Media are invited to join livestreamed press conferences for presentations on baseball bat geometry, the effect of fireworks on bat behavior, and vocal learning in birds and babies.
Media Contact:
AIP Media
301-209-3090
media@aip.org
PHILADELPHIA, May 12, 2026 – The Acoustical Society of America will livestream press conferences Tuesday, May 12, in Rooms 401-403 of the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. Media can attend in person, and the press conferences will be livestreamed. Journalists may pre-register at https://live.webcastplatform.com/go/asa, and video recordings of the press conference sessions will be available upon request.
The press conferences are part of ASA’s 190th meeting, which will be held May 11-15 and will feature a wide range of newsworthy sessions from the upcoming meeting. Media can expect to hear about acoustical research related to Olympic weightlifting, making marimba bars, acoustic-based imaging for surgery, and more.
Press releases for a selection of topics will be shared under embargo during the week of May 4, and conference highlights can be found on social media by searching the #ASA190 hashtag.
Reporters are also invited to attend in-person technical sessions throughout the conference — please email media@aip.org to register.
Learn more about all meeting sessions via ASA’s meeting page and in the technical program (topics/times subject to change).
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. ET
- Whip It Good: How Olympic Weightlifting Relies on a Barbell’s ‘Whip’ — Joshua Langlois, Pennsylvania State University
Session 3aNS8: Understanding the vibrational behavior of Olympic barbells under realistic loads, May 13, 11:20 a.m. ET - Safer Surgeries Through Laser-Induced Acoustic Imaging — Kai Zhang, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Session 1aBAa3: Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Photoacoustic Imaging for Neurovascular Bundle Visualization, May 11, 8:40 a.m. ET - Developing a Passive Antennae Sensor from a Mosquito Muse — Daniel Pastor, University of Strathclyde
Session 1pEAa3: From nature to technology: mosquito-inspired acoustic signal amplification, May 11, 1:40 p.m. ET
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET
- Challenging Biases About Vocal Fry — Jeanne Brown, McGill University
Session 4aSC8: Rethinking “young women’s creak”: Piecing together production, perception, and social evidence, May 14, 10:40 a.m. ET - AI Content Moderation Takes a Lesson from Economics — Yuan Zhao, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Session 2pSP3: Explainability of Large Language Models Using the Rational Inattention Theory: A Case Study in Hate-Speech Detection, May 12, 1:30 p.m. ET - The Birds and the Babies: Humans and Zebra Finches Have a Similar Technique for Learning to Speak — Steven Elmlinger, Princeton
Session 1pAB1: The social origins of vocal sequence learning in songbirds and human infants, May 11, 1:00 p.m. ET - How Effective Are Torpedo Bats, Exactly? — Dan Russell, Pennsylvania State University
Session 3aNS9: The influence of diameter profile on the mode shapes and frequencies of baseball bats, May 13, 11:35 a.m.
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET
- Why Do Brown Bats Stop Feeding During Fireworks? — Kerri Seger, Integral Consulting Inc.
Session 2aAB9: Like a moth to a flame: effects of a fireworks show on big brown bat feeding behavior, May 12, 10:15 a.m. ET - Creating an Affordable and Sustainable Marimba — Amartya Bhattacharya, Northeastern University
Session 4aMU6: Beyond Cost and Crisis: Towards an Accessible and Sustainable Marimba Sound, May 14, 10:40 a.m. - He Said, She Said: Why Men and Women Experience the World Differently — Anhelina Bilokon, University of Maryland
Session 3aPP5: Sex-Dependent Variability in Binaural Processing Across the Lifespan, May 13, 9:25 a.m.
ASA PRESS ROOM
In the coming weeks, ASA’s Press Room will be updated with newsworthy stories and the press conference schedule at https://acoustics.org/asa-press-room/.
LAY LANGUAGE PAPERS
ASA will also share dozens of lay language papers about topics covered at the conference. Lay language papers are summaries (300-500 words) of presentations written by scientists for a general audience. They will be accompanied by photos, audio, and video. Learn more at https://acoustics.org/lay-language-papers/.
PRESS REGISTRATION
ASA will grant free registration to credentialed and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend the meeting and/or press conferences, contact AIP Media Services at media@aip.org. For urgent requests, AIP staff can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.
ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America 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), JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. See https://acousticalsociety.org/.