• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Killer Whale Microphone

Killer Whale Microphone

July 27, 2011
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/110727_sciup_orca.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

Orcas lend engineers their ears…I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

In the ocean, orcas – or killer whales — are top predators, and as a result, they’ve evolved top-notch hearing. Now, the ultrasensitive ears of orcas have inspired the design of an ultrasensitive, underwater microphone. Onur Kilic is an applied physicist at Stanford University. He and his colleagues looked at how orca ears respond to a wide range of sound frequencies while also withstanding the crushing water pressure deep in the ocean. Like an orca’s ears, their microphone fills with water to keep the pressure balanced inside and out.

ONUR KILIC (Stanford University):

We built something that can be used pretty much for any ocean applications. It can detect both the faintest and the loudest sounds at any depth.

HIRSHON:

The work was published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Kilic says the microphone could find many uses in ocean communication, navigation, and research. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Acoustics & Sound, Animal Behavior, Engineering & Technology, Wildlife
Previous Post:Stop Smoking Texts
Next Post:Happy Face Genetics

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Cat Video
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • NASA
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Image of computer screen depicting an orange cat with a variety of alphanumeric scientific data superimposed on the the screen.
Spotted skunk performing handstand to threaten predators

Copyright © 2025 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos