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.
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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A research team led by the Museum für Naturkunde presents the first evidence that several bat species produce courtship songs in the immediate rotor-swept zone of wind turbines while circling around the nacelle. Data from ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 23, 2026
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Human fascination with bottlenose dolphins goes back thousands of years, at least as early as Greek mythology.
Plants & Animals
Mar 23, 2026
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Animals do all sorts of things to attract each other as potential mates. Many birds, for example, produce feathers with elaborate color patterns—from the iridescent plumage of many hummingbirds to the famously brilliant tail ...
Evolution
Mar 20, 2026
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The bright colors of butterfly wings, the sweet aromas of flowers, and the euphonious melodies of songbirds all evolved as signals that help individuals propagate, yet humans also find these very same signals pleasing to ...
Evolution
Mar 19, 2026
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A humpback whale alters the pitch of its song when joined by a neighboring singer, a finding that opens a new chapter in the ongoing effort to understand whale song, some of the most structurally and acoustically complex ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 16, 2026
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A haunting whale song discovered on decades-old audio equipment could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate, according to researchers who say it's the oldest such recording known.
Plants & Animals
Mar 16, 2026
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Across the animal kingdom, sound is more than communication—it's a signal of survival and success. From birds and primates to insects, fish, and amphibians, animals broadcast acoustic "advertisements" to defend territory, ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 12, 2026
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The genus Gracixalus belongs to the family of Old World Tree Frogs and is geographically dispersed from Myanmar and western Thailand to Laos, Vietnam, and further to southern China. Despite the considerable amount of research ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 10, 2026
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Researchers at the University of Oxford have suggested that ultrasound-repellers could help reduce hedgehog deaths caused by cars. The proposal is based on new findings, published in Biology Letters, which demonstrate for ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 10, 2026
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