reactions from audiences. In other words, our brains are hardwired to respond with fear to the Jaws soundtrack. More »
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As humans age, their hearing naturally grows less acute because they begin to lose tiny sensory hairs (pictured, magnified) in their inner ears that convert sound waves into neurological signals. But now scientists have figured out how to genetically-engineer the cells that generate these sensory hairs. This is a boon for people who are losing their hearing, but it could also lead to super-hearing. Add more sensory hairs to an ear that's in good condition, and you might get someone who is more sensitive to sound. More »
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