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Fly's Ear Inspires Hearing Aid Design

Posted by timothy on from the constant-bzzzzzzzzz dept.

capt.Hij writes: " Researchers at Cornell found a particular fly that is able to localize hearing as well as humans but on a faster time scale. The article says that other groups have been able to put a model of the fly's ear on silicone and have it working in the ultra-sonic frequency range. The article discusses applications in robotics and maybe even for hearing aides for people. It isn't clear how they manufactured the mechanical version, but it is real cool stuff. "

3 comments

  1. Sho nuff! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Thizis nizew hearing devizice be sooo smoove. I'm happy to lend a hand.

    Super Fly

  2. Best quote in the story by BobGregg · · Score: 1

    "We have a lot to learn from creatures in the natural world. They have been working on difficult problems much longer than we have."

  3. No 'e' dammit! by caffeinated_bunsen · · Score: 2
    ...model of the fly's ear on silicone...

    Ugh. There is no 'e' in the name of the element that microchips are made of. I realize that silicone can be interesting in certain applications, but it bears no relevance to this story.

    --

    Bugrit! Millenium hand and shrimp!