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posted 24. April 2006 05:53
Source: University of Bristol News
Paragraphs 3 and 5:
[Locusts]
Professor Daniel Robert is the research leader at Bristol: “We have found that different sound frequencies elicit very different mechanical responses in the locust hearing system. By studying these tiny nanoscale movements and understanding how sound waves are turned into mechanical responses we may be able to develop microphones based on the functions of natural hearing. These could detect very faint sounds and analyse their frequency, something that current microphones cannot pick up.”
[Mosquitoes]
Professor Robert explained: “Mosquitoes hear through their antenna and this comprises around 15,000 sensory cells, as many as in the human ear. We have found that just like humans, mosquitoes have the capacity for active hearing. This means that they can generate their own vibrations to amplify incoming sounds and improve the sensitivity of their hearing. They are able to stop this positive feedback when sounds create enough vibration on their own. How the mosquito does this is poorly understood but if we can gain a better understanding it could open up the way to developing tiny sensors, robust enough to work in a range of acoustic environments but able to detect nanoscale sounds at frequencies of human interest.”
Read full article at the University of Bristol
[ 24. April 2006, 05:55: Message edited by: ISCID News Editor ]
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