News 2019

Young fish can be drawn to degraded coral reefs by loudspeakers playing the sounds of healthy reefs, according to new research published today [29 November] . An international team of scientists from the UK's Universities of Exeter and Bristol, and Australia's James Cook University and Australian Institute of Marine Science, say this "acoustic enrichment" could be a valuable tool in helping to restore damaged coral reefs.

The human brain can recognise a familiar song within 100 to 300 milliseconds, highlighting the deep hold favourite tunes have on our memory, a UCL study finds. Anecdotally the ability to recall popular songs is exemplified in game shows such as 'Name That Tune', where contestants can often identify a piece of music in just a few seconds.

A study of the genetic make-up of zebrafish has provided brand new insights into the cause of congenital hearing disorders in humans. A team including scientists from Cardiff University has identified how specific genes can dictate the patterns of the tiny cells - so-called hair cells - within our ears that allow us to hear and process sounds.

The scent of a lemon could help people feel better about their body image, new findings from University of Sussex research has revealed. In a new study from the university's Sussex Computer-Human Interaction (SCHI) Lab, people feel thinner and lighter when they experienced the scent of a lemon. The research, carried out in collaboration with researchers at the University College of London Interaction Centre (UCLIC) and the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), also revealed people contrastingly felt thicker and heavier when they smelt vanilla.

Researchers create first-ever personalised sound projector with £10 webcam A University of Sussex research team have demonstrated the first sound projector that can track a moving individual and deliver an acoustic message as they move, to a high-profile tech and media conference in LA. Dr Gianluca Memoli and his colleagues demonstrated what they believe to be the world's first sound projector with an autozoom objective in a talk at the 46th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics & Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH 2019) this week.

Music and mindful music listening may help people who have suffered strokes recover their impaired cognitive abilities more effectively, new research suggests. In a new paper published in the International Journal of Stroke, researchers and clinicians from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and East Anglia and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde report on the outcomes of a study which aimed to investigate the effects of combining music listening and mindfulness techniques on recovery after a stroke.

Music consumption has unintended economic and environmental costs, according to new research published today (Monday 8 April 2019) in the run-up to worldwide Record Store Day. The price consumers have been willing to pay for listening to recorded music has never been lower, while the environmental impact of listening to music has never been higher, researchers have found.

A team of researchers based at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh have recreated for the first time the famous Draupner freak wave measured in the North Sea in 1995. The Draupner wave was one of the first confirmed observations of a freak wave in the ocean; it was observed on the 1st of January 1995 in the North Sea by measurements made on the Draupner Oil Platform.