An acoustic wave is a mechanical disturbance that propagates through an elastic medium via successive compressions and rarefactions of particles, transporting energy but not net mass. Described by solutions to the linearized equations of fluid or solid mechanics, acoustic waves obey characteristic relations between pressure, density, and particle velocity fluctuations, with propagation speed determined by the medium’s elastic moduli and mass density. They can be longitudinal or, in solids, include transverse components, and are characterized by parameters such as frequency, wavelength, impedance, and attenuation, which govern reflection, refraction, scattering, and mode conversion in acoustically relevant phenomena and applications.
Seismic waves produced by thunderstorms, called thunderquakes, can be used as a novel source for seismic imaging, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.
Earth Sciences
Aug 21, 2026
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Standing on the sandy, windswept shores of Provincetown, Massachusetts, people may find themselves squinting at the horizon, waiting for a whale to make its grand entrance with a spectacular breach.
General Physics
Aug 19, 2026
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Imagine searching for a gemstone in a dark cave: You use a flashlight, looking for a rainbow-colored glint in the darkness. Now, imagine 10 other people in the cave with you, using different-colored flashlights at the same ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 24, 2026
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Elephants can communicate with other elephants across distances of up to five kilometers (3 miles) by producing sounds that travel through the air. However, they have a second way of sending signals: seismic waves traveling ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 15, 2026
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A 100-year-old equation and a fiber-optic cable off the coast of Svalbard led researchers to discover they could detect swimming whales—even if they were completely silent. The discovery broadens the tools biologists could ...
Ecology
Jun 24, 2026
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Researchers in China recently uncovered a quantum-inspired rule governing how sound is scattered by certain physical properties of a material. Their research, published in Physical Review Letters, may lead to the ability ...
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. What goes up must come down. Physical laws like these govern all of the natural world—except for the tiny internal components of today's microprocessors, which operate ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 3, 2026
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An international team of scientists has developed a new analysis of how sound waves behave, revealing surprising effects that have largely been overlooked for decades. In the new paper in Scientific Reports, which was led ...
General Physics
May 19, 2026
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Researchers at MIT have suggested that rice seeds can hear the sound of rain, according to a new study. MIT calls it "the first direct evidence that plant seeds and seedlings can sense sounds in nature." Perhaps surprisingly, ...
Plants & Animals
May 11, 2026
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With the involvement of scientists from the Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics in Berlin and the Universities of Augsburg and Münster, international researchers have presented a new roadmap for surface acoustic ...
Nanophysics
Apr 29, 2026
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