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.
Human activity is making the underwater world increasingly noisy. Ph.D. candidate Fien Demuynck researched how wind farms affect fish and how to minimize any negative impact. "We don't want animals to become stressed, disoriented ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 10, 2026
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17
A new University of Mississippi study shows that some sound waves don't just move forward—they also move slightly to the side. Understanding this movement could help researchers develop more precise acoustic tools. Likun ...
General Physics
Mar 10, 2026
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42
Local recreation areas play an important role in reducing stress. In two new publications, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL show how visual impressions and sounds interact ...
Environment
Mar 8, 2026
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24
The implementation of green axes and the reduction of motorized traffic in cities is effectively consolidating itself as a strategy to significantly lower environmental noise levels. A study conducted in the city of Barcelona ...
Environment
Mar 4, 2026
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20
Mosquitoes transmit several pathogens of public health importance, including malaria, dengue, chikungunya and Zika. These vector-borne diseases are responsible for millions of cases every year, and hundreds of thousands of ...
Ecology
Mar 4, 2026
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16
Scientists at TU Delft have designed a nanostring that, when poked, doesn't lose its energy to the environment immediately. Instead, the energy leaks out within the string, triggering a cascade of distinct vibrational modes. ...
Nanophysics
Mar 3, 2026
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63
Porpoises are entirely dependent on their hearing for survival. They navigate, hunt, and communicate by emitting rapid click sounds and listening to the returning echoes. However, with increasingly noisy oceans, it is getting ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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25
Noise pollution is affecting bird behavior across the globe, disrupting everything from courtship songs to the ability to find food and avoid predators, a large-scale new analysis showed on Wednesday.
Plants & Animals
Feb 28, 2026
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48
A new experiment has uncovered the mechanism responsible for the screeching sound made by peeling sticky tape. Using a combination of ultrafast imaging and synchronized acoustic recordings, Sigurdur Thoroddsen and colleagues ...
Basketball shoes on a gym floor, bicycle brakes in need of a tune-up, or the squeal of tires are everyday examples of squeaking sounds. Such sounds have long been attributed to stick-slip friction, or a cycle of intermittent ...
General Physics
Feb 25, 2026
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