(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON, D.C., October 28, 2014 – Some of mankind's earliest and most mysterious artistic achievements—including prehistoric cave paintings, canyon petroglyphs and megalithic structures such as Stonehenge—may have been inspired by the behaviors of sound waves being misinterpreted as "supernatural."
During the 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), to be held October 27-31, 2014 at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel, Steven J. Waller, of Rock Art Acoustics, will describe several ways virtual sound images and absorbers can appear supernatural.
"Ancient mythology explained echoes from the mouths of caves as replies from spirits, so our ancestors may have made cave paintings in response to these echoes and their belief that echo spirits inhabited rocky places such as caves or canyons," explained Waller.
Just as light reflection gives an illusion of seeing yourself duplicated in a mirror, sound waves reflecting off a surface are mathematically identical to sound waves emanating from a virtual sound source behind a reflecting plane such as a large cliff face. "This can result in an auditory illusion of somebody answering you from within the rock," Waller said.
Echoes of clapping can sound similar to hoof beats, as Waller pointed out, while multiple echoes within a cavern can blur together into a thunderous reverberation that mimics the sound of a herd of stampeding hoofed animals.
"Many ancient cultures attributed thunder in the sky to 'hoofed thunder gods,' so it makes sense that the reverberation within the caves was interpreted as thunder and inspired paintings of those same hoofed thunder gods on cave walls," said Waller. "This theory is supported by acoustic measurements, which show statistically significant correspondence between the rock art sites and locations with the strongest sound reflection."
Other acoustical characteristics may have also been misinterpreted by ancient cultures unaware of sound wave theory. Waller noticed a resemblance between an interference pattern and Stonehenge, so he set up an interference pattern in an open field with just two flutes "droning the same note" to explore what it would sound like.
"The quiet regions of destructive sound wave cancellation, in which the high pressure from one flute cancelled the low pressure from the other flute, gave blindfolded subjects the illusion of a giant ring of rocks or 'pillars' casting acoustic shadows," Waller said.
He traveled to England and demonstrated that Stonehenge does indeed radiate acoustic shadows that recreate the same pattern as interference. "My theory that musical interference patterns served as blueprints for megalithic stone circles—many of which are called Pipers' Stones—is supported by ancient legends of two magic pipers who enticed maidens to dance in a circle and turned them all into stones," Waller noted.
There are several important implications of Waller's research. Perhaps most significantly, it demonstrates that acoustical phenomena were culturally significant to early humans—leading to the immediate conclusion that the natural soundscapes of archaeological sites should be preserved in their natural state for further study and greater appreciation.
"Even today, sensory input can be used to manipulate perception and lead to illusions inconsistent with scientific reality, which could have interesting practical applications for virtual reality and special effects in entertainment media," Waller said. "Objectivity is questionable, because a given set of data can be used to support multiple conclusions."
The history of humanity is full of such misinterpretations, such as the visual illusion that the sun moves around the earth. "Sound, which is invisible and has complex properties, can easily lead to auditory illusions of the supernatural," he added. "This, in turn, leads to the more general question: what other illusions are we living under due to other phenomena that we are currently misinterpreting?"
INFORMATION:Presentation #2aAA11, "Virtual sound images and virtual sound absorbers misinterpreted as supernatural objects," by Stephen J. Waller will take place on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at 11:40 AM in Marriott 7/8. The abstract can be found by searching for the presentation number here: https://asa2014fall.abstractcentral.com/planner.jsp
ABOUT THE MEETING
The 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) will be held October 27-31, 2014, at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel. It will feature more than 1,100 presentations on sound and its applications in physics, engineering, and medicine. Reporters are invited to cover the meeting remotely or attend in person for free.
PRESS REGISTRATION
We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact Jason Bardi (jbardi@aip.org, 240-535-4954), who can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.
