Acoustics, as a research area, is the scientific study of generation, propagation, interaction, and detection of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids across audible, infrasonic, and ultrasonic frequency ranges. It encompasses theoretical and experimental analysis of wave equations, sound fields, impedance, reflection, refraction, scattering, absorption, and nonlinear effects in complex media and structures. Subfields include physical acoustics, architectural acoustics, aeroacoustics, underwater and ocean acoustics, ultrasonics, vibroacoustics, and acoustical signal processing. Research in acoustics underpins technologies for imaging, nondestructive evaluation, noise control, transducer design, acoustic metamaterials, and advanced measurement techniques for characterizing materials, devices, and environments using sound.
Sperm whales produce powerful clicks to communicate. To our ears, they sound nothing more than a series of repetitive, mechanical taps. But we could be a step closer to understanding some of their complex communication, as ...
A new study has shown that whale calls are reduced by as much as 50% in response to seismic surveys, which are commonly used to find oil and gas reserves. Researchers are worried that such surveys could impact vulnerable ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 14, 2026
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Acoustic metamaterials are a fast-evolving family of materials which manipulate sound waves in ever more advanced ways. Now, a team led by Changqing Xu at Nanjing Normal University in China has engineered an acoustic metamaterial, ...
Listening to one-minute-long audio recordings of forests had positive effects on people's short-term well-being, especially when the recordings were from local temperate forests. Study participants residing in Germany perceived ...
Ecology
Apr 9, 2026
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The hair cells lining the inner ear are among the most sophisticated structures in the human body: capable of detecting sounds as faint as a whisper, while helping to maintain our sense of balance. Through new models detailed ...
Accents are usually thought of as a human trait, indicating where a person has grown up or the communities they belong—and new research shows the same dialects can also occur in Australia's largest carnivorous bat.
Plants & Animals
Apr 1, 2026
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New research led by scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography finds that the travel time of underwater sounds moving across the Arctic Ocean can be used to precisely measure ocean temperature under ...
Ecology
Mar 31, 2026
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Seals are carnivorous marine mammals that are well adapted to hunting for fish underwater, where visibility is poor. In such conditions, seals rely on their highly sensitive whiskers to detect tiny water movements left behind ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 29, 2026
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Courtship calls among two species of fish commonly found on Australian coral reefs have been described, and researchers say their "accents" can vary significantly between regions. Scientists led by the Australian Institute ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 26, 2026
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Phonons are the quantum units of mechanical vibration. They describe how motion propagates through a solid at the smallest possible scales, in much the same way that electrons describe electric currents. Because phonons can ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 25, 2026
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