Contact: Dr. Christian Herbst christian.herbst@univie.ac.at University of Vienna
Science: The physics of making very low sounds
Elephants can communicate using very low frequency sounds, 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.
The other possibility is that elephant infrasounds are produced like human speech or singing, but because the elephant larynx is so large, they are extremely low in frequency. Human humming is produced by vibrations of the vocal folds (also called "vocal cords"), which are set into vibration by a stream of air from the lungs, and don't require periodic muscle activity. By this hypothesis, elephant infrasounds result simply from very long vocal folds slapping together at a low rate, and don't require any periodic tensing of the laryngeal muscles.
To find out, researchers at the University of Vienna, led by voice scientist Christian Herbst and elephant communication expert Angela Stoeger, removed the larynx from an elephant (which died of natural causes), and brought it into the larynx laboratory of the Department of Cognitive Biology (headed by Tecumseh Fitch). By blowing a controlled stream of warm, humid air through the larynx (substituting for the elephants lungs), and manually placing the vocal folds into the "vocal" position, the scientists coaxed the vocal folds into periodic, low-frequency vibrations that match infrasounds in all details.
Since there can be no periodic tensing and relaxing of vocal fold muscles without a connection to the elephant's brain, low-frequency vibrations in the excised larynx clearly demonstrate that the "purring" mechanism is unnecessary to explain infrasounds. Thus, elephants "sing" using the same physical principles as we do, but their immense larynx produces very low notes.
As an additional insight, the scientists were able to get a very clear look at some fascinating types of vibration called "nonlinear phenomena". When a baby cries, or a heavy metal singer screams, the vocal folds vibrate in an irregular manner, which is very grating to our ears. Young elephants also scream and roar, and the mechanism they use is again identical to that seen in humans.
This research shows that the physical principles underlying the human voice extend over a remarkable range, from bat's incredibly high vocalizations (too high for us to hear), all the way down to elephants' subaudible infrasounds. How whales, the largest animals, make their even lower frequency sounds remains to be determined.
###
Publication in "Science"
How low can you go Physical Production Mechanism of Elephant Infrasonic Vocalisation: Christian T. Herbst, Angela S. Stoeger, Roland Frey, Jrg Lohscheller, Ingo R. Titze, Michaela Gumpenberger, W. Tecumseh Fitch (Science 2012).
DOI: 10.1126/science.1219712
Scientific contacts
Dr. Christian Herbst
Department of Cognitive Biology
University of Vienna
1090 Vienna, Althanstrae 14
M +43-664-602 77-761 22
christian.herbst@univie.ac.at
Dr. Angela Stoeger
Department of Cognitive Biology
University of Vienna
1090 Vienna, Althanstrae 14
M +43-676-7837326
angela.stoeger-horwath@univie.ac.at
(Dr. Stoeger will be in South Africa studying elephants but is available for comment by phone)
Press contact
Alexandra Frey
Press Office of the University of Vienna
Research and teaching
1010 Vienna, Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 1
T +43-1-4277-175 33
M +43-664-602 77-175 33
alexandra.frey@univie.ac.at
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Dr. Christian Herbst christian.herbst@univie.ac.at University of Vienna
Science: The physics of making very low sounds
Elephants can communicate using very low frequency sounds, 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.
The other possibility is that elephant infrasounds are produced like human speech or singing, but because the elephant larynx is so large, they are extremely low in frequency. Human humming is produced by vibrations of the vocal folds (also called "vocal cords"), which are set into vibration by a stream of air from the lungs, and don't require periodic muscle activity. By this hypothesis, elephant infrasounds result simply from very long vocal folds slapping together at a low rate, and don't require any periodic tensing of the laryngeal muscles.
To find out, researchers at the University of Vienna, led by voice scientist Christian Herbst and elephant communication expert Angela Stoeger, removed the larynx from an elephant (which died of natural causes), and brought it into the larynx laboratory of the Department of Cognitive Biology (headed by Tecumseh Fitch). By blowing a controlled stream of warm, humid air through the larynx (substituting for the elephants lungs), and manually placing the vocal folds into the "vocal" position, the scientists coaxed the vocal folds into periodic, low-frequency vibrations that match infrasounds in all details.
