He Said, She Said: Why Men and Women Experience the World Differently #ASA190

Hormones affect hearing in varying ways over the course of a person’s life.

PHILADELPHIA, May 13, 2026 — Throughout medical history, men have generally been the target of studies, with results generalized to women. However, there are differences between the sexes in many aspects of human perception. Hormones influence the behavior of cells in the brain, including areas of the brain that process hearing.

Within the past decade, scientists have begun recognizing these differences and their effects on health outcomes. In line with this change, Anhelina Bilokon from the University of Maryland will present her work related to sex-dependent auditory variability Wednesday, May 13, at 9:25 a.m. ET as part of the 190th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, running May 11-15.

Person wearing headphones using a computer mouse while viewing a screen with a green highlighted section and text.

A participant listens to a hearing test as a part of a larger experiment to determine how sex differences and hormones affect hearing. Credit: Anhelina Bilokon

“Hearing is quite precise and sensitive, and because of that, even small hormonal changes in the areas that regulate and process sound can have an effect,” Bilokon said. “When hormone levels change or fluctuate, the structures and processes that support hearing can change and fluctuate as well.”

In simple hearing tests, men show an earlier, more gradual decline, while women experience regular fluctuations each month during menstruation and sharp changes at menopause. By reanalyzing existing auditory data, Bilokon’s work focuses not just on how well people hear, but also on how these processes change and interact with other biologically significant events over time.
“Hearing is not free from the influence of other biological aspects of human health,” she said.

Because these variations are critical for understanding markers of auditory decline, Bilokon encourages her fellow scientists to consider sex differences and hormone effects more holistically in their studies. In addition to presenting evidence for sex-dependent auditory variability, Bilokon’s work outlines how additional studies can better understand these differences, which extend beyond simple sound detection.

“There are well-established guidelines for studying sex differences that have come from adjacent fields, and I hope our efforts over time will provide hearing-behavior approaches that can be easily adapted across labs,” Bilokon said.

Ultimately, learning about auditory differences between the sexes will provide insights into treating and managing hearing loss in a more personalized way — not only for women.

“This work is about improving how we understand hearing for everyone,” Bilokon said. “By simply recognizing real biological differences, we can shift our scientific approach toward more accurate diagnoses and better care.”

###

For more information:
AIP Media
1 301.209.3090
media@aip.org

Main Meeting Website: https://acousticalsociety.org/philadelphia/
Technical Program: https://eppro01.ativ.me/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING2026

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 the in-person conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown for 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/.

More Press Releases

AI Content Moderation Takes a Lesson from Economics #ASA190

Economic theory of attention can help understand and increase reliability of AI models searching for online hate speech.

PHILADELPHIA, May 12, 2026 — Spend enough time on the internet, and you’ll likely encounter some pretty appalling content. Hate speech tends to flourish on social media and in online communities, particularly those with little to no moderation. Even on sites with strict community standards, the volume of content makes effective moderation nearly impossible.

Large language models (LLMs) may be able to solve this problem. These AI algorithms can rapidly analyze both the content and the context of large volumes of text, filter hate speech automatically, and provide feedback to human reviewers. However, LLMs are expensive to run at scale, especially when asked to provide explanations for each piece of content they flag.

Yuan Zhao from the New Jersey Institute of Technology will present his research on creating an interpretable and low-cost method for evaluating LLMs’ hate speech classification Tuesday, May 12, at 1:30 p.m. ET as part of the 190th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, running May 11-15.

Man wearing glasses typing code on a Lenovo laptop in a focused programming session.

Researchers used an economic model to understand how large language models classify hate speech. Credit: Kowalski7cc on Wikimedia (CC0)

Zhao’s framework relies on the Rational Inattention (RI) model, an economic idea developed to explain human behavior. The model describes how humans act when their attention is limited and assigns a cost to that attention. According to the model, people tend to reserve their attention for high-reward decisions, spending it where it would have the greatest effect.

And while LLMs are not humans, these ideas of attention and decision-making can still be applied.

“LLMs are different from people, but we envision them as decision-makers facing some trade-off between performance and computational cost,” said Zhao. “Our approach uses the RI model as a simple yet interpretable tool to understand how LLMs make decisions.”

