Hard-of-Hearing Music Fans Prefer a Different Sound
American Institute of Physics (AIP)In JASA, researchers from the University of Oldenburg study the impact of hearing loss on subjects’ enjoyment of different music mixes.
In JASA, researchers from the University of Oldenburg study the impact of hearing loss on subjects’ enjoyment of different music mixes.
AIP Publishing is thrilled to announce the appointment of Ortwin Hess as the founding editor-in-chief of APL Quantum, its newest open-access journal, which seeks to cultivate groundbreaking research in both fundamental and applied quantum science. Hess brings a lifetime of scientific experience and insight in nearly all aspects of quantum science and as editor-in-chief, he will lead the journal as it begins accepting submissions later in 2023 and prepares to publish in 2024.
Gems' unique elemental composition and atomic orientation act as a fingerprint, enabling researchers to uncover the stones’ past, and with it, historical trade routes. In AIP Advances, Khedr et al. employ three modern spectroscopic techniques to rapidly analyze gems found in the Arabian-Nubian Shield and compare them with similar gems from around the world. The authors identified elements that influence gems’ color, differentiated stones found within and outside the region, and distinguished natural from synthetic.
Delving into the intricacies of waste management, researchers in China explore the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technology for the identification and classification of recyclable waste and discuss their work in AIP Advances.
In Applied Physics Letters, researchers report achieving self-sustaining and long-term levitation of millimeter-sized droplets of several different liquids without any external forces. To get the droplets to levitate, they use solutocapillary convection, which occurs when a surface tension gradient is formed by nonuniform distribution of vapor molecules from the droplet at the pool surface.
In Physics of Fluids, an interdisciplinary team presents a study of the dynamics of buoyant spheres at the air-water interface. Their work reveals complex hydrodynamics involved in forming horizontal air cavities and the transition between floating and skipping. One of the team’s key findings is that as the pulling force and speed of the spheres increase, their behavior becomes more irregular. They also discovered larger pulling angles result in different air-cavity lengths, larger skipping distances, and earlier water exit behavior.
In Physics of Fluids, Vega et al. researched human tears at the micron level to reveal new ways of customizing artificial tears to address individual symptoms of dry eye disease. The detailed insights they gained about the composition and behavior of tears could also apply to the study of ocular pathogens as well as other biological fluids. The authors collected healthy human tears and tested 10 different formulations of artificial tears and applied microrheology methods using dynamic light scattering.
Modern mosquito bed nets also come with insecticidal compounds embedded into the fibers that keep mosquito populations down. In recent years, however, insecticide-resistant mosquitoes have curtailed the nets' effectiveness.
Investigating viruses with spillover potential could give us a head start on the next pandemic and minimize its severity; one such virus is RshTT200, discovered in Cambodian bats in 2010. During ACA’s 73rd annual meeting, July 7-11, Samantha Zepeda from the University of Washington will present her team’s investigation into RshTT200. The team used cryo-electron microscopy to solve the spike protein structure. Once the spike proteins were understood, they built harmless, nonreplicating pseudoviruses expressing the spike proteins to investigate how RshTT200 accesses human cells.
FLASH is a targeted radiation therapy that kills tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue and delivers a short, intense burst of radiation in a single appointment. Corie Ralston from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will present her team’s research using X-ray footprinting mass spectrometry to investigate the mechanisms that make FLASH a powerful cancer killer at ACA’s 73rd annual meeting, July 7-11.
Researchers in Germany have studied the kinetic and thermodynamic processes of sugar crystallization in the making of fondant. In Physics of Fluids, they combine a controlled kneading machine with light microscopy to precisely observe the process of fondant creation and link it to theoretical physics models.
Certain conditions can make the increased heart rate associated with exercise dangerous: Researchers found that an elevated heart rate can induce a stroke in patients with highly blocked carotid arteries. Contrastingly, for healthy patients and those with only slightly blocked arteries, exercise is beneficial for maintaining healthy blood flow. In healthy patients, an elevated heart rate increases and stabilizes the drag force blood exerts on the vessel wall, reducing stenosis risk. But for patients already experiencing stenosis, it may not be as beneficial.
