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.
Humans can communicate various instructions to dogs without using actual words—simply by modulating the tone of their voice, a new study from ELTE University's Department of Ethology shows. By repeating the nonsense syllable ...
Evolution
Jun 3, 2026
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Interactions between hard-shelled marine mollusks such as clams and snails and their predators play a critical but largely unseen role in shaping coastal ecosystems. These organisms help stabilize shorelines, filter water ...
Ecology
Jun 3, 2026
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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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New research from the University of St Andrews has discovered that insects who conceal themselves as leaves also use their leafy camouflage to amplify mating calls, making themselves more attractive to the opposite sex. The ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 2, 2026
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When a singer belts out a tune while a guitar player strums along, sound waves travel through the air, driving collective oscillations of the molecules within. Meanwhile, at the quantum level, something similar is going on. ...
Optics & Photonics
May 25, 2026
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In tropical forests, much of the biodiversity can be heard before it is seen. Birds call, insects buzz and frogs croak, creating complex soundscapes that reflect the presence of different species.
Plants & Animals
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Some birds sing to attract a mate. Others dance or display colorful feathers. But in the moonlit forests and shrublands of northern Argentina, one bird courts romance by snapping its wrists together, producing a sharp clapping ...
Plants & Animals
May 19, 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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Sound plays an important role for many animals, helping them navigate and hunt. Echolocation is the ability of animals like bats and dolphins to locate objects by emitting sound waves and interpreting the returning echoes. ...
Plants & Animals
May 19, 2026
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Alaska's Cook Inlet was home to nearly 1,300 beluga whales in the late 1970s, but today the population hovers around 300. Despite almost two decades of recovery work, the whales aren't bouncing back. The Cook Inlet belugas ...
Plants & Animals
May 13, 2026
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