Zhao tested LLMs in a range of conditions to determine whether they behave like rational decision-makers. Then, he used the RI model to mimic the behavior of those LLMs, finding that it accurately predicts how LLM performance changes in different conditions.

This analysis can be utilized to guide digital communities using LLMs as part of their content moderation efforts.

“LLMs are already widely used, but there are still concerns about their reliability. Models like Rational Inattention can help make them more trustworthy by showing how their performance changes when text becomes ambiguous or intentionally disguised,” said Zhao. “This helps online platforms identify when human review is needed and where the system needs improvement.”

###

For more information:
AIP Media
1 301.209.3090
media@aip.org

Main Meeting Website: https://acousticalsociety.org/philadelphia/
Technical Program: https://eppro01.ativ.me/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING2026

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 the in-person conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown for 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/.

More Press Releases

Why Do Brown Bats Stop Feeding During Fireworks? #ASA190

What acoustics can teach us about animal behaviors during disruptive events like firework shows.

PHILADELPHIA, May 12, 2026 — Firework shows are controversial in this day and age. While beautiful, fireworks are loud, bright, and smoky, and they can be dangerous to the surrounding environment, releasing contaminants into the air and frightening both pets and wildlife alike.

Luckily, cities across the country are taking initiative to explore the impact of fireworks on residents and wildlife. In October 2025, the City of Capitola, California, and Integral Consulting conducted a study to determine the effect of their annual firework show on the surrounding animal population in the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary.

Integral Consulting’s Kerri Seger and Greg Cotten used the opportunity to observe how the fireworks impacted the feeding patterns of brown bats. They will present their findings Tuesday, May 12, at 10:15 a.m. ET as part of the 190th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, running May 11-15.

Person in red jacket views off image through a thermal scope at night with fireworks in background.

Photos from the October firework show in Capitola, California. Researcher Greg Cotten views the bats through a thermal scope (right). Credit: Amy Howk, Integral Consulting

Five days before the Capitola firework show, Cotten set up a microphone to record a normal night of bat activity, which could serve as a baseline. From data recorded the same night as the fireworks display, they identified bat behaviors based on the echolocation calls they heard: Some sounds corresponded to searching behaviors, others to food capture behavior.

On the night of the 31-minute firework show, Seger and Cotten recorded the bats for half an hour before the show, during the show, and half an hour afterward. They noticed that the bats were searching for and catching food steadily before the show, but during the fireworks, they were unsuccessful in catching any prey, despite searching.

“There is a measurable effect of the fireworks’ noise and/or lights on bats’ feeding, showing that bats can’t exactly eat dinner in peace while they are happening,” Seger said.

Then, after the show ended, the bats returned quickly to resume hunting but searching and catching were greatly reduced from their pre-show efforts. Cotten wondered if this result might be because of a “moth to a flame” effect.

“This phrase originated from Greg’s interpretation of me explaining what I heard in the data after my first listen,” Seger said.
The quick return to feeding could have been influenced by the bats’ natural prey — insects and moths — flocking to the bright lights of the fireworks, but it could also be totally unrelated to the availability of the food, instead caused by the bats feeling safer to return to a quiet area.

Seger said that these theories will require more testing beyond acoustics — for instance, directional microphones would help determine the numbers and directions of the bats and their prey, giving insight into their attraction to — or repulsion from — the explosions.

Seger believes that this work has the chance to influence firework policy in the city of Capitola.

“The city funded the study because they were interested in effects to wildlife from their fireworks show,” Seger said. “I suspect they will take the results seriously and have a concerted discussion about what they might or might not decide to permit in the future.”

###

For more information:
AIP Media
1 301.209.3090
media@aip.org

Main Meeting Website: https://acousticalsociety.org/philadelphia/
Technical Program: https://eppro01.ativ.me/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING2026

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 the in-person conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown for 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/.

More Press Releases

Developing a Passive Antenna Sensor from a Mosquito Muse #ASA190

Sensitive, segmented antennae serve as inspiration for developing acoustic sensors with low energy consumption.