In Physics of Fluids, researchers develop a model to explore the forces and flow structures created by penguin wings underwater. Penguin can adjust swimming posture by active wing feathering, pitching, and flapping and their dense, short feathers can also lock air between the skin and water to reduce friction and turbulence. The hydrodynamic model takes in information about the flapping and feathering of the wings and, using the immersed boundary method, solves for the motion of the wing and the thrust, lift, and lateral forces.
Inhaled microplastics can pose serious health risks, so understanding how they travel in the respiratory system is essential for prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases. In Physics of Fluids, researchers develop a computational fluid dynamics model to analyze microplastic transport and deposition in the upper airway. The team explored the movement of microplastics with different shapes and sizes and under slow and fast breathing conditions. Microplastics tended to collect in hot spots in the nasal cavity and oropharynx, or back of the throat.
Biomicrofluidics is pleased to announce Sumin Lee as the winner of its 2022 Best Paper award. An expert panel of judges selected Lee for her significant contribution as an emerging author in microfluidics and nanofluidics.
Insects use odor plumes — which travel like smoke and form when the wind blows odor molecules from their source — to track down sources such as flowers or pheromones. But wind tunnels are typically unable to replicate realistic outdoor wind conditions. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, University of Nevada at Reno researchers decided to explore microscale wind conditions in various outdoor environments to better understand what flying insects might experience while tracking odor plumes.
Holograms are often displayed in science fiction as colorful, life-sized projections. But what seems like the technology of the future is actually the technology of the present. In Applied Physics Reviews, by AIP Publishing, researchers developed an acoustic metasurface-based holography technique that uses a deep learning algorithm to generate and iteratively improve a hologram of the Mona Lisa.
Tracing volatile organic compounds is important for public safety and all “smell” related issues. To this end, in Applied Physics Reviews, Liu et al. introduce a fluid mechanics-based chamber design for an electronic nose that consistently detects VOCs at low concentrations. The strategy, which includes using a shuntlike device to control the behavior of fluid flow, is a step forward in e-nose technology development.
In APL Bioengineering, researchers design a novel algorithm for controlling implanted insulin pumps that accounts for the unique characteristics of individual patients. Their model, tested using an FDA-approved diabetes computer simulation, proves intraperitoneal (within the abdominal cavity) insulin delivery is fast and closely mimics natural physiological insulin delivery. They developed a model that can account for individual patient differences and validated a pump control algorithm that does not require meal announcement.
In Physics of Fluids, researchers conduct a series of experiments that explore how changing key parts of the gummy-making process affects the final product, as well as how the candies behave in different storage temperatures. The group adjusted a variety of inputs while making the gummies, from the glucose syrup-to-sucrose ratio to starch and gelatin concentrations, to understand how these changes affected features like candy texture, moisture content, and pH. They used these results to identify the most shelf-stable combination for gummy candies.
The Journal of Mathematical Physics has selected Tom Hutchcroft for the 2022 JMP Young Researcher Award. Hutchcroft’s winning publication, “Sharp hierarchical upper bounds on the critical two-point function for long-range percolation on ℤd,” demonstrated that hierarchical percolation models provide good quality estimates when compared to Euclidean models. A panel of expert judges selected Hutchcroft for the $3,000 prize, which recognizes JMP authors within eight years of receiving their doctorate. His paper will be highlighted on the journal’s website.
To reach the stratosphere, Daniel Bowman of Sandia National Laboratories and his collaborators build relatively simple, solar-powered balloons that span 6 to 7 meters across. After releasing the balloons, they track their routes using GPS and use them to collect data and detect low-frequency sound with microbarometers. Rarely disturbed by planes or turbulence, the microphones on the balloons pick up a variety of sounds unheard anywhere else. Bowman will present his findings using these hot air balloons to eavesdrop on stratospheric sounds at the upcoming 184th ASA Meeting.