Since there can be no periodic tensing and relaxing of vocal fold muscles without a connection to the elephant's brain, low-frequency vibrations in the excised larynx clearly demonstrate that the "purring" mechanism is unnecessary to explain infrasounds. Thus, elephants "sing" using the same physical principles as we do, but their immense larynx produces very low notes.
As an additional insight, the scientists were able to get a very clear look at some fascinating types of vibration called "nonlinear phenomena". When a baby cries, or a heavy metal singer screams, the vocal folds vibrate in an irregular manner, which is very grating to our ears. Young elephants also scream and roar, and the mechanism they use is again identical to that seen in humans.
This research shows that the physical principles underlying the human voice extend over a remarkable range, from bat's incredibly high vocalizations (too high for us to hear), all the way down to elephants' subaudible infrasounds. How whales, the largest animals, make their even lower frequency sounds remains to be determined.
###
Publication in "Science"
How low can you go Physical Production Mechanism of Elephant Infrasonic Vocalisation: Christian T. Herbst, Angela S. Stoeger, Roland Frey, Jrg Lohscheller, Ingo R. Titze, Michaela Gumpenberger, W. Tecumseh Fitch (Science 2012).
DOI: 10.1126/science.1219712
Scientific contacts
Dr. Christian Herbst
Department of Cognitive Biology
University of Vienna
1090 Vienna, Althanstrae 14
M +43-664-602 77-761 22
christian.herbst@univie.ac.at
Dr. Angela Stoeger
Department of Cognitive Biology
University of Vienna
1090 Vienna, Althanstrae 14
M +43-676-7837326
angela.stoeger-horwath@univie.ac.at
(Dr. Stoeger will be in South Africa studying elephants but is available for comment by phone)
Press contact
Alexandra Frey
Press Office of the University of Vienna
Research and teaching
1010 Vienna, Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 1
T +43-1-4277-175 33
M +43-664-602 77-175 33
alexandra.frey@univie.ac.at
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
FILE - This Dec.. 21, 2011 file photo shows boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., waiting for sentencing in Clark County District Court, in Las Vegas. Mayweather Jr. is due for release from a Las Vegas jail by the weekend, after serving two months in a domestic battery case. Records show the 35-year-old undefeated champion is due for release Friday Aug. 3, 2012, from the Clark County jail in downtown Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, file)
FILE - This Dec.. 21, 2011 file photo shows boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., waiting for sentencing in Clark County District Court, in Las Vegas. Mayweather Jr. is due for release from a Las Vegas jail by the weekend, after serving two months in a domestic battery case. Records show the 35-year-old undefeated champion is due for release Friday Aug. 3, 2012, from the Clark County jail in downtown Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, file)
LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Boxer Floyd Mayweather was released from a Las Vegas jail early Friday after serving two months of a three-month sentence in a misdemeanor domestic battery case.
The undefeated boxer walked out of the Clark County Detention Center beneath the glow of street lamps and glare of TV cameras to resume a boxing career that his lawyers and personal physician warned in court documents might be at risk. They said jail food and water didn't meet Mayweather's dietary needs, and lack of exercise space in a cramped cell of fewer than 98 square feet threatened his health and fitness.
Mayweather looked fit as he donned a leather Miami Heat cap, pulled a gray hooded sweatshirt over his head and shared hugs with about 20 family members and friends, including his 12-year-old daughter, Iyanna Mayweather, and his manager, Leonard Ellerbe.
He said nothing to the media as he got behind the wheel of a blue Bentley sedan with several friends inside, including rapper 50 Cent, and drove away.
A lot has happened in Mayweather's world since he was jailed June 1.
With no television in his solo cell, he couldn't see arch rival Manny Pacquiao lose his WBO welterweight title June 9 to Timothy Bradley.
Mayweather, who goes by the nickname "Money," wasn't around to celebrate last month when Forbes magazine named him the world's highest-paid athlete for 2011.
He wasn't able to attend the ESPN network ESPY awards to accept the best fighter award.