PHILADELPHIA, May 11, 2026 — Mosquitoes are generally considered a nuisance, if not a deadly, malaria-carrying pest. Despite their peskiness, their delicate antennae — which can identify other insects using vibrations — have inspired ultrasensitive next-generation sensors.

Researcher Daniel Pastor from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow will present the designs for his antennae-inspired sensor Monday, May 11, at 1:40 p.m. ET as part of the 190th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, running May 11-15.

Close-up of a mosquito on skin with inset diagrams showing Johnston's organ detecting flagellum vibrations and cantilever energy transfer.

The inner workings of a mosquito’s antennae and the device inspired by it. Credit: Daniel Pastor and Yu-Chan Chen on flickr (CC0)

“Mosquito antennae are highly sensitive to tiny vibrations in the air, especially those generated by wingbeats,” Pastor said. “These vibrations are processed by specialized sensory organs that enable mosquitoes to detect potential mates, as in the case of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae. In other species, such as Uranotaenia lowii, these sensory mechanisms are adapted to detect frog calls, allowing females to locate amphibian hosts for blood feeding.”

The specialized organ is called Johnston’s organ, and it sits at the bottom of the antennae. When this organ detects vibrations, it generates its own oscillations, amplifying the signal for the mosquito’s detection.

Beyond the organ, the structure of the antennae is specialized to detect weak signals. They’re segmented, which allows them to be flexible to a wide range of frequencies. They’re also covered with fine, feathery hairs, which increase their surface area and allow them to detect smaller values of viscous drag. This makes them more sensitive to air vibrations.

Using these concepts as inspiration, the researchers developed a mechanical prototype to demonstrate that their sensor could work without amplification circuits or signal processing and filtering. They observed that their sensor was able to enhance vibration signals simply based on the geometry of the device.

“Nature provides efficient solutions that can inspire new technologies, especially in achieving high sensitivity without increasing energy consumption,” Pastor said.

The researchers’ amplification of weak vibrations using a passive, bio-inspired device is a feat that was thought to only be possible with electronics or algorithms. Despite their success, human-made devices still struggle to match the amplification capabilities found in living organisms.

“Our findings could benefit acoustic and vibration sensors that need to detect very weak signals, such as microphones, environmental monitoring devices, or biomedical sensors,” Pastor said. “In particular, applications where low energy consumption is critical could take advantage of passive amplification mechanisms.”

For more information:
AIP Media
1 301.209.3090
media@aip.org

Main Meeting Website: https://acousticalsociety.org/philadelphia/
Technical Program: https://eppro01.ativ.me/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING2026

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 the in-person conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown for 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/.

More Press Releases

The Birds and the Babies: Humans and Zebra Finches Have a Similar Technique for Learning to Speak #ASA190

Humans and zebra finches both rely on caregiver reinforcement to learn complex vocalizations.

PHILADELPHIA, May 11, 2026 — We are all born completely helpless, with little of the knowledge and skills we will need to survive as adults. Even our ability to communicate is almost entirely learned from our parents or caregivers.

Some animals are the same. Zebra finches, in particular, are so similar to humans in how they learn to communicate that researchers often study them to better understand how we develop language.

To help answer these questions, Steven Elmlinger, from Princeton University, will present his research on early vocalizations in both human infants and zebra finches Monday, May 11, at 1 p.m. ET as part of the 190th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, running May 11-15.

A small finch with gray and orange feathers perches on a wooden bar, looking at an image of a small finch in a cage.

Since zebra finches are similar to humans in how they learn to communicate, researchers can use them as a model for infant language development. Credit: Michael H. Goldstein

Elmlinger studies vocal learning, piecing together how individuals develop and change their vocalizations to interact with others. He conducted three studies, two with human infants and one with finches, to understand how immature babbling transitions into adultlike speech.

In the first experiment, he observed infants interacting with their caregivers, noting that adults respond more to sequential vocalizations comprising multiple syllables than single syllable vocalizations. In the second study, he observed 30 infants across a period of several months to determine the role that these caregivers play in helping infants learn sequential vocalizations.

“We might assume that early learning of vocal sequences is primarily driven by motor practice,” said Elmlinger. “Prior research suggests social feedback guides infants’ vocal advances at the level of individual syllables. Here we wanted to know if social feedback also influences infants’ vocal sequence development.”