Acoustic monitoring is the go-to solution for locating a leak in a large urban pipe network, as the sounds from leaks are unique and travel far in water, but even this method struggles in complex systems. To tackle the problem, Pranav Agrawal and Sriram Narasimhan from UCLA developed algorithms that operate on acoustic signals collected via hydrophones mounted on fire hydrants. In doing so, the team can avoid costly excavation and reposition the devices as needed. Combined with novel probabilistic and machine-learning techniques to analyze the signals and pinpoint leaks, this technology could support water conservation efforts.
Scientists can harness sound on other worlds to learn about properties that might otherwise require a lot of expensive equipment, like the chemical composition of rocks, how atmospheric temperature changes, or the roughness of the ground. Extraterrestrial sounds could also be used in the search for life. Timothy G. Leighton from the University of Southampton has designed a software program that produces extraterrestrial environmental sounds and predicts how human voices might change in distant worlds. He will demonstrate his work at the upcoming 184th ASA Meeting.
Chaos congratulates Yuzuru Kato, Thomas Lilienkamp, and Tiemo Pedergnana for winning the journal’s 2022 Edward N. Lorenz Early Career Awards. Kato was recognized for introducing a definition of a phase function for quantum rhythmic systems, Lilienkamp was commended for developing a low-energy and safer approach to defibrillation, and Pedergnana was selected for work to better understand if and how an exact potential, which greatly simplifies analysis of the Langevin equation, can be found for a given system. The winners will split a $2,000 honorarium and are invited to contribute a perspective article to the journal.
At the 184th ASA Meeting, Colin Malloy of Ocean Network Canada will present his method to transform ocean data into captivating, solo percussion songs. He employs sound from hydrophones and introduces elements inspired by ocean-related data such as temperature, acidity, and oxygenation. For example, in his piece, Oil & Water, Malloy represents the impact of oil production on the oceans. He plays an eerily catchy melody on steel drums and inserts noise to represent oil production over the past 120 years.
The University of Arizona’s Husain Alqattan is the recipient of the APL Photonics 2022 Future Luminary Award for his work in utilizing pulse shaping and waveform synthesis to control electron motion and open the door for ultrafast electronics that process data at unprecedented speeds. The winning paper, “Attosecond light field synthesis,” was published in the April 2022 issue of APL Photonics. The award recognizes early-career researchers with the potential to become luminaries in the field of photonics.
At the 184th ASA Meeting, Yolanda Holt of East Carolina University will describe aspects of the systematic variation between African American English and white American English speech production in children. Holt and her team examined final consonant cluster in 4- and 5-year-olds and using instrumental acoustic phonetic analysis, they discovered that the variation in final consonant production in AAE is likely not a wholesale elimination of word endings but is perhaps a difference in aspects of articulation. Professional understanding of the difference between typical variation and errors is the first step for accurately identifying speech and language disorder.
Spread across 106 acres in southcentral Utah, the Pando aspen grove resembles a forest but is actually a single organism with more than 47,000 genetically identical aspen stems connected at the root. As an artist-in-residence for the nonprofit group Friends of Pando, Jeff Rice used a variety of microphones to record Pando’s leaves, birds, and weather. As part of the 184th ASA Meeting, Rice and Lance Oditt will describe their work to reveal a unique acoustic portrait of this botanical wonder.
By understanding how insects perceive sound and using 3D-printing technology to create custom materials, it is possible to develop miniature, bio-inspired microphones.
With optoacoustic tomography emerging as an effective breast cancer screening method, Seonyeong Park of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and her team wanted to determine its reliability in patients with darker skin. They simulated a range of skin colors and tumor locations using digital breasts to make rapid and cost-effective evaluations, and the results confirmed that tumors could be harder to locate in individuals with darker skin. Park has developed a virtual framework that allows for more comprehensive investigations and can serve as a tool for evaluating and optimizing new OAT imaging systems in their early stages of development.
