Super Hearing

I find it interesting that my dogs can pick up sounds that I can't. If I try and sneak up on one of them, they can hear me creepin' from a mile away. Then it got me thinking about other animals that use sound and how advanced their hearing is. What if we had super hearing like that? Like bats that can use sound waves to locate their food. It is weird how just a small change can enhance their ability to pick up different sounds, or how as humans we grow older and are unable to pick up those same sounds we used to be able to hear.

Questions:

1. What animals hearing would you want to have?

2. Can you really "pop" someone's ear drum?

Amplitude

If a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody around to here it, does it make a sound? I was thinking about this question and although the tree does cause the primary steps of creating sound, like the compression of air molecules and rarefaction, it is not completed. So does this mean that it does not make a sound, because unless reached by an ear, it cannot be considered a sound, because it has to complete all these steps to be considered making a sound. Just wondering.

Questions:

1. Who comes up with these riddles?

2. Do people with larger ears hear better than smaller ears, because their outer ear can catch larger selection of waves.

The Imperfection

I was listening to some songs on my iPod and I was thinking about people's voice. Why are there so may artists out there that can't sing live. When they come out with a cd, they are able to manipulate their voice to be in tune and not horrible. Yet when faced with the challenge of singing live, they sound like a completely different person. I just thought that was pretty crazy, especially since nowadays you can change anyone's voice to sound perfect. And why can't they sing in tune? It was pretty interesting to listen to some artists live concerts and then the cd version.


1. Does tone deaf mean that alot of there Cochlea is gone, or they have some problem hearing the actual note that they are singing?


2. Will recording using analog give the listener a better effect, then the fake digitally enhanced voice gives?

Crunch

I always thought it is cool, that by playing a simple sound, we can associate something with it. For example, the sound of the Jaws theme song, evokes fear and the image of a shark. Even for those who haven't seen the movie yet. What do you think of when you hear a bell ringing? I think of high school, either meaning go to your next class, or a fire drill. Tires screeching will probably put an image of a car almost hitting another one in your head. It is amazing how many sounds there are, and how many we associate with something. We attach a sound we hear to something that it is accompanied with. Just think of a time when you heard a sound, and didn't know where it came from. I'm pretty sure your curiosity had you staring off in different places trying to figure out what made the noise. Once found, you will recognize it later on and not be so curious.

1. How many times do we need to hear the same sound played, to be able to recognize it and associate it to something?

2. Have you ever heard something, and are unable to decipher what it could be?