Linking low frequency hearing to the cochlea's curvature

User rating: 4.6 / 5 after 14 vote(s)

The figure at the top shows how the base and apex radii of the cochlea were determined. The graph at the bottom illustrates the link between the radii ratio and the low frequency hearing limit of a number of species: ms1 and ms2 are two strains of mi ...
The figure at the top shows how the base and apex radii of the cochlea were determined. The graph at the bottom illustrates the link between the radii ratio and the low frequency hearing limit of a number of species: ms1 and ms2 are two strains of mice; ra1 and ra2 are two species of rat; bd is the bottlenose dolphin; sl is the sea lion; sm is the squirrel monkey; ca is the cat; ch is the chinchilla; gb is the gerbil; gp is the guinea pig; h is the human; e is the elephant; cw is the cow. Courtesy of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Shape matters, even in hearing. Specifically, it is the shape of the cochlea — the snail-shell-shaped organ in the inner ear that converts sound waves into nerve impulses that the brain deciphers — which proves to be surprisingly important.


Full story »

All News summaries from General Science news
All News summaries for April 25, 2008

Study: No gender differences in math performance

58 minutes ago | User rating: not rated yet
We've all heard it. Many of us in fact believe it. Girls just aren't as good at math as boys. But is it true? After sifting through mountains of data - including SAT results and math scores from 7 million students who were ...

Plant steroids offer new paradigm for how hormones work

1 hour ago | User rating: not rated yet
Steroids bulk up plants just as they do human athletes, but the playbook of molecular signals that tell the genes to boost growth and development in plant cells is far more complicated than in human and animal cells. A new ...

Prevailing theory of aging challenged in Stanford worm study

1 hour ago | User rating: not rated yet
Age may not be rust after all. Specific genetic instructions drive aging in worms, report researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Their discovery contradicts the prevailing theory that aging is a buildup ...

UC Santa Barbara chemist goes nano with CoQ10

2 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
If Bruce Lipshutz has his way, you may soon be buying bottles of water brimming with the life-sustaining coenzyme CoQ10 at your local Costco.

Region hit hard by 1993 floods showed economic resiliency, study indicates

2 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
With the first wave of clean-up efforts behind them, residents of communities affected by this year's Midwest floods may find hope in a University of Illinois study on the economic impact of the 1993 flood that devastated ...