Small marine creatures like jellyfish can influence global climate. But how? They help mix warm and cold water in oceans and, by increasing the rate at which heat can travel through the ocean, may influence our climate.
Kakani Katija Young and her team at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute had formed the hypothesis on the basis of observations in 2009 with the help of a Self-Contained Underwater Velocimetry Apparatus (SCUVA), the Journal of Visualised Experiments (JoVE) reports. SCUVA is used underwater at night to light up animals like jellyfish and particles around the marine animals, showing how they move the water around them when they swim, according to a Woods Hole statement.
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Why fingernails on blackboard sound horrible
Ever wondered why scraping your nails down a blackboard sounds so awful? It’s because human ears are designed in such a way that it amplifies the screeching sound to make it intolerable, scientists say.
Researchers from Germany and Austria found that the noise of fingernails on a chalkboard is similar to human speech and human ears are “built” to hear sounds at that frequency.
The researchers, led by Michael Oehler of the Macromedia University for Media and Communication in Cologne, used a test where some listeners thought they were hearing to “difficult” experimental music, and others were told they were listening to various horrible sounds. Nails on a blackboard ranked above sounds such as a fork scraping on a plate and squeaking polystyrene.
— PTI