microrobert
08-04-2012, 04:35 PM
Mystery of elephant infrasounds revealed
http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2012/mysteryofele.jpg
Elephants can communicate using very low frequency sounds (http://phys.org/news/2012-08-elephants-humans.html), with pitches below the range of human hearing. These low-frequency sounds, termed "infrasounds", can travel several kilometers, and provide elephants with a "private" communication channel that plays an important role in elephants' complex social life. Their frequencies are as low as the lowest notes of a pipe organ.
Although the sounds themselves have been studied for many years, it has remained unclear exactly how elephant infrasounds are made. One possibility, favored by some scientists, is that the elephants tense and relax the muscles in their larynx (or "voice box") for each pulse of sound. This mechanism, similar to cats purring, can produce sounds as low in pitch as desired, but the sounds produced are generally not very powerful.
Mystery of elephant infrasounds revealed (http://phys.org/wire-news/105445191/mystery-of-elephant-infrasounds-revealed.html)
http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2012/mysteryofele.jpg
Elephants can communicate using very low frequency sounds (http://phys.org/news/2012-08-elephants-humans.html), with pitches below the range of human hearing. These low-frequency sounds, termed "infrasounds", can travel several kilometers, and provide elephants with a "private" communication channel that plays an important role in elephants' complex social life. Their frequencies are as low as the lowest notes of a pipe organ.
Although the sounds themselves have been studied for many years, it has remained unclear exactly how elephant infrasounds are made. One possibility, favored by some scientists, is that the elephants tense and relax the muscles in their larynx (or "voice box") for each pulse of sound. This mechanism, similar to cats purring, can produce sounds as low in pitch as desired, but the sounds produced are generally not very powerful.
Mystery of elephant infrasounds revealed (http://phys.org/wire-news/105445191/mystery-of-elephant-infrasounds-revealed.html)