Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Infrasound, Elephants and Earthquake Detection

Posted by timothy on from the how-low-can-you-audibly-go dept.

mediareport writes "Science News offers a timely antidote to simplistic mumbo-jumbo about the "mythical power" of animal earthquake detection. Anyone intrigued by reports of possible tsunami-avoidance behavior in Sri Lankan wildlife will enjoy this detailed examination of the latest research into low-frequency sound. Elephant rumblings that produce Rayleigh waves are now under serious study for the first time, while others are designing "highly unusual" experiments to test infrasound sensitivity in humans."

1 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Could it be ionospheric disturbance? by helioquake · · Score: 3, Informative

    Could it be ionospheric disturbance?

    There is an on-going research to forecast earthquakes via detecting ionospheric disturbances (can't find a good article now...it has to do with the detection of a very-remote FM radio signal that could only be detected when anomalous disturbance occurs in the ionosphere. An initial finding was done while amateur astronomers were monitoring FM radio signal for meteor detection). Maybe animals can detect minute changes in the terrestrial electro-magnetic field, I wonder?