At the 184th ASA Meeting, Georgia Zellou and Michelle Cohn of the University of California, Davis will describe experiments to investigate how speech and comprehension change when humans communicate with AI. They examined how people adjust their voice when communicating with an AI system compared to talking with another human and, on the listening side, how what a device sounds like impacts how well listeners will understand it.
In Physics of Fluids, researchers from the University of Alberta study the flight performance of the mountain pine beetle from a fluid mechanics and an entomological perspective. Understanding these aspects of the insect’s flight could improve estimates of its spread through the environment and preserve pine forests. To examine insect flight, the team employed a type of model previously used for idealized airfoils. They showed that it can be successfully applied to multiple individual animals across biological sex, insect age, and body size. In doing so, the model can predict how these factors impact flight characteristics.
In Physics of Fluids, University of Huddersfield researchers explore the role of uneven coffee extraction using a simple mathematical model. They split the coffee into two regions to examine whether uneven flow does in fact make weaker espresso. One of the regions in the model system hosted more tightly packed coffee than the other, which caused an initial disparity in flow resistance. The extraction of coffee decreased the flow resistance further. Understanding the origin of uneven extraction and avoiding or preventing it could enable better brews and substantial financial savings by using coffee more efficiently.
The coqui frog, one of Puerto Rico’s most iconic animals, gets its name from its distinctive two-note call, “co-qui,” which can be heard throughout the island every night. The males produce these calls to mark their territory and ward away rivals, but scientists can use them to study the changing climate. At the 184th ASA Meeting, Peter Narins of the University of California, Los Angeles will describe changes in the coqui calls over a 23-year period. Every frog call had grown higher in pitch, indicating a mini-migration that corresponds with the temperature shift induced by climate change.
Imagine a cocktail party full of 3D-printed, humanoid robots listening and talking to each other. That seemingly sci-fi scene is the goal of the Augmented Listening Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. With precise control over the simulated subjects, the researchers can adjust the parameters of the experiment and even set the machines in motion to simulate neck movements. They will describe the talking human head simulators, and their work investigating how humans receive sound and developing audio technology, at the 184th ASA Meeting.
At the 184th ASA Meeting, Ashley Alva of the Georgia Institute of Technology will describe how attaching microbubbles to macrophages, a type of white blood cell, can create high-resolution and sensitive tracking images useful for disease diagnosis. Because of the attached microbubbles, the cells sent back an echo when hit with ultrasound, which is nonionizing and noninvasive and has great depth of penetration. This allowed the team to visualize the macrophages in vivo with high resolution and sensitivity. Visualizing macrophages in vivo could also provide a powerful tool for understanding immune responses and monitoring therapeutic efficacy.
At the 184th ASA Meeting, Emily Sandgren and Joshua Alexander of Purdue University will describe experiments to determine the best hearing aids for listening to music. To test and compare, they took over 200 recordings of music samples as processed by hearing aids from seven popular manufacturers. They asked study participants to rate the sound quality of these recordings and found that the hearing aids had lower ratings for music than their control stimuli. The researchers found bigger differences in music quality between hearing aid brands than between speech and music programs.
This year and next, Americans will have the extraordinary opportunity to witness two solar eclipses as both will be visible throughout the continental U.S. Both occurrences promise to be remarkable events and teachable moments but preparation is essential. In The Physics Teacher, astronomer Douglas Duncan of the University of Colorado provides a practical playbook to help teachers, students, and the general public prepare for the eclipse events. He also shares ways to fundraise for schools and organizations and guidance for safe eclipse-viewing.
In APL Machine Learning, researchers develop a deep learning model to classify cancer cells by type. The tool requires only a simple microscope and a small amount of computing power, producing results on par or better than more sophisticated and complex techniques. After feeding an image into the neural network, the tool converts the data to a probability. A result lower than 0.5 categorizes the cancer as one cell type, while a number higher than 0.5 designates another. The tool reached over 94% accuracy across the data sets used in the study.