In this study, he and his colleagues found that caregiver responses to sequential vocalizations significantly increased the rate at which infants learned to produce those sequences. By encouraging complex vocalizations, caregivers could help their children learn faster.

In the third study, Elmlinger repeated this experiment with zebra finches, with the same finding. Like humans, zebra finches use social feedback to teach their young.

“Taken together, our results suggest that not only do both humans and zebra finches use social feedback to guide advances in the acoustics of their vocal repertoire, but their social environment also guides low-level temporal foundations of their vocal communication,” said Elmlinger.

When it comes to language learning, humans are not as unique as we once thought. At least one other species learns to vocalize in the same way we do, and there may be others awaiting discovery.

“I would love to collaborate with new-world monkey, cetacean, and bat scientists,” said Elmlinger. “There are good hints that at least some of these animals should show socially guided vocal learning as well — perhaps it is not rare, just understudied.”

###

For more information:
AIP Media
1 301.209.3090
media@aip.org

Main Meeting Website: https://acousticalsociety.org/philadelphia/
Technical Program: https://eppro01.ativ.me/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING2026

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 the in-person conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown for 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/.

More Press Releases

Safer Surgeries Through Laser-Induced Acoustic Imaging #ASA190

Photoacoustic imaging can reveal subsurface features and guide surgeons for fewer complications.

PHILADELPHIA, May 11, 2026 — Surgery is a complicated endeavor. Even a successful surgery can lead to complications, and even the best surgeons sometimes have unsuccessful surgeries. A surgeon must rely on visual cues and their own experience to avoid hitting a nerve or a blood vessel, mistakes that can turn a simple surgery into a much more challenging one.

Unfortunately, many of these potential hazards lurk beneath the surface of the tissue, hidden from the surgeon unless a modern imaging technique reveals them.

Haichong (Kai) Zhang, an associate professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, will present his work integrating photoacoustic (PA) imaging into robot-assisted surgeries Monday, May 11, at 8:40 a.m. ET as part of the 190th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, running May 11-15.

Close-up of a robotic arm gripping a small white cube with a grid pattern, positioned near intersecting red and green rods on a pink surface.

An illustration of the probe design and how it would scan blood vessels. Credit: Kai Zhang

Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgeries are abdominal or pelvic surgeries that use a small camera, called a laparoscope, inserted through a small incision. Small incisions mean reduced pain and shorter recovery times for patients, and robot assistance means more control and precision for surgeons. Unfortunately, the danger of damaging anatomical structures under the surface remains.

“Accidentally severing a hidden blood vessel during robot-assisted laparoscopy occurred in 1%-2% of cases depending on the procedure,” said Zhang. “Furthermore, such incidents can result in a range of complications, including hemorrhage, paralysis, and, in the worst cases, fatal outcomes.”

One emerging solution is PA imaging. This technique directs lasers deep into the tissue, which absorbs the light and produces sound waves. These sound waves can be picked up by ultrasensitive microphones and used to pinpoint subsurface structures like blood vessels and nerve bundles.

“This capability enables visualization of embedded anatomical structures and their depth locations, which is highly valuable for surgical planning and intraoperative monitoring,” said Zhang.

Zhang incorporated PA imaging into a laparoscopic surgery workflow to help guide surgeons during operations. He analyzed data from the PA probe and used it to create 3D representations of neurovascular bundles, which are clusters of nerves and blood vessels surgeons desperately want to avoid. Then, these representations were overlaid on video from the laparoscopic camera, providing a real-time augmented reality video feed.

Zhang tested this technique during radical prostatectomies — a surgery to remove prostate cancer — but PA imaging has applications broader than this one surgery.

“We anticipate that this imaging instrumentation will be readily translatable to not only other laparoscopic procedures but also other image-guided procedures,” said Zhang.

###

For more information:
AIP Media
1 301.209.3090
media@aip.org

Main Meeting Website: https://acousticalsociety.org/philadelphia/
Technical Program: https://eppro01.ativ.me/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING2026

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 the in-person conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown for 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/.

More Press Releases