Scientists in China have discovered a mammal with a transitional middle ear. The middle ear is found in the fossil Liaoconodon hui, and has been sought for over 150 years since scientists first noticed odd grooves in the jaw that seemed to pave the way for the development of the middle ear. According to an author of the paper, "Now we have cartilage with ear bones attached, the first clear paleontological evidence showing relationships between the lower jaw and middle ear."
Humans can usually separate multiple overlapping sounds, such as separating the background noise of a cocktail party from the voice of the person you actually want to listen to. But how can you program a computer to do the same thing? This interesting article from Scientific American discusses the problem.
I love it when college professors and teachers try to make things easier on their students. Professor Horacio Ferriz of California State is doing just that. To assist a deaf student in his class, he records his lectures and has a student caption them, and came up with a very interesting for a solution a blind student faced. Read the article to find out more.
And finally, here is some comic relief for your Wednesday: Pokke the adorable Japanese cat.
Awesome! I especially like the news story about the professor trying to help his deaf student with captioning recorded lectures. Really neat to hear about this.
Awesome! I especially like the news story about the professor trying to help his deaf student with captioning recorded lectures. Really neat to hear about this.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
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