And he missed fiancee Shantel Jackson's private birthday bash last week at a Las Vegas steakhouse with friends, including 50 Cent. Las Vegas Review-Journal celebrity columnist Norm Clark noted that Mayweather sent diamonds.
But Mayweather is now a free man, even if his next opponent is not immediately clear.
Ellerbe declined comment outside the jail late Thursday, where he waited with friends, including Mayweather adviser Sam Watson and several others.
Promoters for Mayweather's main rival, Philippine boxer Manny Pacquiao, plan a fight Nov. 10 at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas, Nevada Athletic Commission executive Keith Kizer said. Pacquiao's opponent hasn't been named but Mayweather wasn't believed to be on the list.
Pacquiao, who earned $62 million in fights and endorsements last year, ranked second on the Forbes richest athletes list behind Mayweather and his $85 million in fight earnings.
To fight in Las Vegas, Mayweather will need a new license from the Nevada Athletic Commission, Kizer said Thursday. His last license, for the May 5 bout against Miguel Cotto, was for one fight only.
If Mayweather applies, commission Chairman Raymond "Skip" Avansino Jr. could decide to grant approval administratively or summon Mayweather before the panel for a public hearing, Kizer said.
Mayweather received about 30 days off his 90-day jail sentence for work time and good behavior. Nevada state law allows inmates to receive up to 10 days off per month for cooperating with jailers and working or being willing to work. Las Vegas police administer the jail, and a department spokesman said Mayweather wasn't required to work and didn't misbehave behind bars.
The 35-year-old boxer pleaded guilty last year to reduced domestic battery charges stemming from a hair-pulling, arm-twisting attack on his former girlfriend, Josie Harris, while two of their three children watched. The plea deal allowed him to avoid trial on felony charges that could have gotten Mayweather up to 34 years in prison if he was convicted. Harris and the children have since moved to the Los Angeles area.
As a high-profile inmate, police say Mayweather was kept separate for his protection from the other 3,200 inmates in the downtown Las Vegas facility.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa rejected arguments that Mayweather's accommodations were cruel and unusual. The judge ruled June 13 that while Mayweather may not have liked the regimen, he had sufficient space and time for physical activity and the only reason he wasn't eating properly was because he was refusing to eat the meals he was given.
The judge earlier gave Mayweather a break ? allowing him to remain free long enough to make the Cinco de Mayo fight against Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas. Mayweather won to run his record to 43-0 with 26 knockouts. Cotto lost for just the second time in 38 fights.
There is something to be said about having a relatable character avatar.? When a game opens up with the player character being stuck in an ancient?something?civilization pit of mystery and is told to go exploring while the rest of the team waits for a replacement winch instead of just figuring out how rope works, I kind of want the worst for this character.? When about half an hour later he encounters a message from the past basically warning the end of the world should anyone enter, and there is no option to simply wait things out, I love for the zombie/mummy/things to kill him.? Granted this adventure takes place in one of the most beautiful and interesting environments on the PC, too bad that my only driving force to progress is to find new and more interesting ways for this very bad Indiana Jones to die.
Did I mention that the game looks amazing?? I probably did, but seeing as how the plot isn?t going to be the thing that you talk to anyone about, unless to openly mock, it should probably be brought up a couple of times.? The Ball does one thing, and that one thing it does very well; it manages to show off just how powerful of a gaming computer it running on.? Considering that the game only requires the computer to be Direct X9 compatible most computers out there can at the very least run the game.
Most of the gameplay is based around some form of puzzle solving, although the twist that is thrown in this time is that the puzzles are normally solved through the use and manipulation of a giant ball that the player tosses around the room.? It isn?t that these actions are interesting, it is just that they are presented in such a way that they are best taken in chunks instead of attempting to beat the game in one long sitting.? There is combat, but that pretty much only is ever used to make the player feel entirely underpowered, which is good because I hate him.
