News tagged with vocalizations

Monkey lip smacks provide new insights into the evolution of human speech

Scientists have traditionally sought the evolutionary origins of human speech in primate vocalizations, such as monkey coos or chimpanzee hoots. But unlike these primate calls, human speech is produced using ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 31, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Texting made possible for the illiterate

People incapable of reading and writing will have access to text messages from now on. A system using vocal synthesis, icons and contact management allows people to send and read text messages by those normally ...

Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation

created May 23, 2012 | popularity 2.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

New study finds dolphins produce sounds in a similar way to humans

(PhysOrg.com) -- It has long been thought that dolphins produce sounds by means of "whistles," but a new analysis of a data gathered in the late 1970s has revealed that instead, dolphins make sounds by means ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 09, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 2 | with audio podcast report

Bird vocalization research could improve poultry production, lower costs

Chickens can’t speak, but they can definitely make themselves heard. Most people who have visited a poultry farm will recall chicken vocalization – the technical term for clucking and squawking – ...

Biology / Other

created May 18, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Prairie dogs may have the most complex language

(PhysOrg.com) -- Prairie dogs may have a vocal communication system more complex than that of dolphins, whales and non-human primates, according to a new study.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 04, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (16) | comments 2 | with audio podcast report

Goat kids can develop accents

The ability to change vocal sounds (vocal plasticity) and develop an accent is potentially far more widespread in mammals than previously believed, according to new research on goats from Queen Mary, University ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 15, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Duet of 1' possible with hand-controlled voice synthesizer

New technology at the University of British Columbia makes it possible for a person to speak or sing just by using their hands to control a speech synthesizer.

Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation

created Feb 19, 2012 | popularity 1 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Which Side Are You On? Birds Need Tutoring to Find Out

(PhysOrg.com) -- Just like us, songbirds need tutoring to learn to vocalize and sing.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 18, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Tweet: Scientists decode songbird's genome, provide clues on language learning (w/ Video)

Nearly all animals make sounds instinctively, but baby songbirds learn to sing in virtually the same way human infants learn to speak: by imitating a parent.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 31, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Baboons, infants show similar gesturing behavior, suggesting shared communication systems

Both human infants and baboons have a stronger preference for using their right hand to gesture than for a simple grasping task, supporting the hypothesis that language development, which is lateralized in the left part of ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Eagle Owls Send Sweeter Valentines When Moon Is Full

(PhysOrg.com) -- Placing a tracking device on breeding owls with a wing span large enough to cover eight humans lined up side-by-side, is not a walk in the park. But, funded by a grant from the Spanish Ministry ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 21, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Wagner's 'difficult' reputation unwarranted says research

The composer Richard Wagner is well-known, even notorious, for writing operas that can challenge both performers and listeners. A new study published in the Journal of the Acoustic Society of America reveal ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jul 01, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 3

Put your thinking cap on and type with your mind (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Guger Technologies, an Austrian-based company, has developed a computer interface that can work directly with the human brain. The interface allows a user to "type" short messages by staring ...

Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation

created Mar 03, 2011 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast weblog

Scientists discover ultrasonic communication among frogs

(PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA scientists report for the first time on the only known frog species that can communicate using purely ultrasonic calls, whose frequencies are too high to be heard by humans. Known as ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 11, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

The moaning mouth bot learns to sing (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Some of you may recall the moaning mouth bot. This bot, which is basically a disembodied mouth that first came to the public attention for making a series of moaning noises that were truly ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Jul 13, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 10 | with audio podcast weblog