ScienceAugust 15, 2026

infrasound

IN-fruh-sound

Definition

Sound waves that have frequencies below the lower limit of human audibility, typically under 20 hertz.

Etymology

Derived from the Latin prefix 'infra-', meaning 'below' or 'beneath,' combined with the English word 'sound,' literally describing acoustic vibrations below the human range of hearing.

In the news

The article explains that elephants communicate using infrasound, which allows their low-frequency calls to travel long distances across the savanna that humans cannot hear.

Wild African elephants appear to call each other by individual names, after researchers who recorded hundreds of rumbling calls in Kenya found that when a recording was played back through a speaker, the elephant it was "addressed" to perked up and ans

Read the full article ↗

ScienceBlog.com

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