USEFUL LINKS
Main meeting website: http://acousticalsociety.org/content/fall-2014-meeting
Program and Abstracts: https://asa2014fall.abstractcentral.com/planner.jsp
Live Webcast Oct. 29: http://www.aipwebcasting.com/webcast/registration/oct2014.php
ASA's World Wide Press Room
WORLD WIDE PRESS ROOM
ASA's World Wide Press Room is being updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay-language papers, which are 300-1,200 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio, and video.
LIVE MEDIA WEBCAST
A press briefing featuring a selection of newsworthy research will be webcast live from the conference the afternoon of Wednesday, October 29. A separate announcement, which includes topics and times, will be sent later this week. Register at: http://www.aipwebcasting.com/webcast/registration/oct2014.php
ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world's leading journal on acoustics), Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about ASA, visit our website at http://www.acousticalsociety.org
Ancient auditory illusions reflected in prehistoric art?
Although sound is invisible, evidence suggests its complex properties can easily lead to 'supernatural' auditory illusions that correspond to depictions in prehistoric cave art
2014-10-28
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
'Reverse engineering' materials for more efficient heating and cooling
2014-10-28
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 28, 2014 – If you've ever gone for a spin in a luxury car and felt your back being warmed or cooled by a seat-based climate control system, then you've likely experienced the benefits of a class of materials called thermoelectrics. Thermoelectric materials convert heat into electricity, and vice versa, and they have many advantages over more traditional heating and cooling systems.
Recently, researchers have observed that the performance of some thermoelectric materials can be improved by combining different solid phases -- more than one ...
Calming the plasma edge: The tail that wags the dog
2014-10-28
Experiments on the DIII-D tokamak that General Atomics operates for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have demonstrated the ability of lithium injections to transiently double the temperature and pressure at the edge of the plasma and delay the onset of instabilities and other transients. Researchers conducted the experiments using a lithium- injection device developed at the DOE's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).
Lithium can play an important role in controlling the edge region and hence the evolution of the entire plasma. For example, researchers have ...
Remnants of tropical depression soaking Central America
2014-10-28
NASA's Terra satellite passed over Tropical Storm Hanna on Oct. 27 when it made landfall near the northern Nicaragua and southern Honduras border.
On Oct. 27 at 16:00 UTC (12 p.m. EDT) the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Hanna straddling the border between Honduras and Nicaragua. The image, created by NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, showed strong thunderstorms on both sides of the border, bringing heavy rainfall to those area.
At 10 a.m. EDT on Oct. ...
New study uses DNA sequences to look back in time at key events in plant evolution
2014-10-28
Scientists from North America, Europe and China have published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that reveals important details about key transitions in the evolution of plant life on our planet.
From strange and exotic algae, mosses, ferns, trees and flowers growing deep in steamy rainforests to the grains and vegetables we eat and the ornamental plants adorning our homes, all plant life on Earth shares over a billion years of history.
"Our study generated DNA sequences from a vast number of distantly related plants, and we developed new ...
Ana's remnants raining and gusting in British Columbia, Canada
2014-10-28
NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an image of post-tropical cyclone Ana's remnant clouds raining on British Columbia, Canada today, Oct. 28. Wind warnings along some coastal sections of British Columbia continued today as the storm moved through the region.
NOAA's GOES-West satellite gathered infrared data on Ana's remnant clouds and that data was made into an image by NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. In the image the remnant clouds resemble a frontal system.
Environment Canada's Meteorological Service continued ...
Breathe easier: Get your D
2014-10-28
Asthma, which inflames and narrows the airways, has become more common in recent years. While there is no known cure, asthma can be managed with medication and by avoiding allergens and other triggers. A new study by a Tel Aviv University researcher points to a convenient, free way to manage acute asthmatic episodes — catching some rays outside.
According to a paper recently published in the journal Allergy, measuring and, if need be, boosting Vitamin D levels could help manage asthma attacks. The research, conducted by Dr. Ronit Confino-Cohen of TAU's Sackler Faculty ...