Besides having one of the worst opening plots ever the game is reasonably priced, at 20 dollars, for being a visual masterpiece of a tech demo when compared to other games that used to serve that same niche need?Crysis. While it might be one of the few games that sit around on a Steam list without ever really being beaten, it is also probably the first thing that will be pulled out the moment a new video card or random PC upgrade is performed.? With that in mind it is hard not to recommend this game to anyone who is not serious about computer gaming, and would be a waste to not have in any well-established collection.
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Are large earthquakes linked across the globe?Public release date: 2-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nan Broadbent nan0604@msn.com 408-431-9885 Seismological Society of America
The press release and paper noted below, publishing in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, is strictly under embargo until 12:00 Noon Eastern Time US on August 2, 2012.
The past decade has been plagued with what seems to be a cluster of large earthquakes, with massive quakes striking Sumatra, Chile, Haiti and Japan since 2004. Some researchers have suggested that this cluster has occurred because the earthquakes may be "communicating" across large distances, possibly triggering each other. But a new analysis by Tom Parsons and Eric Geist of the US Geological Survey concludes that the cluster could just as well be the result of random chance.
Each of the devastating quakes in the 2000s drew huge media coverage and required extensive rebuilding and economic restoration. The intense interest in the earthquakes has led some to wonder if we are living in the middle of an "age of great quakes," similar to a global cluster of quakes in the 1960s. It's important to know whether these clusters occur because big earthquakes trigger others across the world, Parsons and Geist say, in order to predict whether more severely destructive quakes might be on the way.
To determine if the quake clusters in the 1960s and 2000s could be attributed to random chance, the researchers looked at the timing between the world's largest earthquakes--magnitude 8.3 and above--at one-year intervals during the past 100 years. They compared simulated lists of large quakes and the list of real quakes during this time with the between-quake intervals expected from a random process. The intervals between the real-life large quakes are similar to what would be expected from a random process, they found. In other words, the global hazard of large earthquakes is constant in time. Except in the case of local aftershocks, the probability of a new large quake occurring isn't related to past global quakes.
This could be disappointing news for researchers who thought global communication between quakes might offer a way to predict the most severe seismic activity. But there also may be some good news after a decade of destruction. If global great earthquakes are occurring at random, the authors say, then a specific number of quakes that cluster together within a short time is unlikely to be repeated in a similar way over a 100-year span.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Are large earthquakes linked across the globe?Public release date: 2-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nan Broadbent nan0604@msn.com 408-431-9885 Seismological Society of America
The press release and paper noted below, publishing in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, is strictly under embargo until 12:00 Noon Eastern Time US on August 2, 2012.
The past decade has been plagued with what seems to be a cluster of large earthquakes, with massive quakes striking Sumatra, Chile, Haiti and Japan since 2004. Some researchers have suggested that this cluster has occurred because the earthquakes may be "communicating" across large distances, possibly triggering each other. But a new analysis by Tom Parsons and Eric Geist of the US Geological Survey concludes that the cluster could just as well be the result of random chance.
Each of the devastating quakes in the 2000s drew huge media coverage and required extensive rebuilding and economic restoration. The intense interest in the earthquakes has led some to wonder if we are living in the middle of an "age of great quakes," similar to a global cluster of quakes in the 1960s. It's important to know whether these clusters occur because big earthquakes trigger others across the world, Parsons and Geist say, in order to predict whether more severely destructive quakes might be on the way.
To determine if the quake clusters in the 1960s and 2000s could be attributed to random chance, the researchers looked at the timing between the world's largest earthquakes--magnitude 8.3 and above--at one-year intervals during the past 100 years. They compared simulated lists of large quakes and the list of real quakes during this time with the between-quake intervals expected from a random process. The intervals between the real-life large quakes are similar to what would be expected from a random process, they found. In other words, the global hazard of large earthquakes is constant in time. Except in the case of local aftershocks, the probability of a new large quake occurring isn't related to past global quakes.
This could be disappointing news for researchers who thought global communication between quakes might offer a way to predict the most severe seismic activity. But there also may be some good news after a decade of destruction. If global great earthquakes are occurring at random, the authors say, then a specific number of quakes that cluster together within a short time is unlikely to be repeated in a similar way over a 100-year span.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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