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According to a recent study, published in Cell, thirsty or stressed plants make sounds that can be heard up to several metres away. Plants that need water or have recently had their stems cut produce up to 35 sounds per hour, while well-hydrated and uncut plants only make about one sound per hour. At ultrasonic levels (20–100 kHz) few humans can hear them, but some animals, such as bats or moths, may be able to. Researchers from Tel-Aviv University in Israel recorded the sounds which are like short clicks and it’s thought these are made by the xylem, the tubes that transport water and nutrients from the plant’s roots to…

It’s reassuring to learn that other mammals seem to lose their hearing in older age, much like humans do, but also find ways to adapt to their situation. Scientists have discovered that some bats experience age-related hearing loss – but may have found a way around it. A study of wild Egyptian fruit bats revealed a clear age-related hearing loss that, just as in humans, was particularly pronounced at higher sound frequencies – exactly those pitches that the bats need for echolocation to orientate themselves in their environment and to seek out prey. The fruit bats live in large, noisy colonies which means these animals are continuously exposed to over…

We’ve all had them – those annoying song riffs that you just can’t shift from your brain no matter what. But what makes one song more annoyingly catchy than another? And how can you rid yourself of one of these ‘earworms’ when you get one? Professor Emery Schubert, a researcher from the University of New South Wales in Australia, has found that earworms (‘involuntary musical imagery’) get into our brains when we’re relaxed. And certain songs will be more successful at this for key reasons. Earworms tend to be the choruses of songs as they’re repeated throughout the song. However, an earworm is also more likely if you recently heard…

We were alarmed to recently read that more than 2 million Britons currently work in harmful levels of noise and are at risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss. Why is there still such a problem with noise-induced hearing loss 17 years after the Control of Noise at Work Regulations were brought in? The piece by Dr David Greenberg on the British Safety Council’s website explained how large numbers of construction and manufacturing workers and ex-military personnel have a hearing impairment. Noise induced hearing loss is the source of many thousands of insurance claims, and is the most commonly reported occupational disease in Europe. And it is entirely preventable. So why is still…

Boats and aircraft still use propeller designs that are hundreds or even thousands of years old. However, that could be set to change thanks to a new design being implemented by the aviation and marine sectors. A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US that has been working on a new drone has found that adapting the traditional shape of the propellers into a twisted ring, or twisted-toroid, drastically reduces the noise from the drone blades. The sound created is more like a rushing breeze than a propeller, making it far less intrusive. What’s more, the new design also produces more thrust. These benefits are equally apparent…

  Sight and taste are the main ways snakes sense their environment, but hearing is a more important element than previously thought. Snakes can feel sound vibrations through the ground (called tactile sensing) but new research shows that they can also hear sounds through the air, like we can, and different species respond in different ways. Australia is a country well known for its variety of impressive and mostly lethal snakes so it seems apt that the new research has been published by a team at the University of Queensland. The team tested 19 different snakes from seven species in a soundproof room where they were able to move freely.…

  The eagle-eyed of you may remember that, back in July last year, we blogged about a new genetic test being trialled by some NHS hospitals that could protect the hearing of newborn babies who are vulnerable to a particular antibiotic.  One in 500 babies born in the UK has a gene that can lead to permanent hearing loss if they’re given the common emergency antibiotic, Gentamicin. Gentamicin is life-saving and the first-choice antibiotic if a newborn develops a serious bacterial infection. It’s safe for most people, but some 180 babies in England each year suffer hearing loss as they have the gene and are given this drug. Thanks to…