The 184th ASA Meeting will include three press conferences on Tuesday, May 9. The in-person presentations will also be livestreamed and recorded. Topics will focus on a wide range of newsworthy sessions, including 3D-printing head simulators, tracking immune cells with ultrasound, investigating the impact of skin color on breast cancer diagnosis, mimicking insects to create miniature microphones, and locating leaks in water networks. Reporters can register for in-person or virtual attendance.
In Physics of Fluids, researchers model the behavior of blood drops during secondary atomization to examine how the phenomenon affects a crime scene. The team examined different starting droplet sizes, confirming their model with experiments. They found the effect of secondary atomization was significant and predictable: The smaller droplets were easier to sweep up by the firearm’s gases and turn around toward the victim. This discovery could explain how a short-range shooter might stay clean from blood stains.
In Physics of Fluids, researchers develop an early warning system that combines acoustic technology with AI to immediately classify earthquakes and determine potential tsunami risk. They propose using underwater microphones, called hydrophones, to measure the acoustic radiation produced by the earthquake, which carries information about the tectonic event and travels significantly faster than tsunami waves. The computational model triangulates the source of the earthquake and AI algorithms classify its slip type and magnitude. It then calculates important properties like effective length and width, uplift speed, and duration, which dictate the size of the tsunami.
Scientists carried out an analysis of hundreds of popular song recordings from 1946 to 2020 to determine the lead vocal to accompaniment ratio, or LAR. The study considered the four highest-ranked songs from the Billboard Hot 100 chart for each year and the results show that, contrary to expectations, the LAR for popular music decreased over the decades in question. This means that, relative to their bands, lead singers are getting quieter.
In Physics of Fluids, researchers develop a model to describe the interaction between a rocket plume and the surface of a planetary body in near-vacuum conditions. The computational framework takes in information about the rocket, its engines, and the surface composition and topography, as well as the atmospheric conditions and gravitational forces at the landing site, and the results can be used to evaluate the safety and feasibility of a proposed landing site and to optimize the design of spacecraft and rocket engines for planetary landings.
In Biointerphases, researchers develop a fabrication method to increase the efficacy and longevity of membrane separation technology. The team created a nanofibrous membrane with electrospinning, in which a liquid polymer droplet is electrified and stretched to make fibers, and increased the roughness of the membrane surface by loading it with silver nanoparticles. In water, this rough surface promotes a stable layer of water, which acts as a barrier to prevent oil droplets from entering the membrane. The technology is greater than 99% effective at separating a petroleum ether-in-water emulsion.
In APL Energy, researchers developed a proof of concept for a superconducting highway that could transport vehicles and electricity, cooling the necessary superconductors with a pipeline of liquid hydrogen. Most magnetic levitation designs feature the superconductor inside the vehicle, which is suspended above a magnetic track. The authors decided to flip that arrangement upside down, putting the superconductor on the ground and giving each vehicle a magnet. The result is a system with multiple uses, placing it within the realm of affordability.
The AAAS's inaugural Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award honors recognizes Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden Jr., USMC (Ret), a former administrator of NASA; John Mather, senior project scientist of the JWST since 1995; and Bill Ochs, JWST project manager from 2011 through the telescope’s launch. The award selection committee seeks to acknowledge not only the winners’ individual contributions, but also the teams they inspired, whose collective work has given us all a completely different view of the universe.
AIP has selected Richard Fitzgerald as the new editor-in-chief of Physics Today, the most influential and closely followed physics magazine in the world and a unifying influence for the diverse areas of physics and related sciences. Fitzgerald moves into this role after nearly 25 years of increasing leadership on the Physics Today team.
ASA will hold its 184th meeting May 8-12 in Chicago, offering in-person and hybrid sessions throughout the week. The scientific conference brings together acousticians, researchers, musicians, and more from around the world, who will describe their work on topics that include measuring the calls of Puerto Rican coqui frogs, communicating with artificial intelligence, capturing the sounds of the stratosphere, simulating sounds on other planets, and ensuring linguistic justice by considering the unique aspects of African American English. Conference highlights can be found on social media by searching the #ASA184 hashtag and reporters are invited to attend in-person and hybrid sessions at no cost.