Musician’s Dystonia
Neuroscientists are looking for the roots of musician’s dystonia, a condition similar to writer’s cramp.
Dolphin Name Game
Each bottlenose dolphin makes up its own signature whistle early in life which functions much like a name.
Emotional Music
Music and speech use the same tonal qualities to evoke happy and sad emotions.
Bowhead Whale Songs
Bowhead whales in the Arctic Ocean sing a large variety songs to communicate with other whales.
Brain Voices
Scientists are beginning to reconstruct the words people hear based on electrical activity in their brains.
Hunting Bats
Noise caused by humans is invading natural ecosystems, but some animals have multiple sensory systems to deal with it.
Finch Warming Warnings
An Australian bird’s special call warns its unhatched chicks of a hot climate.
Humans & Honeyguides
African honeyhunters use a special call to get birds to lead them to the location of hives full of nutritious honey.
Sleeping Penguins
Just because they’re sleeping doesn’t mean penguins let down their guard.
Hospital Noise
Hospitals are noisy environments, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Voice & Gender Perception
Subtle vocal cues lead us to perceive voices as feminine or masculine.
Mother’s Voice
Brain scans reveal the power of a mother’s voice on her child.
Vampire Bat Calls
Vocal communication between vampire bats who know each other helps them survive when they don’t get enough to eat.
Babies & Music
A new study suggests musical games with their parents could not only boost babies’ musical development, but could help them recognize speech patterns, too.
Communicating by Wing
Some birds use their feathers to produce loud sounds as part of elaborate mating rituals.
Insects vs. Birds
The loud noise of insects causes some tropical birds to delay the onset of their morning song.
Robot Drum Arm
A robotic third arm helps drummers execute previously impossible percussion patterns.
Dialects & Society
While the media affect our vocabulary, our accents are a product of our community.
Female Songbirds
Female house wrens sing to defend their nest sites from intruders.
Children & Noise
Research suggests that children can’t filter out noise the way adults can, with profound implications for learning.
Children & Noise
Research suggests that children can’t filter out noise the way adults can, with profound implications for learning.
Singing Fruit Flies
Scientists listen in on fruit fly courtship calls to study the neural underpinnings of communication.