Using radio waves to control the density in a fusion plasma
2014-10-28
Recent fusion experiments on the DIII-D tokamak at General Atomics (San Diego) and the Alcator C-Mod tokamak at MIT (Cambridge, Massachusetts), show that beaming microwaves into the center of the plasma can be used to control the density in the center of the plasma, where a fusion reactor would produce most of its power. Several megawatts of microwaves mimic the way fusion reactions would supply heat to plasma electrons to keep the "fusion burn" going.
The new experiments reveal that turbulent density fluctuations in the inner core intensify when most of the heat goes ...
Helping general electric upgrade the US power grid
2014-10-28
When researchers at General Electric Co. sought help in designing a plasma-based power switch, they turned to the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The proposed switch, which GE is developing under contract with the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, could contribute to a more advanced and reliable electric grid and help to lower utility bills.
The switch would consist of a plasma-filled tube that turns current on and off in systems that convert the direct current (DC) coming from long-distance power lines to the ...
European consensus on methodological recommendations for clinical studies in rare cancers
2014-10-28
One out of every five new cancer patients is diagnosed with a rare cancer, yet the clinical evidence needed to effectively treat these rare cancer patients is scarce. Indeed, conventional cancer clinical trial methodologies require large numbers of patients who are difficult to accrue in the situation of rare cancers. Consequently, building clinical evidence for the treatment of rare cancers is more difficult than it is for frequent cancers.
Dr. Jan Bogaerts, EORTC Methodology Vice Director, points out, "For rare cancers, we need alternative ways to conceive study designs ...
Lack of A level maths leading to fewer female economists
2014-10-28
A study by the University of Southampton has found there are far fewer women studying economics than men, with women accounting for just 27 per cent of economics students, despite them making up 57 per cent of the undergraduate population in UK universities.
The findings suggest less than half as many girls (1.2 per cent) as boys (3.8 percent) apply to study economics at university, while only 10 per cent of females enrol at university with an A level in maths, compared to 19 per cent of males.
"This underrepresentation of women economics degrees could have major implications ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Gelada monkeys understand complex "conversations" involving distress calls and prosocial comforting responses, exhibiting surprise when such vocal exchanges are manipulated to violate their expectatio
New poison dart frog discovered in the Amazon's Juruá River basin is blue with copper-colored legs, and represents one of just two novel Ranitomeya species in a decade
Shifting pollution abroad is a major reason why democratic countries are rated more environmentally friendly compared to non-democratic states
Groups of AI agents spontaneously form their own social norms without human help, suggests study
Different ways of ‘getting a grip’
Handy octopus robot can adapt to its surroundings
The ripple effect of small earthquakes near major faults
Mass General Brigham researchers pinpoint ‘sweet spot’ for focused ultrasound to provide essential tremor relief
MRI scans could help detect life-threatening heart disease
NASA’s Magellan mission reveals possible tectonic activity on Venus
A step forward in treating serious genetic disorders prenatally
New study shows AI can predict child malnutrition, support prevention efforts
Microplastics in Texas bays are being swept out to sea
Loneliness increases risk of hearing loss: evidence from a large-scale UK biobank study
Study signals a first in drug discovery: AI can tackle aging’s true complexity
Combining laboratory techniques yields wealth of information about deadly brain tumors
Low-viscosity oil boosts PDMS SlipChip: Enabling safer cell studies and gradient generation
Dark matter formed when fast particles slowed down and got heavy, new theory says
Earliest reptile footprints rewrite the timeline of tetrapod evolution
How the brain allows us to infer emotions
Chinese researchers reveal lipid-based communication between body and gut microbes
Scientists discover new way the brain learns
A downside of taurine: it drives leukemia growth
NIH researchers discover a new tissue biomarker for aggressive breast cancer risk and poorer survival
Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists and mental health
Cannabis use among older adults
New global model shows how to bring environmental pressures back to 2015 levels by 2050
New catalyst boosts efficiency of CO2 conversion
New study shows how ancient climates may inform monsoon prediction
New gel could boost coral reef restoration
[Press-News.org] Ancient auditory illusions reflected in prehistoric art?Although sound is invisible, evidence suggests its complex properties can easily lead to 'supernatural' auditory illusions that correspond to depictions in prehistoric cave art